Open Middle®
Directions: Using the digits 1 to 9 at most one time each, place a digit in each box to find the closest product to 500
Hint
What digits can you put in the tens places to get close to 500?
Answer
36 x 14 = 504 is the closest we have found using 2×2 digits.
Source: Jessica Goree
I can confirm that 36 * 14 = 504 is the best possible solution. There’s no other pair of two two-digit numbers that comes as close to 500 as this product.
33 times 15 equals 495