Puzzles.............................................. 1 Solutions..........................................

Puzzles..............................................1
Solutions..........................................14
Pieces & Patterns.............................27
Puzzles
1
A Battle Royal
by Sam Loyd
The object of this puzzle is to rearrange the pieces in such a way
that to form a perfect 8x8 chess board.
July 9, 2004
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2
Coin Cup
by Serhiy Grabarchuk, Jr.
Make the cup with eight coins of the same size as shown in the
illustration.
The object is to move only two of them in a new position to get the
cup standing upside-down.
You're allowed to move the coins as you wish but at the end the cup
has to be exactly of the same shape only rotated at 180 degrees
from its start position.
July 9, 2004
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3
The Good Luck Puzzle
by Sam Loyd
With two straight cuts divide the horseshoe shown in the illustration
into seven pieces, with one nail hole in each piece.
Before the second cut you're allowed to pile up the pieces you have
got after the first one as you will wish, and then cut 'em all.
The cuts must be straight, and you aren't allowed to fold or bend
the paper.
July 9, 2004
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4
Funny Fold
by Scott Kim
This tiny puzzle was described by Martin Gardner.
If you cut some large capital letter of the English alphabet from a
sheet of paper and give it a single fold you will get something like
shown above. What letter is it, if it's known that this is not an L?
July 9, 2004
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5
Spider Ride
by Sam Loyd
A rectangular box is 30 units long, 12 units wide, and 12 units high. A
Spider starting from spot A should reach spot B. Spot A is midway from
the sides of the box and 1 unit from its top. Spot B is midway from the
sides of the box, 1 unit from the bottom of the box, and on the opposite
side from A. The box, its dimensions and the proper locations of spots A
and B are shown in the illustration.
What is the shortest way for the Spider to reach spot B? During the
journey from A to B the Spider can use any side and edge of the box.
Hint: the shortest distance between A and B is less than 42 units.
July 9, 2004
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6
Out of Glass
after Martin Gardner
The object is to move 2 matches to get the cherry outside the glass.
At the finish, the glass may be turned in any direction, but it must be
exactly the same shape as before.
July 9, 2004
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7
Chair Arrangement
after Boris A. Kordemsky
The objective of this puzzle is to place 10 chairs along the wall in a
rectangular dance hall so that there are an equal number of chairs
along each wall. How can it be done?
July 9, 2004
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8
Divisible By 7
after Sam Loyd
Three numbers (6, 3 and 1) are drawn on the sides of three cubes a number per cube, just as shown in the illustration.
Can you arrange the three cubes in a line so that to create a 3-digit
number divisible by 7? Each cube must be employed.
July 9, 2004
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9
The Egg of Columbus
This classic puzzle dates back to the 19th century.
The object is to make the figures shown around the central egg using
the whole set of the pieces for each of them. Try to find your own new
shapes.
July 9, 2004
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10
Simple Train Exchange
after Sam Loyd
Two trains, one of an engine and a car and another - of an engine and two
cars, meet at a segment of railroad. There is a switch or side-track on that
segment of railroad - just as shown in the illustration. The switch is large
enough only to hold one engine or one car at a time.
The object is, using only this switch, to exchange the trains in order they can
continue their journeys and do that in the most expeditious way. No other
outside help, except the switch itself, is allowed. Please, note that a car
cannot be connected to the front of an engine.
July 9, 2004
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11
The Lost Star
by Sam Loyd
There is a perfect star in the illustration above. Can you discover
where this star is hidden?
July 9, 2004
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12
What Animal?
after Martin Gardner
Can you arrange the five pieces with letters on them so that to spell
the name of an animal?
July 9, 2004
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13
Solutions
14
A Battle Royal (solution)
The solution is shown in the illustration.
July 9, 2004
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15
Coin Cup (solution)
One of the two symmetric solutions is shown in the illustration.
July 9, 2004
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16
C
D
A
B
E
F
The Good Luck Puzzle (solution)
First make the cut AB to get three pieces. Then pile 'em up in such a
way that the cuts CD and EF can be done simultaneously.
July 9, 2004
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17
1
2
Funny Fold (solution)
The folded letter is a capital F, that was rotated upside-down and
then turned over as shown in the illustration.
July 9, 2004
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18
C
32
24
B
40
A
Spider Ride (solution)
At first glance it seems that the shortest distance between A and B is the
straight way along the sides of the box, i.e. 1 unit up, 30 units along the top
side of the box and then 11 units down the opposite side - 42 units in total. But
as it was stated in the hint the shortest distance between A and B is less than
42.
To find the shortest distance out it is useful to unfold some sides of the box
into a 2D model. If to unfold them as shown in the lower right corner of the
illustration, we get a right triangle where the hypotenuse AB is the distance
2
2
between the two spots. It equals square root of (AC + BC ). AC is 32 units
long (1 + 30 + 1) and BC is 24 units long (6 + 12 + 6). Thus the distance AB
equals square root (322 + 242) = square root of 1600 or 40.
July 9, 2004
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19
Out of Glass (solution)
One of the two symmetric solutions is shown in the illustration.
July 9, 2004
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20
Chair Arrangement (solution)
The solution pattern for chairs is shown in the illustration.
July 9, 2004
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21
Divisible By 7 (solution)
The trick behind this puzzle is to use the cube with number 6 as a
cube with number 9 instead. Thus the resulting number is 931 - as
shown in the illustration.
July 9, 2004
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22
The Egg of Columbus (solution)
The solutions to all the figures are shown in the illustration.
July 9, 2004
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23
1
10
2
11
3
12
4
13
5
14
6
15
7
16
8
17
9
F
Simple Train Exchange (solution)
To exchange the trains 17 moves are required. The moves are
shown in the illustration.
July 9, 2004
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24
The Lost Star (solution)
The lost star is shown in the illustration.
July 9, 2004
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25
What Animal? (solution)
Turning the piece with W upside down gives us an M. Now we are
able to produce CAMEL from the letters.
July 9, 2004
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26
Pieces & Patterns
27
1
8
F
A Battle Royal (pieces)
To produce the pieces first print them out. Then follow the diagram
shown in the left column above - from step 1 to step F (finish).
July 9, 2004
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28
1
F
Funny Fold (pattern)
To produce the pattern first print it out. Then
follow the diagram shown in the left column
above - from step 1 to step F (finish).
July 9, 2004
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29
1
9
F
The Egg of Columbus (pieces)
To produce the pieces first print them out. Then follow the diagram
shown in the left column above - from step 1 to step F (finish).
July 9, 2004
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30