Copyright © University of Cambridge. All rights reserved.
'Distinct in a Line' printed from https://nrich.maths.org/
$3$, $4$ and $5$ are on diagonals, so can't go in the centre square (since each number must appear just once on each diagonal).
So the number in the centre square must be a $1$ or a $2$. Suppose it was a $1$. Then we must put $1$s as shown in red:
and $2$s as shown in blue:
So there must be a $1$ in place of one of the crosses:
But the top and bottom cross couldn't be $1$, since they are on the diagonal, and the middle cross can't be $1$ since it's on the $3$rd row (where there's already a $1$). So $1$ can't go in the centre square after all!
$2$ goes in the centre square.
Alternatively, consider the bottom-left corner. $2$ and $3$ are in the same column, $4$ is in the same row and $5$ is in the same diagonal. Therefore, this must contain a $1$.
Then, the centre is in the same diagonal as each of the corners, so cannot be $1$, $3$, $4$ or $5$. This means the centre must contain a $2$.