Okay, based on the clues in the text: - The clock shows 3:45 - It's 15 minutes slow - The actual time is a quarter past an hour So the clock is 15 minutes slow, which means the actual time is 15 minutes later than what the clock shows, which is 3:45. 15 minutes later than 3:45 is 4:00. The actual time is also said to be a quarter past an hour. A quarter past 4:00 is 4:15. Therefore, the correct time is 4:15. The time in HH:MM format is: 04:15