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L PUZZLES
W ANDGAMES
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001t by S
Michael Holt

ILLUSTRATIONS BY PAT HICKMAN

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WALKER AND COMPANY
New York
Copyright ©1978 by Michael Holt

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electric or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or
by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the Publisher.

First published in the United States of America in 1978 by the Walker Publishing
Company, Inc.

Published simultaneously in Canada by Beaverbooks, Limited, Pickering, Ontario

Cloth ISBN: 0-8027-0561-8

Paper ISBN: 0·8027·7114·9

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 77·75319

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 76 5 43 2 1
CONTENTS
I ntroduction v

1. Flat and Solid Shapes

2 . Routes, Knots, and Topology 17

3. Vanishing-Line and Vanishing-Square Puzzles 33

4. Match Puzzles 41

5. Coin and Shunting Problems 49

6. Reasoning and Logical Problems 56

7. Mathematical Games 66

Answers 88
INT RODUCTION

Here is my second book of mathematical puzzles and games. In

it I have put together more brainteasers for your amusement
and, perhaps, for your instruction. Most of the puzzles in this
book call for practical handiwork rather than for paper and
pencil calculations-and there is no harm, of course, in trying to
solve them in your head. I should add that none call for prac­
ticed skill; all you need is patience and some thought.
For good measure I have included an example of most types
of puzzles, from the classical crossing rivers kind to the zany
inventions of Lewis Carroll. As with the first book of mathe­
matical puzzles, I am much indebted to two great puzzlists, the
American Sam Loyd and his English rival Henry Dudeney.
Whatever the type, however, none call for special knowledge;
they simply requ ire powers of deduction, logical detective work,
in fact.
The book ends with a goodly assortment of mathematical
games. One of the simplest, "Mancalla," dates back to the mists
of time and is still played in African villages to this day, as I
have myself seen in Kenya. "Sipu" comes from the Sudan and
is just as simple. Yet both games have intriguing subtleties you
will discover when you play them. There is also a diverse selec­
tion of match puzzles, many of which are drawn from Boris A.
Kordemsky's delightful Mosco w Puzzles: Three Hun dred Fifty­
Nine Ma thema tical Recrea tions (trans. by AIbert Parry, New
York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1972); the most original, how­
ever, the one on splitting a triangle's area into three, was given
me by a Japanese student while playing with youngsters in a
playground in a park in London.

v
 A word on solving hard puzzles. As I said before, don't give
up and peek at the answer if you get stuck. That will only spoil
the fun. I've usually given generous hints to set you on the right
lines. If the hints don't help, put the puzzle aside; later, a new
line of attack may occur to you. You can often try to solve an
easier puzzle similar to the sticky one. Another way is to guess
trial answers just to see if they make sense. With luck you might
hit on the right answer. But I agree, lucky hits are not as satisfy­
ing as reasoning puzzles out step by step.
If you are really stuck then look up the answer, but only
glance at the first few lines. This may give you the clue you
need without giving the game away. As you will see, I have
written very full answers to the harder problems or those need­
ing several steps to solve, for I used to find it baffling to be
greeted with just the answer and no hint as to how to reach it.
However you solve these puzzles and whichever game takes
your fancy, I hope you have great fun with them.

-Michael Holt

VI
1. Flat and Solid Shapes

All these puzzles are about either flat shapes drawn on paper or

solid shapes. They involve very little knowledge of school

geometry and can mostly be solved by common sense or by

experiment. Some, for example, are about paper folding. The

easiest way to solve these is by taking a sheet of paper and fold­

ing and cutting it. Others demand a little imagination: You have

to visualize, say, a solid cube or how odd-looking solid shapes

fit together. One or two look, at first glance, as if they are going

to demand heavy geometry. If so, take second thoughts. There

may be a perfectly simple solution. Only one of the puzzles is

a/most a trick. Many of the puzzles involve rearranging shapes

or cutting them up.

Real Estate !
K .O . Properties Universal , the sharp est realtors in the West, were putting
on the m arket a triangular p lot of land sm ack on Main Street in the p riciest
part of the uptown sh opping area. K .O.P.U.'s razor-sharp assistant put this
ad in the local p aper:

� 500 ds
MAIN STREET ..j

THIS VALUABLE SITE I DEAL FOR

STORES OR OFFICES
Sale on A pril I

Why do y ou think there were no buyers?

1
Three-Piece Pie
How can you cut up a triangular cranberry p ie this shape into three equal
p ieces, each the same size and shape? You can do it easily . First cut off the
c rust with a straigh t cut and ignore i t .

How Many Rectangles?

How m any rectangles can y ou see?

Squaring Up
How many squ ares can y ou find here? Remember, some squares are p art
of o ther b igger squares.

2
Triangle Tripling
Copy the blank triangle shown here. Divide it into sm aller ones by drawing
another shaded triangle in the m iddle ; this m akes 4 triangles in all. Then
repeat by drawing a triangle in the m iddle of each of the blank triangles,
m aking 13 triangle s altogether. Repeat the process. Now how m any shaded
and blank triangles will y ou get? And can y ou see a p at tern to the num bers
of triangles? If y ou can, you will be able to say how m any triangles there
will be in further d ivisions withou t actu ally drawing ;n the triangle s.

I.. triangles 13 triangles

The Four Shrubs
Can y ou plant four shrubs at equal distances from each other? How d o
you do it?

HINT: A square p attern won't do becau se opp osite corners are further
apart than corners along one side of the square .

Triangle Teaser
It's easy to p ick out the five triangles in the triangle on the left . But how
m an y triangles can you see in triangle a and in triangle b ?

a b

3
Triangle Trickery
Cut a three-four-five triangle out of p aper.
Or arrange 1 2 matches as a three- four-five
triangle ( 3 + 4 + 5 1 2) .
=

Those o f y ou w h o k n o w about Pyth agoras' s

theorem will also know it must be right­
angled . The Egyp tian pyra m id builders used
ropes with th ree-four-five knots to m ake
righ t angles. They were called rope stretchers.
The are a shut in by the triangle is (3 X 4)/ 2 .
I f y ou d o n ' t know t h e form ula for t h e area
of a triangle , think of it as half the area of a
th ree-by-four rectangle. The puzzle is this:

U sing the same p iece of p aper ( or the sam e

1 2 m atches) , sh ow 1/ 3 of 6 2 .
= 3

HINT : This is a really difficult puzzle for

adults! Think of the triangle divided into
third s this way :

triangle
If you are using paper, fold it along the dotted lines.

4
Fold 'n Cut
Fold a sheet of p aper once, then again the opp osite way . Cut the c orn er , as
shown . Open the folded sheet out an d , as y ou see , there is one hole , in the
m iddle .

-- ¢- --

Now guess what happens when y ou fold three times and cut off the
corner. How m any holes will there be n ow?

Four-Square Dance
How m any d ifferent ways can y ou j oin four squares side to side? Here is
one way . Don't count the same way in a different p ositio n , like the second
one shown here , which is j ust the same as the first. Only count differe n t
shapes.

Net fo r a Cube
Each sh ap e here is m ade up of six squ ares j o ined side to side. Draw one,
cut it out, and it will fold to form a cube. M athem aticians call a p lan like
this a net. How m any d ifferent nets for a cube can you d raw? Only count
differen t ones. For instance, the second net is the same as the first one
turned round .

5
Stamp Stumper
Phil A. Telist had a sheet of 24 stamp s , as sh own. He wants to tear out of
the sheet j ust 3 stamp s but they must be all j o ined up. Can y ou find six
differen t way s Phil can d o so? The shaded p arts sho w t wo ways.

- �1
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--- - ----

.. .. . .
- - -- -- - ; - --
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-- - -: - - _ - --

I I I I
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.

The Four Oaks

A farm er had a sq uare field with four equally sp aced oak s in it stand ing in
a row from the center to the m iddle of one sid e , as shown. In his will he
left the square field to h is four sons "to be divided up into four identical
p arts, e ach with its oak . " H o w did the sons divide u p the land?

•
•
•
•

6
Box the Dots
Copy this hexagon with its n ine dots. Can you d raw n ine lines of equal
length to box off each dot in its own oblong? All oblongs must be the
sam e siz e , and there must be no gaps between them .

•
•

Cake Cutting
Try to cut the cake sh own into the greatest num ber of p ieces with only
five straight cuts of the bread k nife .

HINT : I t ' s m ore than the 1 3 p ieces sho wn here .

7
Four-Town Turnpike
Four towns are placed at the corners of a ten-mile square . A turnpik e net­
work is needed to link all four of the towns. What is the shortest network
y ou can p lan?

Obstinate Rectangles
On a sheet of square d paper, m ark out a rectangle one square by two
squares in siz e , lik e this :

[d/I
J oin a pair of opp osite corners with a line , a diagonal. How m any squares
d oes it slice through? As y ou see , two squares. Do the same for a b igger
rectangle , two by three squares say . The d iagonal cuts four squares.

PUZZLE: Can y ou say how m any squares will be cut by the d iagonal of a
rectangle six by seven squares- withou t d rawing and counting? In short ,
can y ou work out a rule? Be careful to work only with rectangles, not
squares. It's m uch harder to fin d a rule for squ ares. Stick to rectan gles !

HINT : Add t h e le ngth a n d t h e width of each rectangle. Then look a t the

num ber of sq uares cut.

One Over the Eight

Here is an inte resting p attern of numbers y ou can get by drawing grids
w ith an odd number of squares along each side . Begin with a three-by-three
grid , as sh own in pictu re a. The central square is shaded, an d there are
eight squares around it. We have , then , one square in the m iddle plus the
other eigh t , or I + (8 X I ) = 9 squ ares in all. Now look at grid b: It has one

8
central square , shaded, and several step-shaped j igsaw p ieces, each m ade up
of three squares. B y copying the grid and shading , c an y ou find how many
j igsaw p ieces m ake up the complete grid? Then the number of squares in
the complete grid sh ould be the number in each "j ig" times 8, plus I :
I + ( 8 X 3 ) = 2 5 . Next , i n grid c see i f y ou can copy and finish off the j ig­
saw p iece s ; one has been drawn for y ou. Then com plete the num ber p at­
tern : I + 8 j igs = 49. You've got to find what num ber of squares there are
in a j ig. Could y ou write the number p attern for a n ine-by-nine grid- with­
out even d rawing it?

a b

9
G reek Cross into Square
Out of some p ostcards cut several Greek crosses , like these shown here .
Each , as y ou can see , is m ade up of five squares. What y ou have to do is
cut up a Greek cross an d arrange the p ieces to form a perfe ct square . The
cuts are indicated on drawings a, b, and c. In the last two puzzles, d and e,
y ou need two Greek crosses to make up a squ are . See if y ou can do it.
There is n o answer.

e
d

I nside-out Co llar
Take a strip of stiff p aper and m ake it into a square tube. A strip one inch
wide and four inches long- with a tab for stick ing- will do nicely. Crease
the edges and d raw or score the diagonals of each face before sticking the
ends of the strip together ; scissors m ake a good scoring instrument .
The trick is to turn the tub e inside out without tearing it. If y ou can't
d o it , turn to the answer section.

10
Cocktails for Seven
The picture shows how three cocktail st ick s can be connected with cherries
to m ake an equilateral triangle. Can y ou form seven equilateral triangles
with nine cocktail sticks? You can use m atchsticks and balls of p lasticine
instead .

The Carpenter's Co lored Cubes

A carpenter was m ak ing a child's game in which pictures are p asted on the
six faces of wooden cubes. Suddenly he found he n eeded twice the surface
area that he had on one big cube. How d id he double the area with out add­
ing another cube?

Painted Blocks
The outside of this set of blocks is p ainted . How m any sq uare faces are
painted?

11
I nstant I nsanity
This is a p uzzle of putting four identically colored cubes together in a long
block so no adjacent squ ares are the same color. You can m ake the cubes
y ourself from the four nets sho wn in the p icture .

.......
. ......
... ....

:::::H
.......

1 2

3
In this p uzzle y ou have four cubes. Each cube's faces are p ainted with four
d ifferent colors . Put the four cubes in a long rod so that no colors are re­
peated along each of the rod's fou r long sides.

S ince there are over 40,000 d ifferent arrangements of the cubes in the rod ,
trying to solve the puzzle in a h it-or-miss fash ion is likely to drive y ou
insane !
Y ou can m ake the cubes y ourself by cutting out the four cross-shaped
nets sh own here. You can , of course , use red , green , blu e , and white , for
instance , instead of our black , d otte d , h atched, and white.
There is a l -in-3 chance of correctly p lacing the first cube , which has
three like faces. The odds of correctly placing each of the other cubes is 1
in 24 : Each cu be can be sitting on any of its six faces ; and for each of
these p ositions it can be facing the adjacent cube in four different ways-a
total of 24 p ositions. Multip ly 3 X 24 X 2 4 X 24, and the answer is 4 1 ,47 2
-the t otal number of ways of arranging the cubes. S e e answer section for
solution.

12
The Steinhaus Cube
This is a well-k nown puzzle invented by a m athem atician , H. Steinhaus
( say it S tine-h ouse ). The p roblem is to fit the six odd-shap e d p ieces to­
geth er to m ake the b ig three-by-three-by-three cube shown at top left of
the p icture. As y ou can see , there are three p ieces of 4 little cubes and
three p ieces of 5 little cubes, m aking 27 little cubes in all-j u st the right
number to m ake the big cube.
To solve the puzzles, the best thing is to m ake up the p ieces by gluing
little wooden cubes together.

13
How Large I s the Cube?
Plato, the Greek philosopher, thought the cube was one of the most per­
fect sh apes. So it's quite possible he wondered about this proble m : What
size cube has a surface are a equal ( in nu mber) to its volu me? You had
better work in inches ; of course , Plato d idn't !

Plato's Cubes
A p roblem that Plato really did d ream up is this one : The sketch shows a
huge b lock of m arble in the shap e of a cube. The block was made out of a
certain number of sm aller cubes and stood in the m iddle of a square plaza
p aved with these smaller m arble cubes. There were j u st as m any cubes in
the p laza as in the huge block , an d they are all p recisely the same size . Tell
how m any cubes are in the huge block and in the square p laza it stands on.

HINT : One way to solve this is by trial an d e rror. Suppose the huge block
is 3 cubes h igh ; it the n has 3 X 3 X 3 , or 2 7 , cubes in it. But the p laz a has
to be su rfaced w ith exactly this num ber of cubes. The nearest size p laza is
S by S cubes, which has 2S cubes in it ; this is too few. A plaza of 6 by 6
cubes h as far too m any cubes in it. Try , in turn , a huge block 2 , then 4,
then S block s h igh .

The Half-full Barrel

Two farmers were staring into a large barrel partly filled with ale . One of
them said : " It's over half full ! " But the other declared : "It's more than
half em pty ." How could they tell with out using a ruler, string , b ottles , or
other m easuring devices if it was m ore or less than exactly half full?

