Atotal of 697 tickets were sold for the school play. they were either adult tickets or student tickets. there were 53 fewer student tickets sold than adult tickets. how many adult tickets were sold?

Let x = number of adult tickets sold
Let x-53 = number of student tickets sold

x + x -53 = 697
2x - 53 = 697. 

Add 53 to both sides to get:

2x = 750

Divide both sides by 2 to get:

x = 375

375 adult tickets were sold.