I found a reference to the preceding problem in the book A Remarkable Collection of Babylonian Mathematical Texts, in appendix 6 on page 405. This problem statement is referred to as tablet DPA 37. It states:
There is a curious error in DPA 37. The area mentioned in the answer exceeds the correctly computed area of the square by 1/8 iku 5 1/2 šar = 18 šar. Apparently, the student who wrote the text became confused by the 1 eše 1/2 iku resulting from the preceding step of the computation and compared the last term of sq. s. not as 1/36 šar as he should have done, but as (really complicated equation that doesn’t transcribe well)
Also the footnote offers a potentially simpler explanation, that the correct solution in intermediate form is 1 10 24 38 20; 01 40, but what’s on the tablet is 1 10 24 38 38; 01 40, so the 38 might have been accidentally transcribed twice. -m