14
Cake-Tin Puzz le
The round cake fits snugly into the squ are tin sh own here . The cake's
radius is 5 inches. S o how large must the tin be?

Animal Cubes
Look at the p icture of the d inosaur and the gorilla m ad e out of little cubes.
How m any cubes m ake up each anim al? That was easy enough , wasn't it?
B ut can y ou say what the volu me of each animal is? The volume of one lit­
tle cube is a cubic centim eter.
That wasn 't too hard , either, was it? All right the n , can you say what
the surface area of each animal is? The surface area of the face of one little
cube is I square centimeter.

15
Spider and Fly
A sp ider is sitting on one corner of a large box, and a fly sits on the oppo­
site c orner. The sp ider h as to be quick if he is to catch the fly . What is his
shortest way ? There are at least four shortest ways. How m any shortest
lines can y ou fin d?

The Sly Slant Line

The artist has d rawn a rectangle inside a c ircle. I can tell you that the cir­
cle's diameter is 1 0 inches long. Can y ou tell me how long the slant line,
m arked w ith a question m ark , is?

H INT :Don't get tangle d up with Pythagoras's theorem. If you don't

know it, all the better!

16
2. Routes, Knots,
and Topology
In fact all these puzzles are about the math of topology, the

geometry of stretchy surfaces. For a fuller description of what

topology is about, see the puzzle "The Bridges of Konigsberg"

on page 25. The puzzles include problems about routes, mazes,

knots, and the celebrated Mobius band.

I n-to-out Fly Paths

A fly settles inside each of the shapes sh own and tries to cross each side
once only , always ending up outside the shap e . On which shapes can the
fly trace an in-to-out p ath? The picture shows he can on the triangle . Is
there , perhap s, a rule?

I n-to-in Fly Paths

This time the fly begins and ends inside each shape. Can he cross each side
once only ? The p ictu re shows he cannot do so on the triangle : He cannot
cross the third side and end up inside . Is there a rule here?

No

17
A BC Maze
Begin at the arrow and let y our finger take a walk through this m aze. Can
y ou p ass along e ach p ath once only and come out at A ? at B? and at C?

Eternal Triangle?
Can y ou d raw this sign in one unbroken line without crossing any lines or
taking y our pencil off the p aper? The sign is often seen on Greek monu­
ments. Now go over the same sign in one unbroken line but making the
fewest number of turn s. Can y ou draw it in fe wer th an ten tu rn s?

18
The Four Posts
Draw three straight lines to go through the four posts sh own here without
retracing or lifting y our pencil off the p aper. And you m ust return finally
to y our starting p oint.

o o

o o

The Nine Trees

Find four straight lines that touch all nine trees. I n this puzzle y ou don't
have to return to your starting p oint ; indeed y ou cannot! Do the " Four
Posts" puzzle an d y ou should be able to do this one.

o o o

o o o

o o o

19
Salesman's Round Trip
A traveling salesman starts from h is home at Anville (A ). He has to visit all
three towns sh own on the sketch map -Beeburg (B) , Ceton (C) , and Dee
C ity (D ) . B ut he w ants to save as m uch gas as he can . What is his shortest
route? The m ap shows the d istances between each town. So A is eight
m iles from C, and B is six m iles from D.

Swiss Race
The sk etch m ap here sh ows the roads on a race through the Swiss Alps
from Anlaken (A ) to Edelweiss (E) through the checkp oints B, C, and D.
An avalanche blocks the roads at three p oints, as y ou can see. You've got
to clear j u st one road block to m ake the sh ortest way to get through from
A nlaken t o Edelweiss. Which one is it? And how long is the route then?

20
Get Through the Mozmaze
The m aze sh own here is called a m ozmaze because it is fu ll of awfu l , b iting
dogs, calle d mozzles. Top Cat is at the top left-han d corner, an d he has to
get through the m oz m aze to the lowe r right comer, where it say s E N D .
B ut o n h i s way he h a s t o pass the biting m ozzles chained at t h e various
corners of th e m oz m aze . The triangles m ark the p osition of the d ogs that
give three bites as Top Cat p asses each of them ; the squares of the d ogs
that give two bites ; an d the c ircles of the d ogs that give only one b ite .
What is Top Cat's best way through the m oz m aze so that he gets bitten
the fewest times? What ' s the fewest number of bites he can get by with?
Can you do better than 40 b ites?

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GO
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2 bites
3 bites
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21
Space-Station Map
Here is a m ap of the ne wly built space stations ano th e shuttle service
link ing them in A.D. 2000. Start at the station m arked T, in the south , and
see if y ou can spell out a complete English sentence by m aking a round­
trip tour of all the stations. Visit each station only once, and return to the
starting point.
This p uzzle is b ased on a celebrated one by America's greatest puzzlist ,
S a m Loy d . When i t first appeared in a m agazine , m ore than fifty thousand
readers reporte d , "There is n o possible way." Yet it is a really simple
puzzle.

,
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...
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,"
I
I
I
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Y :
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,

_ ...

22
Round-Trip Flight
Tran s-Am Airway s offers flight links between these five c ities : Alban y ,
B altim ore , Chicago , Detroit , an d E l Paso. There are eight flights, a s follows :
Baltimore to Chicago , Detroit to Chicago, Al b any to Baltimore , Chicago to
El Paso , Chicago to Detroit , B altimore to Albany , Albany to El Paso , and
Chicago to Albany . What is the shortest way to m ake a trip from Albany
to Detroit and b ack again?

HINT : Draw a sketch m ap of the flights , beginning : A � B � C.

This will show y ou how to avoid making too m any flights or getting stu ck
in a "trap ! "

Faces, Corners, and Edges

Here is a surprising rule ab out shape s y ou should be able to puzzle out for
y ourself. Find a box-a m atchbox , a b ook , or a candy box , say . N o w run
y our finger along the edges and c ount the m ( 1 2) and add 2 to the number
you found ( m aking 1 4) . Now count the number of faces ( 6) an d add to
that num ber the num ber of corners ( 8 ) , m aking 1 4 in all. It seems that
there is a rule here . Count faces and corners and edges of the sh ape s shown
in our p icture ; the dotted lines indicate hidden edges that y ou cannot see
from the head-on view. Can you find the rule? The great Swiss m athemati­
cian Leonhard Euler ( say it oiler) was the first to sp ot it . The names of the
shap es are te trahedron (4 faces) , octah edron (8 faces) , dodecahedron ( 1 2
faces) , and icosahedron ( 2 0 faces) .

23
Five City Freeways
A p lanner wants to link up five cities by freeways. Each city must be
linked to every other one. What' s the least number of roads he must have?
R oads can cross by m eans of overpasses, of course.
The planner then decides that overp asses are very costly . Wh at is the
fewest number of overpasses he needs?

The Bickering Neighbors

There were three n eighb ors who shared the fen ced park shown in the p ic­
ture . Very soon they fell to b ickering with one another. The owner of the
center house complained that his neighbor' s d og dug up his garden and
p rom ptly built a fenced p ath way to the opening at the bottom of the
p icture . Then the neigh b or on the right built a p ath from his house to the
opening on the left , and the m an on the left built a path to the opening on
the right. None of the paths crossed.
Can y ou d raw the p aths?

24
The Bridges of Konigsberg
This is one of the most fam ous p roblems in all math . It saw the start of a
whole new bran ch of m ath called topology , the geometry of stretchy sur­
faces. The p roblem arose in the 1 700s in the north German town of
Konigsberg , built on the River Pregel, wh ich , as the p icture sho ws, splits
the town into four p arts.

In summer the townsfolk liked to take an evening stroll across the seven
bridges. To their surp rise they d iscovered a strange thing. They found they
could n ot cross all the bridges once and once only in a single stroll without
retracing their steps. Copy the m ap of Konigsberg if this is not y our b ook ,
and see if y ou agree with the Konigsbergers .
The p roblem reached the ears of the great Swiss m athematician Leon­
hard Eule r. He dre w a b asic network , a s m athematicians would say , of the
routes link ing the four p arts of the town. This cut out all the unnecessary
details. Now follow the strolls on the network . Do y ou think the Konigs­
bergers could m anage such a stroll or not?

25
Euler's Bridges
Euler actu ally solved the last p ro blem in a slightly different way from the
one we gave , which is the way m ost book s give . What he did was to sim­
plify the p roble m . He started off with the very simple p roblems we give
below. He then went on from their solutions to arrive at the solution we
gave to "The Bridges of Konigsberg." The little p roblems go like this:
A straight river has a north bank an d a south b ank with three bridges
crossing it. Starting on the north bank an d crossing each bridge once only
in one stroll without retracing y our steps, y ou touch the north bank twice
( see pictu re a). For five bridges ( picture b ) y ou touch n orth three times.
Can you find a rule for any odd number of bridges?

North Bank
3 Norths

South Bank 5 Bridges

2 Norths 3 Norths

Now look at picture c. You touch the north bank twice for two bridges;
and as shown by picture d, y ou touch north th ree times for four bridges.
Can y ou fi nd a rule for any eve n num ber of b ridges?

Mobius Band
One of the most fam ous odd ities in topology is the one-edged , single­
surfaced ban d invente d by Augu st Mobius. He was a nineteenth-century
Germ an p rofessor of m ath . Take a collar an d before joining it give it one
half-twist . Now cut it all the way along its middle . How m any p arts do y ou
think it will fall into? You can try this o n y ou r friends as a party trick .
Then try cutti ng i t o n e th ird in from a n edge , all the way rou n d . How
m any p arts d o y ou think it will fall i nto n o w?

26
Double Mobius Band
Take two strip s of paper and place them together, as shown. Give them
both a half-twist and then j oin their ends, as shown in the p icture. We now
have what seems to be p air of nested Mobius bands. You can sh ow there
are two bands by putting y our finger between the b ands and running it all
the way around them till y ou co me back to where you started from. So a
bug crawling between the bands could circle them for ever and ever. It
would alway s walk along one strip with the other strip sliding along its
back. Nowhere would he find the " floor" meeting the " ceiling." In fact ,
b oth floor an d ceiling are one and the same surface . What seem s to be two
bands is actually . . . . Find out and then turn to the answer section to see
if y ou were right. As an added twist , having un nested the band( s) , see if
you can p ut it (them) b ack together again .

%?=======�?

Viennese Knot
In the 1 8 8 0s in Vienna a wildly p op ular m agician's trick was to put a k n ot
in a p aper strip simply by cutting it with scissors. This is how it was done :
Take a strip of p aper, ab out an inch wide and a couple of feet long. J ust
before j oining the ends, give one end a twist of one and a half turns. (If
you have read about the Mobius ban d , you'll k n ow this is like making one
with an extra twist in it.) Then tape the ends togeth er to form a band . That
done, cut along the m iddle of the closed b and u ntil y ou come back to
where you started. At the last snip you wil l be left with one long b an d ,
which y ou will find has a k not in it . Pull i t and y o u should see a knot in
the shape of a p erfect pentagon .

27
Release the Prisoners
Here is an other problem in top ology. Con nect y ou r wrists with a longish
p iece of rope. Make sure the loops aroun d y our wrists are not too tight .
Have a frien d do the sam e , but before co mpleting the ty ing u p , loop his
rop e aroun d y ours , as sh own in the p icture .
Can you sep arate y ourself from y our friend without unty ing the knots
or cutting the rope? It can be d one!

Three- Ring Rope Trick

This is a fam ous p roblem from topology that with a little trial and error I
am sure y ou can solve for y ourself. First m ake three loops of rope or string
and link them in a chain like a Christm as decoration. Cut the middle loop
an d all three p ieces of rope will come unlinked . Cut either end loop and
the other two stay linke d . The puzzle is this : Can you link three loops of
rope so that all three will come unlinked if any one is cut? It can be done.

Wedding Knots
Russian girls use straws to foretell whether they will be m arried during the
y ear. A girl will take six straws and fold each of them in half, keeping the
folds hidden in her fist. Then she ask s another girl to tie the 1 2 straw ends
together in pairs ; if a complete circle of straws is formed , she will be
m alTied within the year.
You can m ake a closed loop with four straws in two way s , as shown .
String will do i n ste ad of straws. Can you join the loose ends of six straws
to m ak e a single close d loop in three d ifferent way s?

28
Amaze Your Friends
Ask a frie nd to d raw a m aze with a pencil on a large sheet of p aper. He c an
m ake it as twisty as he likes, but none of the lines m ay cross and the e n d s
m ust j oin to m ake a closed loop . N o w ne wsp apers a r e p laced around the
edges as shown here so that only the m iddle part of the m aze shows. The

" "" - ....

,
,

\ \
.....
r-+-.�r--'::i" '- 1.'/- ... _,\

-'" \
\
I
/
'-'

,
\
- /�
\ .....
...... _--

friend now p laces h is finger any where in this still exposed area. Is h is finger
inside or outside the m aze? The m aze is so com plicated it m ust be impos­
sible to say which p oints are inside the closed loop and which p oints are
outside. All the same y ou state r; orrectly whether h is finger is inside or
outside th e m aze.
An other way to p resent th e trick is with string or rop e . Take a good
length and tie the ends to form a long loop. Then ask the friend to m ake a
closed-loop m aze with it . Put newsp apers d o wn to hide the outside of the
m aze. The friend puts his finger on some spot in the m az e . Take o ne news­
paper away and pull an ou tside p art of the string across the floor. Will the
string catch o n the friend's finger or not? Again y ou p redict c orrectly each
time th e trick is perform ed. How is it d o ne?
The secret is this : Take two p oints in the m aze an d j oin them with an
imaginary line. I f the p o ints are b o th inside the loop , then the line will
cross an even number of strings. If b oth p oints are ou tside , the same rule
holds. B ut if one p oint is inside and the o ther outsid e , then the line con­
necting them will cross an odd num ber of p o ints. Th e easiest way to
rem ember the rule is to th ink o f the sim plest m aze p o ssible , a circle. If
b oth p oints are inside the circle ( o r b oth out side it) , then the line connect­
ing them will cross either n o strings or two strings ; b oth 0 an d 2 are even
num bers. If one p o int is inside the o ther outside , then the line will cross
the circle once ; I is an odd number.
To do the stunt, as the newsp apers are being place d, let y ou r eye m ove
through the maze fro m the ou tside until y ou reach a sp ot n ear the center
that is easy to re mem ber. You know that sp ot is outside the m aze. When
y our friend places his finge r, y ou have only to draw mentally a line from
y our "outside" spot to his finger and n ote whether y ou cross an even
number o f strings (then his finger i s outside) or an odd (his finger is inside) .
A little p ractice will sh ow that the trick is easier to d o than to describe.

