Free Maths Puzzles - MathSphere - Free Printable

Let's solve the "Dress 'Addy'" puzzle step by step.

---

🧩 Problem Summary:

Addy has:
- Hats: red, blue, yellow
- T-shirts: red, blue, yellow
- Shorts: red, blue, yellow

He likes red, blue, and yellow, and we need to figure out how many different ways he can dress using one item from each category (hat, t-shirt, shorts).

We are to count all possible combinations of hat + t-shirt + shorts, where each item is chosen from the three colors.

---

✔ Step-by-step Solution:

We use the Fundamental Counting Principle:

> If there are:
> - 3 choices for hats,
> - 3 choices for t-shirts,
> - 3 choices for shorts,
>
> Then total number of outfits =
> $ 3 \times 3 \times 3 = 27 $

So, Addy can dress in 27 different ways.

---

🔍 Let’s verify with examples:

You mentioned starting with:
- Red hat
- Blue shirt
- Red shorts

That’s one outfit. But there are many others.

For example:
- Red hat, red shirt, red shorts
- Red hat, red shirt, blue shorts
- Red hat, red shirt, yellow shorts
- Red hat, blue shirt, red shorts
- ...
- Yellow hat, yellow shirt, yellow shorts

Each color combination is allowed — even if the same color is used multiple times (like all red), it's still a valid outfit.

So, every combination of:
- Hat color (3 options)
- T-shirt color (3 options)
- Shorts color (3 options)

Is unique and allowed.

---

✔ Final Answer:

> 27 different ways

---

💡 Bonus: Why not fewer?

Some might think that wearing the same color on multiple items isn't "different," but the puzzle doesn’t say that. It just asks for different ways to dress, and since each item is independently chosen, even matching colors count as distinct combinations.

For example:
- (Red hat, Red shirt, Red shorts) is one outfit.
- (Red hat, Red shirt, Blue shorts) is another.

They are different because the shorts differ.

---

✔ So, the answer is:
> There are 27 different ways Addy can dress.

And you can fill in the 27 little pictures of Addy with all the combinations! 😊