29
Tied in Knots?
Pull the ends of each rope sh own here and fin d out which will tie itself in a
k not. Knot h is very interesting ; it is o ften u sed by m agicians. It is k nown
as the Chefalo k not. It is made from the reef knot shown in g.

a b c d

9 h

The Bridges of Paris

In 1 6 1 8 the plan of Paris and its bridges over the River Seine looked like
the sketch m ap here . The fam ous No tre Dame Cathedral is shown by the t
on the islan d . Could the Parisian s then take a stroll over the bridges and
cross each one only o nce with out retracing their steps? Draw a net work as
was done for "The B ridges of Ko n igsberg. "

30
Tou r of the Castle
The idea here is that y ou have to visit each room in the castle only once on
a tour of it , starting at the in arro w and leaving by the out arrow. With the
exit placed as in the first of the lit tle 4-roomed castles sho wn here y ou can
do it ; in the second y ou can not.
Try your hand at ( 1 ) the 9-roomed castles , and (2) the l 6-roomed
castles.

10

++
++
yes

1b 1c

++ ? ++
::1 -
++ -
?

20 ? 2b
--+-

+++ +++ --+-

?

+++ +++
+++ -
+++

2c 2d

+++ +++
+++ -
? +++
+++
-;;;-1
?
- -
I I

31
The Cuban Gunrunners Problem
The Cuban gunrun ners plan to tran sp ort a trainload of guns and bombs
from Havana to Santiago. There are several rail routes they could take, as
y ou can see on the map of the rail sy stem shown . How can they be stopped
from getting through? The easiest way is t o blow up a few bridges. What is
the fewest number of b ridges y ou must blow up? And which ones are they?

a
Havanar-----��:-- ------------��

32
3. Vanishing-Line and
Vanishing-Square
Puzzles
To Martin Gardner, America's leading popularizer of math and

purveyor of puzzles, l owe ideas for this next lot of puzzles, all

of which, and more, are to be found in his excellent Ma the­

ma tics, Magic and Mystery ( New York: Dover, 1956).

These puzzles all depend on a strange quirk of geometry. All

but the first involve cutting and rearranging parts of a figure.

When that is done, a part of the figure or a I ine apparently

vanishes. Where has it gone? is the question. Before I describe

some of these puzzles and explain them, look at the following

puzzle, about counting, not about cutting up figures; it gives the

clue to the puzzles of the vanished lines.

There are no answers except to the next puzzle.

Mr. Mad and the Mandarins

Mr. Mad was having three children to tea. Four p laces were laid , each with
three m an darin oranges on a p late. B ut one of the children did n ' t turn up.
So how should the others d ivide up the spare p lateful of m andarins? Mr.
M ad sugge ste d this way , as shown :

All three m andarins on the first plate went to the second p late , from which
two m andarins were put on the next p late , from which one m andarin was
placed on the last plate , Mr. Mad's. "There ! " exclaimed Mr. Mad . "Fair
shares for all. B ut I bet y ou can't tell m e which plateful has van ishe d ? "
N one of t h e ch ildren c ould give an answer. Can y ou sugge st one?

33
The Vanishing-Line Trick
Mightily simplified th ough this puzzle is, it form s the heart of m any bril­
liant p uzzles created by Sam Loy d , the great puzzlist. Draw on a card
three equal lines , as shown here . Make certain that b oth the first and the
third line touch the d iagonal of the card ( the broken l ine) , each with one
of its ends. Cut the card along the d iagonal. Slide the top half to the right
until the lines coincide again , as in the sec ond p icture . There are now only
two lines where before there were three. What has happened to the third
line? Which line vanished and where did it go? Slide the top part back and
the third line returns.

I t is lik e the vanishing group of m andarins in " Mr. Mad and the Mand a­
rins" p uzzle. What happens is that the m iddle line is broken into t wo parts
- one going to lengthen the first line, the other lengthening the third line.
W ith m ore lines the d ist ribution of the lines is less obvious and the disap­
pearance of the center line becomes even m ore p uzzling.

The Vanishing-Face Trick

We can d oll up "The Vanishing-Line Trick " by d rawing p ictures instead of
lines. Our top p icture sh ows six cartoon faces divided by a broken line into
two strip s.

'J,' QO --( ':- �

''t' Q 0 ,-""",,

,. � "-" u
/"'
?.

Copy and cut out the strip s in the top p icture an d stick each strip on a

34
card . Shift the upper strip to the righ t , and-as the b ottom p icture sh ows­
all the hats rem ain , b ut one face vanishes. You cannot say which face has
vanished. Four of them have been split into two p arts and the p arts redis­
tributed so that each new face has gained a small bit.

The Vanishing-Square Trick

Conjurers perform m iraculous-seem ing tricks where a rectangular or square
figure is cut up an d rearranged and in the process a whole square is lost to
view. The sim plest and oldest example exp lains how it is done. The follow­
ing explanation is b ased on Martin Gardner's ex cellent book Ma th ematics,
Magic and Mystery:

Start with a 4-by-4 square ; its area is 1 6. This squ are is cut along the
slant line. This line is not a d iagonal, since it p asses through only one of
the corners. This is the secret of the trick . Now shift the lower p art of the
b oard to the left, as sh own in the right-h and picture. Snip off the shaded
triangle stick ing out at the top right corner and fit it into the space at the
lower left corner, as sh own by the arrow . This produces a 3-by-S rectangle ;
its area is I S. Yet we started with a b ig square of area 1 6 . Where has the
m issing lit tle sq uare gone? As we said , the secret lies in the way the slant
line was drawn. B ecause that line is not a diagonal, the snipped-off triangle
is talle r than I : It is 1 113 in heigh t . So the rectangle's h eight is actually 5 113 ,
n ot S. Its actual area i s then 3 X 5 113 = 1 6 . So, y ou see ( or rather y ou didn't
" see" ) , we have n't lost a square . I t j u st looks like it.
The trick is n ot very b affling with su ch a sm all b oard. But a larger num­
ber of squares will conceal the secret. You can see that this puzzle is like
"The Vanish ing-Line Trick" when y ou look at the squ ares cut by the slant
line. As y ou m ove up the line , you find that the p arts of the cut squares
above the line get sm aller an d sm aller while those below get larger and
larger-j ust like the vertical lines in the e arlier puzzle .

35
Sleight of Square
In "The V anishing-Square Trick" all the trickery is confined to the squares
e ither side of the slant line. The rest of the square plays no part in the
trick at all ; it is there merely for disguise. Now instead of cutting the
square board into two pieces, suppose we chop it into four. The trick
w ould become eve n m ore mysterious. One way to do th is is shown in the
picture of the 8 -by-8 b oard .

�
......

r""'-or---..
....�
..
J t'...
.......

II � .....
r--.I'-..
......

I
......
......
I .......
.....

AREA" 8 x8 =64 AREA - 5 x 13 = 65

When the four p ieces are rearranged , there is a gain of I square- from 64
t o 6 5 squares. You'll find there is a long, thin , diamond-sh aped gap along
the d iagonal of the 5 -by - 1 3 rectangle. This is hardly noticeable. But it is
where the "extra squ are" has come from . If you were to begin with the
5 -by - 1 3 rect angle , d rawing an accurate diagonal , then in the 8-by-8 square
the upper rectangle would be a shade higher than it sh ould be an d the
lower rectangle a b it wider. This bad fit is m ore n oticeable than the slight
gap along the diagonal. So the first m ethod is better.
Sam Loy d , J r. , d iscovered how to p u t the four p ieces together to get an
area of only 6 3 -that is, to lose a square . This picture shows how it is done.

��
.."�
.J..--'ll
....r""
...
". 'I'"

36
The Secret Fibonacci Lengths
You can make a square come an d go at will with other size b oards-p ro­
vided y ou know the secret lengths of the p erp end icular sides (ex cluding
the slant lines) of all pieces-b oth the inner cutou t s and the b oards made
out of them . In "Sleight of Square " these length s were 3 , 5 , 8 , and 1 3 .
These numbers are part of a fam ous n u m ber serie s , the Fibonacci (say it
fib-o-NA H-ch ee ) num bers. It goe s I , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 8 , 1 3 , 2 1 , 3 4 , and so o n .
hach number from 2 on ward I S the su m of t h e t wo p revious numbers :
3 = I + 2 , 5 = 3 + 2 , and so on. Fibonacci, an I talian , was the first great
European mathematician ; he lived in the 1 200s . I doubt if he ever foresaw
this curious use of his number series for geom etrical trickery !
So we started with an 8-by-8 square with an area of 64 an d ended up
with a 5 -by- 1 3 rectangle with an area of 65 . And y ou notice 8 lines be­
tween 5 and 1 3 in the Fibonacci series .
The trick works with higher numbers in the serie s ; the higher the better
because the "extra square" is m ore easily lost in a longer d iagonal. For
exam ple , we can choose a 1 3-by - 1 3 squ are , with an are a of 1 69 , and d ivide
its sides into lengths of 5 an d 8, as sh own .

r-....
......

.......
......
......
i"'" ......
...... .....
J
I
'I
I
I
I
I
AREA = 13)( 13 = 16q
Cutting along the lines, we can rearrange the p ieces into an 8 -by-2 1 rec­
t angle , with are a 1 68 . A lit tle square has been lost, not gained , this time.
The Fibonacci numbers used are 5, 8, 13, and 2 1 . There is a loss of a
square because the p ieces along the d iagonal overlap instead of having a
gap between the m . An odd fact emerges. A board usmg the lengths 3 , 8 ,
.,
2 1 , and so on- that is, every other Fibonacci number- gives a gain of a
square . A board using the lengths 5 , 1 3 , 3 4 , and so on results in a loss of a
little square.
If y ou cut up a 2-by-2 board , m ak ing a 3-by - l re ctangle , the overlap ( re­
sult ing in a loss of a quarter of the b oard) is too obvious. And all the
m ystery is lost.

37
Langman 's Rectangle
A rectangle can also be cut up and the p ieces fitted together to m ake a
larger rectangle. Dr. Harry Langm an of New York City has devised a way
of cutting up a re ctangle. His method , shown belo w , m akes use of the
Fib onacci numbers 2, 3 , 5, 8 , 1 3 , an d 2 1 .

".
�
.,i-'

�r-'"
......
,..
.... ....

AREA · 8 x 13 = 104

".
�
.... "....
r-'"'
....�
"
......
....i-'
AREA =- 5 x 2 1 = I 05
Curry's Paradox
A p aradox is an absurd trick that on the face of it looks flawless. An I I -by­
I I square is cut into five p ieces, as sho wn here. The p aradox is: When the
pieces are put t ogether in another way , a hole appears. Two squares have
seem ingly been lost. One of the L-shaped p ieces must be shifted to p ro­
duce the e ffect.

....r-'"' -�
r-'"
..
I....... ......
.... ..... "

".
-
....... r-'" i-'�
-
....... .- ......

�
- -
-

38
 This paradox was invented by a New York City am ateur m agician Paul
Curry in 1 9 5 3 . He also devised a version using a I 3-by - 1 3 square where a
still larger hole ap pears an d three squares are lost . As you see , Curry 's
p aradox uses Fibonacci num bers.

",i""
I

V
",
L
,.,.,
./
� I

./V- I
'- !
i
I I
!
i I
I I
I I

I
I i1 I--
-
I I
,

I I I I
I

Gardner's Triangle
It's possible to m ake part of a triangle ·disap pear. Martin Gardner has ap­
plied Curry 's paradox to a triangle. His m ethod is sho wn in the p icture of
the triangles with two equal sides. B y rearranging the six piece s , t wo
squares are lost .

The deception is increased by having t h e points P fall exactly on t h e cross­

ings of the grid , since the sides will slightly cave in or out .

39
Hole in the Square
An other quite d iffere nt way of losing area is to cut a square into four
ex actly eq ual pieces, as sh own , by two crosscuts.

Rearrange the p ieces, an d a sq uare hole appears in the center. The size of
the hole varies with the angle of the cuts. The area of the hole is spread
around the sides of the square . This trick suffe rs from the fact that it is
fairly obvious that the sides of the square with the hole are a bit longer
than th e sides of the first square.
A m ore mysterious way of cutting a square into four pieces to form a
h ole is sh own in th is p icture .

V 1/
/ /
/ /
/ /
�r
/
/ �v
r-- -

/
�=
t--
V t--
V
f---I-- I- /
V I V
The effect is base d on "The Vanishing Square Trick , " described earlier.
Two of the p ie ces m ust be shifted to p roduce the effect-the long strip of
the lower edge an d the L-shaped p iece. If y ou remove the largest piece
( t op le ft) , y ou are left with another Gardner triangle.

40
4. Match Puzzles

The next batch of puzzles all make use of matches. Toothpicks

or orange sticks all the same length are equally good .

Squares from 24 Matches

Take 24 m atches. How m any squares the same size can y ou get with them?
With 6 matches to a side y ou get one square. You can't come out even
with squares with 5 and 4 m atches to a side. With 3 m atches to a side , y ou
get two squares, as shown .

With 2 matches to a side , y ou get three squares :

S uppose we allow squares of differen t sizes. (a) With 3 m atches to a

side , how m any extra, sm aller squares can y ou get n ow? ( Clue: Squares
can overlap .) (b) With 2 m atches to a side sho w how y ou can get a total of
seven squares.
With I m atch on a side y ou can m ake six identical squares, as shown.

(c) With I match on a side how d o y ou make seven identical squares? Eight
identical squares? And nine identical squares? There'll be some extra ,
b igger square s too. With the nine squ ares there are five extra squ ares.

41
PA R T-MATC H SQU A R ES
Th e nex t th ree puzzles need 24 ma tch es. You make half-ma tch squares
and o th er part-m atch squares by crossing one m a tch over an oth er.

Half-Match Squares
U se half a m atch as the side of a squ are . Can y ou get 1 6 small squares?
H o w m any larger squares can y ou see?

Third-Match Squares
Can y ou get 27 small squares, one th ird of a match on each side? How
m an y larger squares can y ou see?

Fifth-Match Squares
Can y ou get 5 0 small squares in 2 m atch-stick size squares? How many
larger squares of all sizes can y ou see?

Move-or- Remove Puzzles I

B egin with 1 2 m atches, m ak ing four sm all squ ares as sh own.

(a) R e m ove 2 m atches, leaving two squ ares o f d ifferent sizes

(b) R e m ove 4 m atches, leaving two equal squares
(c) M ove 3 m atches to m ake three squares the same size
(d) M ove 4 m atches to m ake three squares the same size
(e) M ove 2 matches to m ake seven squ ares of various sizes (you'll have to
cross one m atch over another)
(f) M ove 4 matches to m ake 1 0 square s, n ot all the same size (you'll have
t o cross one m atch over an other m ore than once)

Move-or- Remove Puzzles I I

B egin with 24 m atches, m ak ing n ine sm all squ ares as sh own.

42
(a) Move 1 2 matches to m ake two squares the same size
(b) Remove 4 m atches, leaving four sm all squ ares and one large sq uare
(c) Remove 6 m atches, leaving three squares
(d) Remove 8 m atches, leaving four squares, each I m atch to a side ( t wo
answers)
(e) Remove 8 m atches, leaving two squ ares ( two an swers)
(f) Remove 8 m atches, leaving three squares
(g) Remove 6 m atches, leaving two squares and t wo L-sh aped figures
(h) Remove 4, 6 , then 8 m atches to m ake five squ ares, each I m atch to a
side

Windows
Make six squares-not all the same size- with nine matches. The an swer
looks l ike two w in d ows.

G reek Temple
The temple shown is m ade out of I I matches.

(A ) M ove 2 m atches and get I I squares

(B ) M ove 4 matches and ge t I S sq uares

An Arrow
This arrow is made of 1 6 matches.

_i�
/
(A ) Move 1 0 m atches in this arro w to form e igh t equal triangles
(B) M ove 7 matches to m ake five equal four-sided figures

43
Vanishing Trick
There are 1 6 squares here with one m atch on a side. But how m any squares
in all?

Take away n ine m atches and m ake every square - of any size -vanish .

Take Two
The eight m atches here form , as y ou see , 1 4 squares.

Take two m atches and le ave only 3 squares.

Six Triangles
Three m atches m ake an equ al-sided , or equilateral, triangle . Use 1 2 matches
to m ake six equilateral triangles, all the same size. That done, m ove 4 of
the m atches to make three equilateral triangles n o t all the same size.

Squares and Diamonds

Form three squares out of ten m atches. Remove one match . Leaving one
of the sq uares, arrange the other five m atches around it to m ake two
d iam onds.

Stars and Squares

Put d own e ight m atches to m ake two squares, eight triangles, and an eight­
p ointed star. The m atches m ay overlap.

44
A G rille
In the grille shown here m ove 1 4 matches to m ak e three squares.

The Five Corrals

Here is a field , four m atches square. In it there is a barn one m atch square.
The farm er wishes to fe nce off the field into five equal L-shaped c orrals.
How d oes he do it? (Use ten m ore m atches for the fencing.)

Patio and Well

In the m id dle of this patio, five matches square , is a square well.

(a) Use 1 8 more m atches to split the patio into six L-shaped tiles all the
same size and shape
(b) Use 2 0 m ore m atches to split the p atio into eight equal L-shaped tiles

45
Four Equal Plots
Here is a square build ing site 4 m atches on a side. We will call its area 1 6
square m atch unit s ( 4 X 4 = 1 6 ) .

Add 1 1 m atches to fence o ff the site i n t o four plots, each with a n area o f
4 square m atch units. B u t y ou m ust do it s o that each plot borders on the
other three. One of the plots is a square , two are L-shaped, and one is a
rect angle.

Get Across the Pool

Here is a g ard en pool with a square island in the middle.

A d d two " plank s" ( m atches) and step across the water onto the isl and .

Spiral into Squares

M ove four m atches in this sp iral in order to form three squares.

46
More Triangle Trickery
M ake a th ree-four-five triangle out of 1 2 matches. The m atches shut in an
area of 6 sq uare m atch units. (This is easy to see because the triangle is
exactly half of a three-by-four rectangle , whose area would be 1 2 square
m atch units.)

(a) Move 3 matches to form a sh ape with are a 4 square m atch units
(b) Move 4 matches to form a shape with are a 3 square m atch units
CLUE : In b oth a and b m ove the m atches from the sh orter sides of the
triangle.

Triangle Trio
Can you m ake j ust three equal-sided triangles out of seven m atches?

Triangle Quartet
With these six m atches can y ou m ake four equ al-sided triangles?

3 Times the Area

L ook at the rectangle on the left. It has 3 times the area of the rectangle
on the right , as the dotted lines show.

Add one m atch to the sm aller rec tangle so it has 7 m atch es. Make it into a
b ox-girder shap e made up of three equal-sided triangles. Now add four
m atches to the rectangle on the left and m ake it into a shape m ade up of
1 9 equal-sided t riangles-so it has an area 3 times as great as the box-girder
shape.

47
Cherry in the Glass
Arrange a penny and four m atches as shown. This is y our cherry in a glass.
T ake the cherry out of the glass sim ply by m oving two m atches. You must
n ot touch the cherry ( penny) , of course .

48
5. Coin and Shunting
Problems
The next section includes puzzles about shuffling coins and the

classic puzzles of ferrying people across rivers in boats. Also

there is a wide selection of railway shunting problems. The best

way to solve these is by actually drawing a plan of railway

tracks, making coins or bits of paper stand for the engines and

their cars, and moving them about on the tracks. It is a good

idea to j ot down the moves you make so you don 't forget them,

particularly if you are successful and solve the problem. There is

nothing more vexing than to solve such a puzzle and then not

be able to remember your moves !

Coin Sorting in Pairs

Arrange three pen nies and two dimes in a row , penny-d ime-penny-dime­
penny . Move the coins in p airs so that the three pennies are together and
next to them the two dimes , as sh own in the second p icture.

'81.1810101 , ,
A m ove is like this : Y ou place the tips of y our first and second fingers
on any two coins- the c oins don't h ave to be next to each oth er or of the
sam e denomination-then y ou slide the p air to an other part of the row ,
b u t y o u must keep the same spacing between the coin s. I t helps to u se
squares to keep the sp acing. Y ou must not m ake any p air of c oins m erely
change p laces. When y ou finish , there must be no sp aces between any of
the coins. You can m ove the coins as m any spaces as y ou like left or right.
But ten sp aces should be enough . Can y ou do it in three m oves?

49
Rats in a Tunnel
Two brown rats and two white rats met head on in a tunnel . How did they
p ass one another and change ends of the tunnel? They could only move by
m oving forward into a sp ace or by hop p ing over another rat ( o f their o wn
or the o ther color) into a sp ace. Or they could m ove back . What is the fe w­
est number of m oves needed to change the rats over? Here are the k ind of
m oves y ou can m ak e :

-­
_ c��� e
To work it out , use two pennies ( for the bro wn rats) an d t wo d imes ( for
the white rats) . Put them in a line with a gap bet ween , as shown in our
sketch.

50
Three-Coin Trick
Begin with three coins sho wing a head p laced between t wo tails. Each
m ove in this puzzle consists of turning over t wo coins next to each other.

(a) Can y ou get all the coin s showing heads in j u st t wo m oves?

(b) Can y ou make them sh ow all tails in any num ber of m oves?

Triangle of Coins
Start w ith a triangle of ten coins p ointing up ward , as shown . Can you
m ove three coins o nly and m ake the triangle p oint d ownward ?

o
0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0 0
Five-Coin Trick
Take five coins, all the same k ind- say all dimes. Can y ou place them so
that each coin touches the other four?

Five-Coin Puzzle
Can y ou shift the c oins shown on this b oard so that the penny and the half­
dollar on the left swap places?

�
�

51
Coin Changeovers
Place three pen nies and th ree nickels as sho wn here . Can you m ake the
pen nies an d nickels ch ange places? You m ay move o nly one coin at a tim e .
M ove it d ire ctly to an empty place , or j u m p it over another coin to an
empty sp ace . You can m ove or j u m p up and d own or across but not
d iagonally .

GG
Ye s
G ®
@®
Now try this puzzle :
�, ,
... .. '
, X
No

GGG
®®®
GG @®
@@®
@@@
52
Mission I mpossible?
Two secret agents, 005 and 007 , are each try ing to get this top scientist
out of Slobodia. The only way out is across the Red River Danube. Agent
005 's m an is Dr. Fiinf and 007's m an is Dr. S ieben. N one of them can
swim . A ro wing boat awaits them , h idden on the Slobodian side. It c arries
only two pe ople at a tim e . Ne ither scientist dare be alone with the other
agent unle ss h is own agent is also with them. Nor c an the two scientists be
left alone together, in case they swap top secrets. It's a case o f two's n ot
allowe d , three's company !
For instan ce , Dr. Funf cannot ro w across the river alone with the other
agent, 007 , or be alone with him on either river b ank ; but he can be on
either bank when b o th agents are with him. How d id the agents row the
scientists across the river?

HINT : Five crossings from bank to b ank should complete the m ission.

Railroad Switch
The driver of a shunting engine has a p ro blem : to switch over the black and
white cars on the triangle-shaped siding shown here. That is , he m ust shunt
the white car from the branch AC to the bran ch BC an d the black car fro m
BC to A C. The siding beyond is only b ig enough to take the engine or one
car. Th at's all. The engine can go from A to B, back up past C, and then
forward along A C. But when it d oes so , it will end up facing the other way
along the tracks A B. The driver isn't bothered about which way h is engine
faces. Can y ou switch the cars in six m oves? Each coupling and un coupling
counts as one m ove. Remem ber, the d river can couple up both cars to the
engine and then uncouple j u st one of them .
To solve the shun ting problem , draw a large m ap of the railroad and u se
coins on it .

53
Restacking Co ins
There use d to be a toy calle d the To wer of Hanoi. It was in the form of 6 4
wooden rings of graded sizes stacked on o n e of three pegs-largest at the
b ottom , smallest at the top. The rings h ad to be restacked in the same
order on a d iffe rent p eg by m oving them one at a time. A story goes that
this p roblem was sen t to Buddh ist m onk s. Working at a m ove a secon d ,
they would have needed s o m e 5 8 5 billion y ears to finish it!
Here is a new- and shorter! - version of this old puzzle . Place three
saucers or table mats in a line. In the first saucer on the left stack a quarter,
a pe nny , and a d im e ; the qu arter must be at the b ot tom , the penny on top ,
as sh own . Restack the coins in exactly the same way in the far righ t saucer.
You m ust follow these rules: M ove only one coin at a time, from one
saucer to another. A lways put a smaller coin on a larger coin. Never put a
larger coin on top of a sm alle r one. Use all three saucers when m oving the
coins. You can m ove to and fro .

R iver Crossing
A p latoon of soldie rs m u st cross a river. The b ridge is down, the river wide.
S uddenly the p latoon's officer spots two b oy s play ing in a tiny rowboat .
The boat only holds two b oy s or one soldier-not a b oy an d a soldier, for
instance. All the same, the p latoon su cceeds in c rossing the river in the
b oat. H ow? Work it out with matches and a m atchbox on the t able across
a m ake-believe river.

54
Collision Course?
Two train s have met head on on a single track in the desert. A b lack e ngine
(B) an d car on the left ; a white engine ( W) and car on the righ t. There is a
short switch j ust large enough for one engine or one car at a time. Using
the switch , the e ngines and cars can be shunted so they can p ass each other.
How m any times will the drivers h ave to b ack or reverse their engines?
Count each reversal as a move . A car cannot be linked to the fro n t of an
engine.

55
6. Reasoning and
Logical Problems

In this section I 've included some novel thinking exercises with

blocks. And there is also a selection from several types of I Q
tests that are visual and mathematical in nature. The section
continues with a sprin kling of some of the better known (and
lesser known) logical puzzles that call for strict reasoning. I have
concluded the section with some unusual logical puzzles not
often seen in puzzle books.

Thinking Blocks
The following are proble m s about placing six rectangu lar blocks so that
they touch only so m any other blocks. They were originally included in a
b ook by Ed ward de Bono, Five-Day Course in Th in king (New York : Basic
Books, 1 9 6 7 ) . He used the problems as a cunning thinking exercise . You
m ay fin d y ou simply cast y our six blocks on the table in rand om fashion
and h ope for the best . Of course , y ou 've still got to check the p attern of
b locks you get th is way . Or y ou can ad op t a less higgledy-p iggledy ap­
p roach an d carefu lly build up a pattern , block by block . One way is as
good as the other. Any method will serve j u st so long as it gives y ou the
correct answer.
There is a sim ple lesso n to be learned from this puzzle . We often cannot
solve a p roblem because we get a thinking block . We get blocked in our
thinking, or rather, in one way of think ing. So the lesson is this : I f one
way of th ink ing p roves unhelp ful, try another. Often the m ore ridiculous
the new way of thinking see m s , the bet ter it m ay be.
One other tip : Do n't d iscard ideas that didn't work . To know that a
certain p attern of block s d oesn't give the righ t answer is in itself u seful.
The trick is to remem ber all these " b lind alleys" so that you don ' t try
them repeate dly and thus lose p atience. Matchboxes m ake good homely
blocks.
A. Place six blocks so that each touches only two other block s. They
m ust touch flush along their side s , y ou can not h ave the p oint of one block
" d igging into" another. To help y ou solve th is p uzzle , y ou can copy each

56
pattern y ou fo rm and j o t down the num ber of touching b locks on each
b lock , as sh own here. This p attern won't d o b ecause two o f the b lock s
touch th ree others.

B. Place the six blocks s o that each touches only three other b lock s.
C. Place the b locks so that each touches four others.
D. Place them so that each touches five others.

Martian Orders !
On Mars y oung Mart ian s have to line up at school in order , according to
two rules. First , girls come before boys. Secon d , where two girls come
next to each other, the taller girl goes first ; an d the sam e goes for two boys
together in a line. Zane is a Mart ian boy who is the sam e height as Thalia
( a girl) , but he is taller than his friend X eron ( another b oy ) . (a) How do
the three line up, from left to right? (b) They are j oined b y Th alia's friend
Sheree (an other girl) , who is taller than she is. Now how d o they line up?

What Shape N ext?

Here are two picture puzzles of the kind y ou see in intelligence tests. Fol­
low the pattern of sh apes in each from left to righ t . Then work out which
of the lettered shap es best fi ts onto the end o f the line.

�
a
Cl dD el fl0TIl
lillillJ
A A A

57
I Q Puzzle
Another I Q-sty le p uzzle . Look at the four numbered shapes and say which
one best fits the sp ace in the bottom right-hand corner of the p icture .

Odd Shape Out

In each of the sets of sh apes shown here one of them ( 1 , 2, 3 , or 4) is the
odd sh ape out : It is different in some way from the other three shapes.
Can y ou p ick it out in each set?

2 (]) b
1
EB
a

CUt �
3 EB 4 E9 --.0 CUt
e d

� �
� �
58
The Same Shape
Which of the sh ap es shown here is the same as the boxed one on the left?

Next Shape, Please

Can you say which is the next shape in the pattern?

The Apt House

Yet an other of those IQ-like tests, or rather "ap titud e " tests. Look at the
num bered h ouses. Only one can be m ade by folding the p lan . Which h ouse
is it?
I f y ou can see this easily in y our m ind's eye , then the testers say y ou
sh ould be good at being an engineer. Or m aybe y ou know y our ap t ( ap art­
m ent) houses!

59
Who Is Telling the Truth?
The j u dge listened quizzically to the four well-k nown crook s . "You're
ly ing y our heads off," he declared . "Still y ou'll look better that way ! " The
officer laughed dead on cue and then said : "I happen to know one of this
lot is telling the truth ." Th e j u dge snappe d : "Well , wh at've y ou got to say
in defe n se , y ou lot ? "
AI said : " O n e of us i s lying ! "
Bob : " N o , I tell you, two o f u s i s lying. "
C o n : " Look here , three of us is ly ing."
Don : "Nope , not true ! Four of us is telling the truth ."
S o who is telling the truth? The officer was quite right .

The Colored Chemicals Puzzle

Mr. Mad the chem ist has six big bottles of colored liquids. There is one of
each of th ese rainbow colors : re d , orange , yellow, green , blu e , and violet.
Mr. M ad knows that some of the bottles contain p oison . B ut he can't
rem em ber which ! H o wever, he can remem ber the facts from which y ou
sh ould be able to work out which colored b ottles contain p oiso n .
I n e ach of t h e following pairs of bottles o n e i s p oisonous, the other is
n ot : the violet and the green b ottle ; the red and the yellow one ; the b lue
and the o range one. And he also re mem bers that in each of the following
p airs of b ottles there is o ne that contains a nonp oisonous liquid : the violet
and th e y ellow one ; the red and the orange on e ; and the green and the blue
one .
"An d , I nearly fo rgot," add s Mr. Mad. "The re d b o t tle has a non­
p oisonous liquid in i t . "
Wh ich bottles have p oison in them ?

Mr. Black, Mr. G ray, and Mr. White

Three men met on the street-Mr. Black , Mr. Gray , an d Mr. Wh ite . "Do
y ou k n o w ," asked Mr. B lack , "that between us we are wearing b lack , gray ,
an d white? Yet not one of us is wearing the color of his nam e ! " "Why ,
that 's righ t," said the m an in wh ite . Can y ou say who was wearing which
color?

Hai rdresser or Shop Assistant?

A m y , B abs, and Carol are either hairdressers or shop assistants. Amy and
B ab s do the sam e job. Amy and Carol do different j obs. If Carol is a shop
assistan t , then so is Babs. Who d oe s which j o b ?

The Zookeeper's Puzzle

The Zookeeper wants to take two out of a p ossible three chimps to a TV
stu d i o . The two m ale chimps are Art a n d Bic ; the third , a fe male , is called
Cora. He daren't leave Art and Bic behind because they fight. And he can­
not take b oth with him either. But Cora doesn ' t get o n with Bic. So who
can he take?

60
Who's GUilty?
Alf, Bert and Cash are the suspects in a robbery case. Their trial shows up
the following fact s : Either Cash is innocent or B ert is gu ilty . I f Bert is
guilty , then Cash is innocent. Alf and Cash never work together and Alf
never does a job on his own . Also , if Bert is guilty , so is Alf. Who is guilty?

Who's in the Play?

Alice won't take part in the B uskin Players annual (am ateur) p lay if Betty
is in it ! But Ch arles will only play if Alice is in it. The p oor producer in­
sists th at o n e o f the girls is in the play . Two people are neede d . Who is in
the p lay?

Tea, Coffee, or Malted Milk?

The professor had enjoyed h is usual after-lunch beverage so much he
th ough t he'd have another. But he could not for the life of him re member
what he had drunk . So he called the waiter ove r. And this is what h e said
to h im : "Now , if this was coffe e , I want tea, and if this was tea , bring m e a
m alted m ilk . But if this was m alted m ilk , bring m e a coffee."
The waiter, wh o was logically m inded , then brought him coffee. Can
y ou say what d rink- tea, coffe e , or m alted m ilk -the waiter had originally
served the p rofessor?

Soda or Milkshake?
Three friends- Alan , Bet, and Cis- often go to the same sod a fountain .
Each either orders a soda or milksh ake. The soda jerk notices : (a) when
Alan chooses a sod a, Bet has a m ilkshake ; (b) either Alan or Cis has a sod a ,
b u t never b oth ; a n d ( c ) B e t an d Cis never b oth h ave a m ilkshak e . There are
only two p ossible ord ers they can m ake. What are they ?

HINT : Since this is a hard one, we'll tell y ou that o nly Bet has a choice of
d rinks.

Newton's Kittens
Isaac Newto n , as you pro bably know, was one of the cleverest m e n the
world has ever known . He was the great scientist and mathem atician who
solved the riddle of gravity , of why things fall to the ground . Well , Newton
had a cat and she used to come and go into his house near Cam bridge ,
Englan d , through a large hole bore d in the bottom of his kitchen door.
One day the cat had three kittens. And so Newton had three sm all holes
b ored in the door for the m .
Why d o y ou think this was fun ny?

61
March Hare 's Party
The M arch Hare was giving a p arty . His y oung guests had to get to their
rightfu l tables- I , 2, 3 , or 4-by one of the four p aths shown in the p icture .
As y ou see, he would n't l e t any b oy s go along o n e p ath , which would later
fork into two p aths. Al wanted to h ave tea on an island with Barbra , but
he refu se d to have tea with Silvie or Don. Sylvie said she would n't have tea
near water. On top of this, Gary j u st had to roller-skate over one of the
bridges. To m ake matters worse , Don and Gary would n't have tea with
each other. By the way , only the boy s could ro w, and the single boat was
only b ig enough for one child and could only travel to table 4. Where did
each guest have tea?

62
Marriage Mix-up
The absent-min ded p rofessor had j u st been to a p arty . His wife naturally
wanted to know who was there . " Usual cro wd ," he rep lied . "And some
new faces. Ted , Pete , and Charlie. And their wives- Barbra , Sue , and
Nicola . Can't re member who's m arried to whom . Any way , each couple has
one child : They 're calle d Ruth , Wendy , and Dick . Told me all about the m .
Barbra said h e r child w a s playing Annie in A n nie Get Your Gun , the school
play . Pete told m e his child was play ing Ophelia. I do remem ber Ted p oint­
ing out th at his daugh ter was not Wendy . And Charlie's wife is n ot Sue. I
suppose we can work out the m arriage p artners from that ."
See if y ou can work out wh o is m arried to whom and who their chil­
dren are .

Who Does Which Job?

There are three men- Orville , Virgil , and Homer. Each h as two j o b s . The
j obs are : private eye, racing d river, singer, j ockey , bartender , and card­
sharp . Try to find each man's t wo jobs from these facts:

(1) The b artender took the racing driver's girl frien d to a party
(2) Both the racing d river and the singer like playing card s with Homer
(3) The j o ckey often had a drink with the bartender
(4) V irgil o wes the singer a buck
( 5 ) Orville beat both Virgil an d the j o ckey at cards

Birds and Insects

Here's an easy logical p oser-or is it? Think about these statements:

N o birds are insects.

All swallows are birds.

Which of the next sentences follows logically from the above two state­
ments?

(A ) No swallows are insects

(B) Some b irds are not swallows
(C) All b irds are swallows
(D) No insects are birds

Wonderland Golf
The Am erican m athem atician Paul Rosenbloom specially devised this z any
golf game for y oungsters. He set it as a p ie ce of m athem atical research ,
actu ally . On the Wonderlan d Golf Course the holes are num bered I , 2 , 3 ,
and s o o n u p t o 1 8 . The link s are laid out i n a sp iral , a s sh own , t o m ake
the shots easier! You have two special clubs. One of them holes out in one

63
for y ou ! This is the Single-Shot Iron , or S iron for short . The other club
even lets y ou skip h oles! It hits your b all from any hole to the one double
its number; so it hit� your b all from , say , h ole I t o hole 2, hole 3 to hole 6 ,
and hole 9 t o hole 1 8 . Call i t the D ( for d ouble) iron.

PUZZLE : What is the sm allest num ber of shots, u sing e ither iron , to get
from h ole I to hole 1 8 ? Th at is , what is p ar for the course? Strangely , it is
the sam e as for h oles I I , 1 3 , 1 4 , and 1 7 ! Don't supp ose y ou can spot a
p attern , can y ou?

64
 Mad Hatter's Tea Party
The Mad Hatter had p lanned a special children's tea p arty . He had laid out
the tables in the garden in the way our picture shows. He h ad sp lit his
guests into three sets- G: all girls; B: all b oy s ; and M: b oy s and girls,
mixed. You can see them in their sets , on the left of the p icture , waiting to
have tea. He told the m : "Every b ody in each set has to get to his table b y
taking t h e correct path through t h e garden. Y o u c a n see which way to go
by the word s se t in the p aths."
Can y ou work out which of the tables- I , 2, 3 , or 4 - e ach set should get
to? One of the tables rem ains empty . Which one?

�\'I.h some g irts ('��

�c (!�
B /Jt

Il'�
"',s with no g i r ls

-tli'l.h some girls ��

�c��
"

M Il'�
� with no gir ls

65
7. Mathematical Games

All but two of these games are mathematical ; I have included

two word games, "Coincidences " and "The Crossword Game,"

because they are so good and so popular. Do not be put off by

the word mathema tical : the games can be played without the

foggiest notion of math. Indeed, "Mancala " is a very ancient

African game and has been played since time immemorial by

people without the slightest inkling of what we know as school

math. First and foremost, the games are meant to be played to

win and for fun. Any educational spin-off is purely coincidental,

as they say.

Nim
A Game for Two
This is one of the oldest and most enj oy able of m athemat ical games for
two. The word nim p robably comes from the Shakespearean word mean­
ing to steal. Possibly it was first played in China.
Nim is play e d with m atches or c oins. In the m ost p opular version 1 2
m atches are placed in three rows- 3 m atches, 4 m atches, and 5 matches , as
sh own.

The rules are sim ple. The players take turns in rem oving one or more
m atches, but they must all come from the same ro w. The one who takes

66
the last m atch w ins. (You can also play the other way : The one to take the
last match loses .)
Playing a fe w games will soon show y ou how y ou can always win :
(a) Your m ove must leave two ro ws with more than I m atch in a row and
the same number in each ; (b) y our m ove leaves I m atch in one row , 2
m atches in the second ro w, and 3 in the third ; or (c) if you p lay first, on
your first m ove y ou take 2 matches from the t op row and after that play
accord ing to the first two winning strategies j ust given.
You can p lay Nim with any n u m ber of m atches or pennies in each ro w ,
an d with any num ber of rows. A s it happens, there is a way of working out
how to take the right number of m atches to get into a winning p ositio n .
Y o u simply use " computer counting ," or b inary . This method w a s first
given in 1 90 1 . A descrip tion of it is given in the answers section .

Tac Tix
A Game for Two
Tac Tix is an exciting version of "Nim ," invented by the Dan ish puzzlist
Piet Hein . Hein is the inventor of " Hex ," page 8 6 . In Tac Tix pennies or
counters are placed in a sq uare , as sh own in the p icture . Players in turn
rem ove one to four pennies from the b oard ; they m ay be taken from any
row or column. But they must alway s be adj acent pen nies with no gaps be­
tween the m . For example , say the first p layer took the two middle pennies
in the top ro w ; the other player could not take the other two pennies in
that ro w in one move .
Tac Tix has to be played with the p layer taking the last penny losing.
This is because a simple tactic makes playing the usual way uninteresting­
perhap s the reason fo r the game's name-for it allows the second p layer to
alway s win . All he has to do is play sym metrically -that is, he takes the
" m irror" penny or pennies to the one(s) the first p lay er rem oved . The
game can also be p lay ed on a three-by-three b oard , and there , when play­
ing the usual way , the first player can win by taking the center penny , a
corn er one , all of a central ro w , or all of a central colu m n .

0 0 0 0
® ® 0 ®
® ® @ @
@ ® @) ®

67
Battleships
A Game for Two
One of the m ost p opular of all paper-an d-p enci! games, Battlesh ip s can also
be a serious exercise in math ! Each player has a fleet of ship s, which he
m arks on a grid ; he fire s salvos at named enemy squares, and the enemy
tells him if he has hit a ship or not and , if so , what k ind of ship is hit.
From this he tries to work out wh ere the enemy ship s lie. To sink an
enemy ship , he m ust hit every squ are of that ship . First to sink the enemy's
fleet wins.
Each p layer needs two ten-by-ten grid s m arked A, B, C, . . ., J along
the top an d 1 , 2, 3 , .
. , 1 0 along the left sid e , as sh own in the picture . On
.

one sh eet he m ark s the p ositions of h is fleet ; the other sheet is for marking
his own shots at the enemy fleet . (The second sheet represents a different
area from the first ; otherwise it would be p ossible for a player' s ship and
his enem y's to occupy the same spot.) The p icture shows the p osition and
size of each kind of ship .

A B C 0IEIF G H I J
I
I �Ii";
uJ
cf)
2 --
::>
BATTlESH I P '�
ex
3 �
4- �
5
6 �,
j DESTROYE R
7
8
9
10

Each p lay er has a fleet of: One battlesh ip ( four squares each)
Two cruisers ( three squ ares each)
Three destroyers ( two squares each)
Four subm arines ( one square each)

All sh ip s ex cept su b m arines, must be rectangles one squ are wid e . No

L-sh aped or cro oked ship s are allowed ; otherwise a player could not work
out how ships lie from enemy rep orts on his salvos without tremen dous

68
d ifficulty . Two ship s m ay n ot touch , even at corners . And a sh ip can have
at m ost o ne side of a sq uare on the border of the "sea." So a su b m arine
cannot be placed in a corner.
When the two fleets have been m arked i n position on the grid s , one of
the p layers fires a salvo of three shots: He tells the enemy p lay er where he
wants the three shots to lan d ; they d on't h ave to land on adj acent squares.
His enemy must then tell him h ow m any shells fell in the sea and how
m any h it which types of sh ip s , but he d oes not have t o say which shot did
what . For example , he might say , "Two in the sea and one on a destroyer."
No matter what order these results were gotten. The second player now
fires a salvo, and the first player tell him what happened. Each player
keeps a record of his hits and m isses on his ch art of "enemy waters" to
work out where the enemy fleet is m oored. Play continues until one of the
play ers sinks the enemy's entire fleet and announces the fact .

Boxes
A Game for Two
This is a game of drawing boxes on a grid of dots. It is very much like
"S nake" ( p age 7 7) an d can be p lay ed on th e sam e sort of grid. Play ers take
turns d rawing a line across or down to link adj acent dots not yet link e d . A
play er wins a box when he draws the fourth an d last side of a square ; he
then writes his initial into the box to show he m ade the box. And he can
then take another tu rn . I f he's lucky , he m ay be able to m ake several
boxes without his opponent hav ing a turn . BUT after m ak ing a b ox he
m ust d raw one more line im m ediately. One line m ay m ake two boxes at
once, but the p lay er takes only one further turn for that line. A p layer
d oes not have to m ake a box even th ough there m ay be a squ are with three
sides draw n .

POINT A BOUT STRATEGY : Near t h e end o f t h e g a m e y ou usually g e t open

"corridors" of lines, l ike two uprigh ts of a " ladder." Once one player h as
closed off one end of the corridor ( or indeed put in a rung anywhere on
the ladder) , the other player can m ake all the boxes in the corridor during
his turn . The winner is the one wh o h as m ade more boxes. It is best to
play on a grid with an even number of dots on each side -eight by ten ,
say -so that there will be an od d number of b oxes in the completed grid .

Mastermind
A Reasoning Game for Two
This game is m arkete d , alth ough the p rinciple is simple e nough for y ou to
m ake y our own version. The basic idea is this: One p lay er sets a problem
by inserting five colored pegs, ou t of a possible eight colors , in a row. His
pegs are then covere d , and his opponen t , the "m astermind ," has to work
out wh at the colors and their correct p laces are by forming t rial rows. The
proble m setter ind icates by the use of b lack and white pegs whether or

69
n ot , first, the opp onent has the righ t colored pegs and , second , they are in
the righ t p lace.
The comm ercial board is m ade of plastic and has rows of five holes with
a sq uare grid at the end of each ro w. Th e version sh own here has only four
holes with a two-by-two square grid at the end of each row. A sample
game will serve to indicate the ru les and method of p lay . To simplify
things, we will p lay with four colors and white only .
S up p ose the first player puts up these four peg s : green ( G) , blue ( B) ,
red ( R ) , and yellow ( Y ) . H e then covers them with a little hood , o r cloche,
so th at his opp onent cannot see the pegs. The op p onent puts in the top
row : re d , green , white (W) , and green. As the sketch shows , he has two
colors , right , but they are not in the right place ; to sh ow this , the first
p layer puts in two white pegs. The opponent's second try is the line green ,
blue , black ( Bk ) , an d white. Because this row has two colors and two
places righ t-the green and the blue pegs-the first p layer puts in two black
p egs. The opponent's th ird ro w is gre e n , blue , wh ite , an d red , which has
two colors in the righ t p lace ( t wo black pegs) an d one color right (red) but
in the wrong place ( one white peg) . The game ends when he has formed a
row exactly the same as the one o riginally set . The opp onent work s out by
reasoning which pegs to change. The shorter the number of rows he can
solve the p roblem i n , the better he is at reasoning. The game can also be
played on paper, w ith colored pencils or felt-tip pens substituting for pegs.

00
& �

®®®® ••
®®®® . �

••
®®®® 0 &
C �
0 C 0 0 � �
-

I ®
®®
@I
70
Coincidences
A Word Game Any Number Can Play
This is a word game rather lik e "Masterm ind" but played with letters in­
stead of c olore d pegs. One player acts as the "accountan t ," who thinks of
a five- or six-letter word . He n otes this secretly on a sheet of p aper, which
he keeps. He calls out the num ber of letters it has. The other players try to
d iscover h is word by calling out a line of the same num ber of let ters. The
accountant then tells each p layer how m any of the letters in his line m atch
in p osition those in his word . Say the accountant's word is "C ENTS " and
a p lay er calls "A-A-A-E-E" ; then the accountant announces " N one" be­
cause alth ough the player has gotten one letter right (E) , n either E is in the
correct p osition . A good strategy for play ers is to c all out all vowels, since
m ost words contain them (A , E, I, 0, U). I f the accountant's word is d is­
.
covered in fewer tries than there are letters in his word ( four tries, say ) ,
then he scores n othing. H e scores o n e p oint for eve ry try over the number
of letters in his word .
Here is how a sample game began . Accoun tant's word : SHIRT

Play er 's lines A ccoun tan t calls

AAEEE None
11000 None
1II00 One
THITH Two
TlUTl Three
THILl Three

To p lay well , one should know the letter frequences of E n glish , as follows :

Single le tters: E , T , A , 0 , N , I , S , R, H , L, D, C, U
Two-le tter groups: T H , I N , E R , R E , A N , H E , A R , E N , n , T E , AT, O N ,
HA
Three-le tter gro ups: THE, lNG, AND, I ON , E N T , FOR, TI O , E R E , H E R ,
ATE , V E R , TE R , T H A

Eleusis
A Reasoning Game for Four
Here is a game with a really novel twist , invented by a New Yorker, Robert
Abbot (taken from More Ma th ematical Puzzles and Diversions, by Martin
Gardner, New York : Penguin , 1 9 6 1 ) . He originally devised it as a card
gam e , but it can also be p lay ed with p aper an d pencil. Its n ovel twist is
this : M ost games have rules you learn and use in order to decide y our best
m ove, but in Eleusis y ou p lay to discover the rule ! The gam e is rather like
discovering a scien tific law, except that in science there is nobody to tell
y ou if your law is the right one (or indeed if there even is su ch a law) .
In Eleusis an "umpire" secretly sets the rule , which o ther p lay ers have
to d iscover. The re are several games based on Eleusis ; ours is the p aper-an d-

71
pencil version for four players-an umpire and players A, B , and C. (It
c ould also be p layed by just two players.) Our game consists o f four sets­
one for each p lay er. When every body has h ad a go at being umpire , the
game ends, and the p lay er with the lowest num ber of penalty p oints is the
winner.

U M PI RE
c c A A
c c A "" 8:'C�A A A
C C t l� � A A A
C C �t.'fl'�t ..
c1--
'6-
A A
C C c-a·A A A
fA
"/,-
c
e;t--
�-
B 8 B B B
B B B B B

Two sim p le u m p ire's rules for the p layers to discover are shown in the
p icture of the b oard . On the left the ru le is: The letters A -B-C-A -B-C-A . . .
go in a sp iral ; the letters can m ove in any d irection so long as their position
is correct. On the right the ru le is : The first letter A can go any where ; the
next letters m ust follow a "one square up , one square to the side" rule­
that is, on the diagonal. The umpire keep s a drawing of his rule to show
afterward in case of d isp ute.
Each p lay er arm s h im self with a sheet of squared paper to keep a record
of b oth h is correct m oves an d incorrect attem pts ; about ten-by-ten squares
should be big enough ( see p icture) .

Play er A sits on the u m p ire's left , then B , then C. Each player has ten of
his own letters , which he tries to correctly place on the board . Player A
t akes a tum by p ointing to an empty square an d asking if he may write a
lette r A in it. If the umpire say s yes, he p uts an A in that square and
crosses off one of the A 's o n his side of the sheet. I f the u mpire says n o ,
t h e turn p asses to player B , and player A cannot cross o u t o n e of h is let­
ters. When A, B, and C have each had a turn, a round is com pleted ; the
next roun d begins when A t akes h is nex t tu m .
The idea is that the umpire shou ld se t rules that are neither too easy
n or too hard fo r the players to d iscover ; ideally the p layers shou ld be rid

72
of their letters in the fifteenth rou n d . The umpire is penalized if either h is
ru le is so easy that the players are ou t before the fifteenth round or if
the rule is so hard that the game continues after that rou nd. The ump ire
keeps a tally of his "score" ( penalty ) by c ircling numbers on the t ally card
shown here , one number fo r each round :

o 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 o 15
8 5 2 1 0
1 2 5 8 15

For the first nine rounds the ump ire circles O's and loses no points , since it
would be impossible for the p layers to get rid of their letters before the
tenth round . At the tenth round he is penalized 1 5 p oints ; were the game
t o be over then , the play ers would have k nown the rules from the begin­
ning. The penalty is p rogressively re duced until the fifteenth round , when
it is again O. After that round the p enalty is p rogressively increased un til
the twentieth roun d , when it is back up to- the m aximum, 1 5 .

Ticktactoe
A Game for Two
T icktacktoe, or Noughts an d Crosses, has to be the oldest battle of wits
known to children and adults alike. The object is for one player to com­
plete a line-horiz on tal , vert ical , or diagonal-by himself. Any astute
play er will learn how to play t o a d raw in only a fe w hours' p ractice . The
gam e m ust end in a draw unless one p layer m akes a slip .
There are j u st three possible opening plays shown by the X's in the
picture-into a corner, the center, or a side b ox . Th e second p layer replies
with O's. He can save himself from being trapped by one of the e igh t p os­
sible choices ; he can m ark the center. The side opening (third picture)
offers trap s to b oth players ; it must be met by m ark ing one of four cells.

t
-, -,
I \ ,, - ,
\
\ I I
I
... ... '- / '-�

X
,-, ' -,
, I , I
, / , - '

,. -

X X
, -, ,, - , ,-,
I J I ,
'
\
,
I , ,
, ,
- " ,_/ ... ... - "

73
Ticktacktoe with Coins
A Game for Two
A m ore exciting variant of "Ticktacktoe" is where y ou p lay with coins or
counters that can be m oved after being place d . The game was p layed a lot
in E nglan d in the 1 3 00s, when it was called "Three Men's Morris ," the
forerunner of "Nine Men's Morris," page 7 5 . It was also p opular in ancient
China, Greece, and Rome .
You use six coins in all , three silver d im es , say , for one player and three
pennies fo r the other, on a three-by-three b oard . You take turns placing a
coin on the board un til all six coins are down. By this stage e ither p layer
could have won by having three of his o wn coins in a ro w-horiz ontal ,
vertical , o r d iagonal. I f neither player h a s w o n , they con tinue playing b y
m oving a single coin o n e square , across or down , to any empty square.
Diag onal m o ves are not allowed.

00 �
� 0 �

Teeko , o r Five-by-Five Ticktacktoe

A Game for Two
A m odern variant of "Ticktacktoe with Coins" called Teek o was invented
by the Am erican m agician J ohn Scarne. It is p layed on a five-by-five b oard .
Each p lay er takes turn s placing four coins. Then e ach m oves in turn one
squ are horiz ontally , vertically , or diagonally . A player wins by getting his
four coins in a square pattern on four adj acent squares or four coins in a
horiz ontal , vertical , or d iagonal ro w.

74
Nine Men's Morris
A Game for Two
This old English game was kn own to Shakespeare and has been play e d by
y oung and old ever since. It is really a varian t of "Tick tacktoe ." It used to
b e p layed in the village green on a pat tern like this one scratched in the
earth . Nowaday s it is played on a b o ard . You can copy this d iagram onto a
sheet of stiff paper.

Y ou need eighteen "men," nine b lack and nine white . Tiddledy wink discs
in any two colors will d o well. Each p lay er has his o wn color men. Each
play er in turn p uts one man d own on one of the 24 d ots. He tries to form
a three-in-a-row , or m ill as it is calle d. A m ill m ust be in a straigh t line ; it
cannot bend around a corner. This is a m ill :

,.,
This is not a mill :

A play er who h as put down a mill can , on that move , re m ove an opp osing
m an , p roviding it is not already p art of a m ill. The loser of the game is the
player who loses all his men first. The shape I sh ow here is the com m onest
form used ; but other shapes are possible. In fact , why not invent one of
y our own?

75
Peggity
A Game fo r Two
This is an ancient game of p osition played on squared paper. It is also
k nown as Peg Five and Sp oil Five. Thousands of years ago in China the
game went by the name of Go-Moku. It is like the famous Japanese game
Go, except that Peggity does not involve capture of e nemy pieces and so
can be p layed o n p aper with pencil .
T h e b oard i s 1 9-by- 1 9 squ are s b i g ; t h e p ieces, X ' s an d O's , are play ed
one at a time into any of the sqau res (not on the c orners , as in Go.) X
m oves first . The aim is to be first to get a straight line of exactly five
adj acent X's or O's all in a line along a row , column , or either d iagonal .
E ach p lay er has a s m any X's an d O ' s a s he needs.
A p lay er with four X's (or O's) in a line-known as an open-four- must
win on his next m ove becau se his opponent cannot block both ends in one
m ove. But when he has another X one sp ace away at the end of the line
( see picture) , all the opponent has to do is play an 0 at the other end of
the open-four. I f the open-four player plays into the sp ace , he gets a line
with six X' s in a row ; this d oes n o t qualify as a line of five sym bols. After
form ing an ope n-three- three O's or three X's in a line- it is u sual to call
"three." This is because it can become an open-four on the next turn and
thus a p otential winning p osition . Calling three avoids the likelihood of a
play er losing by an oversight , which is fun for neither. A j o ined p air of
lines of th ree X's (or three O 's) is called a d ouble-three ( see p icture) .

x X
0 0 X 0 0 0 0 0
X X
)(
o pe n - t ) ree
open- f our

0 0
X X X )C X
0
0

_�Ren - four w i t h X 0 X
.-?Roce ��es not X )( 0
win 0 )( 0
ao u b l e - t hree
for x

76
Snake
A Game for Two
This game is played on a five-by-six b oard of d ot s , like this one. Players
take turns at j oining two dots by a line to m ake one long snake. No d iago­
nal lines are allowe d . You cannot leave any breaks in the snake. Each
player adds to the snake at either end ; a player can o nly add to h is oppo­
nent's segment, not to his own. The first to m ake the snake close on itself
loses. Here is an actual game. I n it straight lines began and lost.

-- l oses
-- w i n s

Daisy
A Game for Two
The two players take turns to pluck fro m the daisy either one petal or t wo
adj acent p etals. The player taking the last petal is the winner. This is a
game invented by the great puzzlist Sam Loy d .
M ake a daisy with 1 3 petals out of m atches, like this. On a p ostcard
mark little c ircles where the petals ( m atches) gro w fro m . You need to
know whether y ou have left a sp ace between petals or whether petals are
next to each other. The second p lay er can always win- if he k nows how.
See the answer section for this winning strategy .
Remember y ou cannot take two petals if there is a space between them.
That 's why we recommend marking the petals' p ositions.

77
Sipu
A Game for Two
S ipu is an old folk game from the Sudan. It is like "Ticktack toe," but it is
d ifferent in two way s : It hasn't got an obvious strategy for not losing , and
you can m ove y our X' s and O's as counters after they 've been put down. It
is p lay ed on a square board with any odd number o f squares along each
side ; the odd number ensures that there is a center square . ( Actually , Sipu
is the name of the game played on a five-by-five board . The three-by -three
b oard gam e , described here, is called Safragat .) You need counters or
p ebbles, k nown as "dogs," of two colors, or two kinds of coins (pennies
and d im es, say ) . We'll call them Black s and Whites. I n order to see how
p lay goes, we'll start with a th ree-by -th ree board , for which y ou need four
B lacks and four Whites.
Play goes in two stages : First placing the counters and then making the
m oves an d taking the opponent's counters. The best way to place your
coun ters w ill become clear after play ing a few games. To see who starts the
placing, toss for it or conceal a different coin in each fist and let your
opp onent guess. Say Black begins the placing. Then you p lace the counters
in tum - a Black , then a Wh ite , and so on-un til the b oard is fille d , leaving
the center sq uare e m p ty . Le t's say y ou have filled the board like this :

0�0
� 0
�0�
You are ready to begin m oving counters. Toss to see who moves first. Le t's
say it is White's first m ove. Coun ters are m oved either up or down or side
to sid e , but not d iagonally . They can only be move d into an empty square .

( 1 ) White ( we'll say) moves into the e m p ty

center squ are .

78
 (2) Now Black m oves up to the square White
has just left empty. In m oving, Black has
flanked White's coin in a line "trap ," along
the m iddle ro w . B ecause he m ade the trap ,
\ he can take White's counter on the center
, square .
�---+----��r-� I
,
b l ac k t a k es w h i t e
(3) White's next m ove forms another trap ,

o�o
which allows him t o take Black's counter,
m arked X in the p icture .

� wh i t e takes black

� 3
0
B ut supp ose Black had m oved into the trap
him self like this : Then he could not have
been taken because White hadn't m ade the
trap by m oving himself.

�
The play er who trap s the m ost c oins is the
winner of the game .

0
NOTE : Consider the starting p ositions on
this board . White can m ove the center
counter in the bottom ro w up, but Black
still would have trapped him on the second
m ove. In this starting p osition Black cannot
m ove at all. Clearly , a position to be avoide d !

Longer-p laying and harder gam es can be

play ed on a five-by-five board ( with 1 2
players ap ie ce) or even a seven-by-seven
b oard ( with 24 players ap iece). The sam e
rules ap ply .

79
Mancala
A Game for Two
M ancala i s an old African game now coming into fashion in America and
E urope . Two p lay ers- we'll call them Al and Fey - sit on either side of a
b oard , which is usu ally about a foot long with six h ollows on e ach side.
(The h ollo ws can also be scratched in the groun d .) At the start of the game
each hollo w is filled with four stones, balls, beads, or pebbles. The aim is
for one player to capture all the others' stones ; these are the loot.

A B C 0 E F
A I 's s i d e
A p layer m oves by taking all the stones out of one of the hollows on his
own side and dealing them out in order, coun terclock wise around the
b oard , I stone into each h ollo w. The p layers m ove in turn . We've lettered
the h ollows simply to sh ow how the game goes. AI ' s are A, B, C, D, E, and
F; Fey's are a, b , c, d, e, and f Say Al empties hollow E : He deals I ball
each in F, a, b, and c. Then Fey empties, say , b ( which now holds 5
stones) . She deals them out into hollows c, d, e, t, an d A . The board then
looks like this :

t e d c b a
( 5 5 5 6 0 5"
�5 4 4 4 0 5 1
A B C D E F

H ow d oes a p layer take loot? By placing the last stone in his opponent's
last h ollow (F or f) so that there are 2 or 3 stones there . Here are three
possible m oves to illustrate the point.
1 . This is the setu p . It is AI's m ove.

t e d c b a
(1 2 2 3 1 2 1t
�O 0 0 0 0 61
A B C D E F

80
AI m oves all 6 stones from F (his only m ove ) , giving :

f e d c b a
(2 3 3 4 2 3 1
-lfo 0 0 0 0 0
A B C D E F

AI's last stone went into f. which now has 2 stones. He takes these , to­
gether with the 3 stones in hollo w e an d the 3 in d. His loot d oes not skip
back over c to collect b and a. He wins a total of 8 stones.
2 . Here's another setup. Again it is AI's m ove.

f e d c b a
( 2 3
0 0 3 ,.­
1
.\II 0 0 0 7 8
A B C D E F

M oving from F. AI would win no loot, since his last stone would go in B,
on his own side of the b oard . Moving from E. he also would win nothing ;
his last stone would go in f. which it m ust do to collect the loot, but d oes
not result in 2 or 3 stones in that h ollow.
3. Empty hollows aren't necessarily safe . Here all but one of the hol­
lows on AI's side are empty . But the game still goes on.

f e d c b a
(18 0 0 0 I 01)
� 0 I 0 0 0 oj
A B C D E F

Fey deals fro m hollow f:

f e d c b a

�� ; � � ; ;'
A B C D E F

The last stone goes in a. She takes all the stones fro m AI's side. Why are
there n ow no stones in f? Why didn't Fey put a stone in f? Because she
took 1 2 or m ore stones out of it. When you take 1 2 or m ore stones out of
a hollow , you skip that hollo w when you come to it ; thus the twelfth
stone in Fey 's han d goes in the next hollow . The game ends when the
p layers agree there are not enough stones left to form loot or when a
player can not m ake a m ove .

81
The Crossword Game
A Game for Two to Five
This is su ch a p op ular game that though it is not a m athem atical game , I
have put it in. Each p lay er has his own five-by-five grid . After it is decided
who p lay s first , the first player c alls ou t a letter an d writes it in one of the
25 squ are s on h is grid. Each of the other players writes the same letter in
som e square on his o wn grid . The next p lay er then calls out a letter-the
sam e or another one- which the other players enter on their grids. Each
player must write his letter before the next letter is called . The aim is to
form words reading across or d own . If you c annot form a word , you can
call an "unuseful" letter such as Z or Q so that nob ody else is likely to be
able to use it . Only word s from an agreed-upon dictionary count, not
p roper names or slang words. When 2 5 let ters have been called out and
each p layer's grid is filled , scoring begins.
Two-letter word s score 2; three-letter words score 3 ; four-letter, 4 ; and
five-le tter, 6 (an extra p oint) . Totals for across and d o wn are added to­
gether to get the final score . Highest score wins. Two word s in the same
row, or colu m n , m ay not share the same letters . For example , the letters
H-E-A -R - T score 6 p oints ; whereas H-E scores 2 and A -R - T scores 3 p oints,
totaling only 5 p oints. You could not ad d the two together to m ake I I .
Also y ou could not sc ore 2 for H-E as well as 4 for H-E-A -R.
H ere is a comple te grid with its score s and a grand total of 3 6 .

C H- E 5 5 C:> (c hess)
H E A R T fa (heart)
V J N E R 4- (v i ne)
-r 0 -r 0 y 4- (toto)
0 p 0 L 0 Lt- ( p olo)

2 2
.3 2 .3
(to) (he) (ant) (re) (try)
®
82
The Cop and the Robber
A Game for Two
Here is a single-board game for two. You can p lay on the city plan sho wn
here or draw a larger version for y ourself.

Y ou need two coins, one for the cop , the o ther for the ro bber. St art
with each coin on its p icture . The rules are simple : The cop alway s m oves
first. After that , the players take turn s to move. You move a coin one
block only , left or right, up or down- that is, fro m one comer to the nex t .
T h e a i m is fo r t h e c o p to catch t h e robbe r , which is d one b y t h e c o p land­
ing on the robber on his move. To m ake the game interesting , the cop m ust
catch the robber in 20 m ove s, or he loses.

HINT : There is a way for the cop to nab the robber. The secre t lies in the
top left comer of the city plan .

83
Sprouts
A Game for Two
S p routs is one of the best of the really new p aper-and-pencil games. A
C am bridge ( England) m athem atician invented it in the 1 9 60s. Its name
comes from the sh apes y ou end up with . I t is a game of topology . a branch
of m athem atics which is very briefly explained in "The Bridges of Konigs­
berg " ( page 2 5 ) . Top ology is the geom etry of flop py rulers . wiggly lines ,
an d stretchy sheets of paper!

0 0
This is how Sprouts is played. On a clean
sheet of p aper begin by drawing three or
four sp ots. We'll work with three spots.
o
E ach of the two p lay ers takes turns at j oin- O--...O
H--O
ing the sp ots with lines, which can be as
wiggly as y ou like. You must put a new spot

o
som ewhere along that line.

No lines m ay cross.

Y ou can d raw a line fro m a spot back onto

itself to m ake a loop - with , of course, a new
sp ot on it .
0

a
o l o op
o
A sp ot is "dead " when it has three lines lead­
ing to it ; no m ore lines can connect to it. To
sh ow it is dead , put a stroke through it or
shade it in.

The winner is the one wh o d raws the last

line . A good way to win is to trap "live"
sp ots inside loops so that y our opponent
can n ot use them .
M athem aticians h ave worked out how
m any m oves the gam e can go on for : The
number lies between twice an d 3 times the
number of sp ots you start with. St arting
with 3 sp ots , the game can go on for be­
t ween 6 and 9 m ove s ; with 4 start ing spots,

84
 between 8 and 1 2 m oves. And so on. But nob ody h as pro ved th is yet !
Here is a sample game. In it player A wins in 7 m oves.

START I N G 1 2
POI N TS 0

0 :7
0 0

4 5
B p la y s

85
Mo rra
A Game fo r Two
This very old finge r game comes from Italy . One player is called Morra . On
a given signal- a nod of the head , for example- both p layers put up either
o ne or two fingers both at the same time. The ru les are in su mm ary form :

B oth p l ay ers show same number of fingers : M orra wins two pennies
Morra two fingers, opp onent one finger: M orra loses one penny
M orra one finger, opponent two fingers : M orra loses three pennies

S ee if y ou can fin d a strategy that cuts Morra 's losses or even lets h im win.
The best strategy is given in the answer section.

Hex
A Game fo r Two
O nly recently invented in Denmark , this is a m arvelous gam e , which is also
called B lack and White. It seems ab surdly simple but is open to very cun­
n ing p lay or strategy . as it is called . The game is played on a d iamond­
shap ed b o ard m ad e up of either hexagons, hence the name, or triangles.

The board u sually has I I hex agons ( or triangles) on each side. Two oppo­
site sides of the d iamond are Black 's side ; the o ther two are White's . The
hex agons at the comer of the board belong to either player. The players
take turns m arking hex agons. White m arks his p oint with a circle , Black
with a heavy blob . The aim is to connect opp osite sides of the board with

86
an unbroken line of dots or blobs. (On the triangle paper, t wo dots are
adj acent if there is a link ing line between them . )

T h e first p layer to m ake a n un broken line is the winner. T w o lines c annot

cross, so there can never be a draw. M athem aticians h ave proved that the
first player can alway s win , but they d on't say how he is to do so! You can
buy special p rinted paper with a grid of hexagons or triangle s p rinted on it.
I f y ou draw up y our own board , as here , do so in ink and play in pencil
lightly so y ou can rub out the circles after each gam e.

To learn som e of the strategies of Hex , p lay a game on a 2-by-2 b oard

with just four hexagons. The p layer who makes the first m ove obviously
wins. On a 3 -by-3 board the first player wins by m ak ing his first m ove in
the center of the b oard . This is because the first p lay er has a d ou ble p l ay
on b oth sides of his opening cell , so his opponent h as no way to keep him
from winning in the next two moves. On a 4-by-4 board ( see pictu re)

things are more comp licate d . The first p layer will win if he play s in o ne of
the four num bered cells , but if he p lays in any other cell , he can alway s be
defeated. For an I I -by-I l b oard , as sho wn , the p lay is far too complicated
to be analyze d .

87
ANSWERS

1 . Flat and Solid Shapes

R eal Esta te!

The combined length of the two sh orter sides of the triangular p lot come
to the sam e as the long sid e : 2 3 0 + 2 7 0 = 5 00. The plot is merely a straight
line and covers no lan d !

Three-Piece Pie
Find the m iddle of the crustless triangle and m ake cuts from each corner
of the p ie to the middle . Otherwise , y ou could m easure the angle of the
slice and d ivide it by 3 .

How Many R ec tangles ?

N ine.

Squaring Up
S even squares.

Triangle Trip ling

Coun ting the little triangles in each corner gives three lots of 1 3 plus the
b ig black triangle in the middle , m aking 40 in all . So y ou have 1 , 4 , 1 3 , 40
triangles. Note the pattern of d ifferences bet ween adj acent numbers
(4 - I = 3 , 1 3 - 4 = 9, 40 - 1 3 = 2 7 ) . Each difference is 3 times the previ­
ous o ne-as y ou would expect from triangles!

Th e Four Sh ru bs
Plant three of the sh rubs at corners of an equilateral triangle ; p lant the
fourth shrub on top of a little hillock in the m iddle of the triangle so that
all four shrubs are at the corners of a tetrah edron (t riangu lar pyramid). See
answer to "Triangle Quartet" ( page 1 1 0) .

Triangle Teaser
a. 1 3 , b . 2 7 .

88
Triangle Trickery
Fold the p aper over as shown here. The folded flap ( its un derside sh owing
uppermost) will co nceal a third of the triangle's face-up area still flat on
the table. It is now only two thirds of the original triangle 's face-up area.
So you have one third taken from two third s , leaving one third of the
original area. It therefore sh ows one third of the original triangle .

Fold 'n Cu t
Two h oles.

Fou r-8quare Dan ce

EE � C§ � dF qn �
Seven different ways.

Ne t for a Cu be
There are eleven n ets that fo rm a cube. The first six are , p erhap s , fairly
obviou s ; the other five y ou m ight not have thought of.

§=rn Etfo Etw Etta

cqp qto cg Cftp
� Cftn I I
89
Stamp Stumper
The other ways are : 3 stam ps j oined side to side in a row , and three other
L-sh ap es, like th is I , I, and -.J .

Th e Fo ur Oaks

•
•
•
•

Box th e Dots

90
Cake Cutting
1 6 p ieces. The rule is shown by the t able. One cut p l ainly gives two p ieces.
For two cuts y ou add 2 to that num ber to m ake 4 . For three cuts y ou add
3 to the 4 to m ake 7. For fou r cuts y ou add 4 to the 7 to m ake I I . When
y ou d raw th e lines, the third line will cu t two lines already d rawn ; the
fourth line cuts th ree lines already drawn .

This table shows the n u m ber of pieces m ade by v arious n u m bers of cuts.

n o . of no. o f
cuts p ieces

0 I
I 2
2 4
3 7
4 II
5 16

Four-To wn Turnpike
The sh ortest network is made up of two diagonal turnpikes ; each is J 2
times 1 0 m iles long, or 1 4 . 1 4 m iles. So the t otal length of turnp ike is
2 8 . 2 8 miles, or about 28 .3 m iles. The J 2 comes from Pythagoras's
theore m . It sho ws that with a right-angled triangle ( t wo o f which are p ro­
duced by bisecting a squ are with a d iagonal) , where the shorter sides ( the
sides of the squ are ) are each I unit long, the long side opp osite the right
angle (the diagonal) is J 2 units long, or the square root of 2 units.

91
Obstinate Rectangles
In a six-by-seven rectangle , the diagon al cu ts 1 2 squ ares. Rule : Add the
length to the width and sub tract I .

One Over th e Eigh t

I + 8 j igs 8 1 . A j ig m ust have 1 0 squares in it : I + (8 X 1 0)
= = 81.

Inside-out Collar
To follow these instructions, it's best to label the corner of the tube a, b,
c, a n d d around the top edge and A , B, C, and D around the bottom edge ,
as sh own in p icture I .
A s shown in picture 2 , push comer c down into the tube t o meet corner
A ; this will p ull the comers b and d together. As shown in black in p icture
3 , the square CcdD is already inside out , as is the square CcbB. The tri­
angular part with the edge A a stiII has to be turned inside out. This is done
by p ulling the corners B and D ap art and pushing the peak (a ) of the tri­
angle d own to meet corner c - like pushing someone's head (a ) down be­
tween their k nees (B and D ) . Pull the corners b and d outward to turn the
"beak" BCD inside out ( picture 3 ) . You wiII now find that as the tube
unfolds, it is insid e out. The trick n eeds p ractice to perform it well : The
secret is to do it in two stages- first stage is up to p icture 2 ; second stage is
p ushing the peak d own "between the knees."

B
b

92
Cocktails for Se ven

The Carpe n ter's Colored Cu bes

He cut the cube into eigh t equ al blocks, as sho wn.

Pain ted Blocks

1 8 faces are p ainte d , as sh own.

93
Instan t Insan ity
Take the cube m arked I in the p icture in the p roblem ; it has three d otted
faces. Place it so that two of these faces are n ot on any of the long sides of
the rod . Nex t , t ake cube num ber 2 and p lace it so that the four different
colors of it are on the long sides. Then p lace cube number 3 so that one of
its white faces is hidden and both hatched faces are on the long sides. Place
cube num ber 4 so that neither of the hatched faces appear on the long
sides. All you h ave to do now is t wist the cubes around the rod's axis until
the solu tion shows up.

Th e Steinhaus Cube
S tart building y our cube by m aking this step ped sh ape . The rest should fit
toge ther e asily .

94
Ho w Large Is th e Cube ?
The surface area of the cube is 6 times the are a of one of its six faces. Sup­
p ose the cube has an edge x inches. One of its faces h as an area of x2
square inches. So i t s total surface area is 6x 2 square inches. But this must
be equal in num ber to its volume or x X x X x = x3 cubic inches. So 6x2 =
x3 , which means 6 = x . So the cube has a side of 6 inches .
If this reasoning is too hard to follow, go from the equation 6x2 = x 3
a n d then try x = I , x = 2 , an d so on.

Plato 's Cu bes

The problem calls for a number which when m ultiplied by itself twice over
gives a square number. This work s with any number that is itself alre ad y a
square . The sm allest sq uare ( aside from I ) is 4 ; so the huge block might
have 4 X 4 X 4, or 6 4 , cubes in it , and this would stan d o n a 8 X 8 square .
The picture suggests that a side of the p laza is twice the extent of a side of
the block . So this is the correct answer. The nex t size for the cube is 9 X 9
X 9 = 7 29 ; this cube would be standing on a 27 X 27 square , which , ac­
cord ing to the p icture , is too large.

The Half-fu ll Barrel

All they h ad to do was tilt the barrel on its b ottom rim . S ay the barrel was
exactly half full . Then when the water is just about to p our out , the water
level at th e bottom of the barrel shou ld j ust cover all the rim . That way
half the barrel is full of water; the other half is air space.

Cake-Tin Puzzle
1 0 inches square-that is , twice the radius.

A nimal Cu bes
27 cubes in each animal. Both v olumes are 27 cubic centimeters. Are as:
din osaur 90, gorilla 8 6 .

Spider a n d Fly
S ix shortest way s ; each goes along only three sides. A typ ical way is shown
by the solid lines on the cube here .

95
Th e Sly Slan t L ine
5 inches. The slant line must be the same length as the radius because it is
one of the two equal d iagon als in the re ctangle .

2 . Routes, Knots, and Topology

In-to-o u t Fly Pa ths

He can fo r sh apes with an odd number of sides-the triangle , the pentagon ,
an d the seve n-sided sh ap e (hep tagon) . As he begins insid e , he has to cross
an odd num ber of sides in order to e.nd up outside.

In -to-in Fly Paths

He can for shap es with an even number of sides- the square , the hex agon,
an d so on.

A BC Maze
Out at A only , because an odd number of paths ( 5 ) lead to A . An even
num ber of p aths lead to B, or to C ; so y ou cannot leave by them.

Eternal Triangle ?

Th e Fo ur Posts 1' ,
I "
"
I ,
"-

<? Q
'\.
I "-
"-
I
"­
6- - - -0- - - �

96
The Nine Trees

Salesman 's R ound Trip

Shortest route is A CDBA , which c omes to 8 + 6 + 6 + 7 = 27 m iles .

S wiss Race
Clear roadblock on ro ad A C ; then take rou te A CDE, which is I I miles.

Get Th rough th e Mozmaze

He can escape with 3 7 bites.

Space-Station Map
As Sam Loy d said , the more than fifty thousand re aders who rep orted
"there is no possible way " had all solved the p uzzle ! For that is the sen­
tence that m akes a round-trip tour of the space stations. ( Actually Loyd
used canals 1 m Mars, n ot space stations.)

R ound-Trip Fligh t
The sketch is :

There is only one way from Albany (A ) to Detroit (D) an d return . EI Paso
is the "trap " :

97
Faces, Corners, and Edges
E uler's rule is the num ber of faces (f) and corners (c) equals the number of
edges (e) plus 2 . It work s for all solid figures that d on't "bulge in" and
d on't h ave h oles in them . It work s for all the figures sh own.

Tetrah edro n : f= 4, c = 4, e = 6
Octahedro n : f = 8 , c = 6 , e = 1 2
D odecahedron: f = 1 2 , c = 1 8 , e = 28
Icosah edro n: f= 2 0 , c = 1 2 , e = 3 0

Five City Freeways

Ten roads. Put five dots on paper and j oin them with lines for the roads.
Y ou'll need ten lines, probably with five crossings . By redrawing , you can
re duce this num ber to one crossing, which is unavoidable .

Th e Bic kering Neigh b ors

Th e Bridges of Konigsberg
N o , it is imp ossible to cross every b ridge once an d only once in a single
stroll. S uch a stroll , if y ou were drawing , y ou could call a one-stroker.
E uler discovere d that there's a simple ru le for telling whether or not a
route is a one-stroker. First d raw the network, as he did for Konigsberg ;
this cuts out all fid dly details that don't m atter. Then cou nt the number of
roads (lines) leading into each dot. Call the dots odd if they have an odd
number of lines lead ing into the m , or even if the number is even . Euler
foun d this rule : A network with all even dots or with just two odd dots is
a one-stroker ; it can be traced in one m otion without lifting the pencil or
going ove r the sam e line twice. Net works with any other number of odd
d ots are d efinitely not one-strokers. I f y ou are showing somebody how to
trace a network with two odd d ot s , be sure to begin at one of the odd dots.

98
Euler s Bridges
Odd n u m ber of bridges ru le: The number of times y ou touch the north
bank (call it N) equ als half of I m ore than the num ber of bridges ( b ) . Or in
letters : N = (b + 1 )/ 2 .
Even num ber o f bridges rule: Here the nu mber o f "norths" i s I m ore than
half the number of bridges, or N = I + b / 2 .
Math ematical n o te : T o arrive a t these form ulas, y ou have to guess a n d jug­
gle a b it . Note , however, that in the "odd" formula y ou halve (b + 1 ) ; in
the "even" form ula , on the other hand , y ou only halve b, which is obvi­
ously p ossible because b is even.

Mobius Band
Cut it d own the m iddle and it falls into j ust one single b and - an ordinary
twisted collar. By cutting, y ou have added an e dge and a face. Cut a third
in, and you get one twisted collar and one smaller Mobius band linked to it .

Double Mobius Band

Open it out and y ou see it is actually one large b an d .

R elease th e Prisoners
You can get away from your friend by slipp ing the rope loop over one of
your hands and then back under one of the loops around his wrist , as
sh own here .

99
Th ree-R ing R ope Trick

Wedding Knots
Here are three different way s of j o ining the straws to m ake one single
closed loop : There are m any more ways.

Tied in Knots?
Ropes a, d, e, and g will tie in a knot. But knot h , of course , d oes not tie in
a knot, which is why m agicians use it !

1 00
Tour of th e Castle
These p roblems are obviously related to " Euler's Bridges." But to find a
general rule is not so o bvious! To find one, you h ave first to draw net work s
as Euler did in "The B ridges of Konigsberg . " The answers are : ( 1 a ) yes,
( 1 b ) no, ( 1 c) yes, (2a) no, (2b) yes, (2c) n o , and (2d) yes.

The Cu ban Gunrunners Pro blem

Blow up b ridges a, c, and d.

3. Vanishing-Line and Vanishing-Square Puzzles

Mr. Mad and th e Mandarins

The oranges on the plate of the absent child "vanished." But, actually ,
each rem aining plate of m and arins has gotten one more . It's just the same
as say ing four lots of three is the same as three lots of four. Or , as p art of
your m ultip lication table s, 4 X 3 3 X 4.
=

4. Match Puzzles

Squares from 24 Matches

(a) One extra square in two ways

( b ) Four extra squares- seven in all

1 01
(c) Seven squares

E ight sq uares with one extra, larger square

E ight square s w ith two extra, larger squares

Nine square s w ith five extra squares

1 02
Half-Match Squares
Yes. Four larger sq uares.

------.EE� FA
B3 .�::t1'
Th ird-Match Squares
·

Yes. Fifteen larger squ ares .

. � .;�
Fifth -Match Squares
Y es. 60 larger sq uares.

1 03
Move-or-R em ove Puzzles I

• b �

o
o c
d

83 1
r f
•

1 04
Move-or-R emove Puzzles II
(a) Remove the 1 2 m atches inside the large squ are , and use them to m ake
another large sq uare.

b c

0 0
0 0 d

e f

o
0 0 h

1 05
Win dows

EED
Greek Temple

�+I=H I • ijf]
A B
A n A rro w

Van ish ing Trick

==rl
There is one 4-by-4 squ are , four 3-by-3 square s , and n ine 2-by -2 squares,

T
and , of course , 1 6 sm all squ ares, m aking 1 + 4 + 9 + 1 6 , or 30 squares in

I fl
all .

-=
W U
1 06
Take Two

Six Triangles

\l •

Squares an d Diamonds

o
S tars and Sq uares

1 07
Patio and Well

A B
1 08
Get A cross th e Po ol

Spiral in to Sq uares

r=�
I L9 1
L��- -�
1 09
More Triangle Trickery
(a) M ove 3 m atches in the square corner as shown to form a step . Its area
is 2 sq uare match units less than that of the original triangle ( 6 square
m atch units) ; thus, it is 4 square m atch units.

�t II
,I
,I

= =':-_":l1.L­
I

( b ) M ove 2 more m atches to m ake another step . Its area is then 3 square
m atch units less- that is, its are a is 3 squ are m atch units.

r-----�----_r--���= =
� "
"
"
"
"
,
' I
I ,
II
"
"
"
"
= = = = :: =.::'�

Triangle Trio

Triangle Quarte t
IV\
The answer is a triangular pyramid , a tetrah edron.

1 10
3 Times th e A rea

5 Tr iangles

Cherry in th e Glass
Slide one m atch across and move the other like this :

5. Coin and Shunting Problems

Coin Sorting in Pairs

We have num bere d the coins to explain the answer. The coins can be re­
grouped in three m oves: Move coins 1 and 2 t wo places to the left . Fill the
gap by 4 and 5 . Jump 5 and 3 over to the far left .

I 1�1®�01�1
Rats i n a Tunnel
The eight m oves are as shown. There are two general rules: ( 1 ) Shift a coin
forward into a free sp ace , then jump another c oin over the coin j ust
shifted . (2) Alway s m ake shift s or jumps into the center of the tunnel first
before m aking j u m p s or shifts away from it.
A wrong m ove 3 is shown to indicate how you can get block e d . The

111
rats sh ould end up exactly ex changed an d not with two spaces between
each of th e black rats or each of the wh ite ones .

Start • • 0 0
Move 1

Blocked ' (Move inwards before

----
( I nstead
-...:::==I:::::!!=t:==t:==*==t:�:.j mov ing outwards I

do this)

Done l

Th ree-Coin Tric k
(a) U sing H for heads an d T for t ails , the moves are :

Begin T H T
--

Move I H T T
Move 2 H H H
�--------�
Done!
( b ) No, it cannot be done. Each move is not going to alter whether there
is an even or an odd number of tails (or heads) . As y ou see above , at each
stage there is always an odd number of heads an d an even number of tails.
So y ou cannot get three tail s because 3 is an odd number.

Triangle of Coins
The trick is to m ove the coins in the opp osite way to which you want the
final triangle to p oint.

112
Five-Coin Trick

Q
Five-Coin Puzzle
The general plan is as follows. Y ou can
shorten the number of m oves but this de­ � '- /
G0
scrip tion is easy to rem em ber.
Slide all five coin s around clock wise till
the half-d ollar is in the top right corner (p ic­
ture I ) . You note there is now a space be­
@
tween the half-d ollar and the penny. He re
we break the flow of coins. This is the cun­
2

G @ t;,\
n ing bit . Sh ift aroun d jus t the p enny , the

'-�
d imes and the nickel in a clock wise d irection
un til the pen ny is in the bottom left c orner

0)
( p icture 2). Shift aroun d just the dime, the

@
half-d ollar, and the qu arter in a counter­
clockwise direction until the half-dollar is
next to the penny ( p icture 3 ) . All y ou have
to do n ow is slide all five coins around clock­
3

0
wise un til the p enny is just above the half­

(0
dollar , on the left.
The trick was to split into two the flow
of coins and reverse the direc tion of flow of

0@
three of them .

Coin Changeovers
®
The pennies and n ickels can ch ange p laces in b oth c ases.

Mission Impossible ?
Writing F for Dr. Flinf and S for Dr. Sieben , an d 5 and 7 for the agents,
here is one way of com pleting the mission. F, 5, S, and 7 start on the
Slobodian bank . First , F an d 5 row across the river ; F stay s on far bank.
5 ro ws back , p icks up fellow agent 7 an d rows him over, leaving S alone on
the Slobod ian bank. Then 7 rows back alone and p ick s u p S an d t akes him
across to j oin the other two. Mission possible!

1 13
R ailroad Switch
Here are the six m ove s :

(1 ) The engine driver m oves p ast B, backs up into BC, and couples on
the black car.
(2) He p ulls the black car p ast B, then he b acks up into A B and un­
c ouples the black car. Then he m oves p ast B and b acks into BC again.
(3) He b acks p ast C and then shunts forward into A C and couples up the
white car.
(4) He p ushes the white car onto the m ain line out p ast A . Still coupled
to it , he backs up along AB and couples on the black car; he is now
san dwiche d between the two cars.
(5) S an d wiched between the two cars, he backs down past B. Then he
m oves up BC, where he uncouples the white car.
(6) He now b acks p ast B and then m oves forward past A , still towing the
b lack car. He then backs up A C and uncouples it. He m oves out of
A C p ast A ; then he backs up into the stretch A B. He is now facing
the other way .

I
111111 ��t1tt1 1 1 11 1
2

4.

I
5
II II �Ofi?:t-I IIII
6

1 14
R estacking Coins
Just seven m oves are neede d , so they shouldn't have t aken too long to d o !
Here is t h e relationsh ip between the n u m ber of m oves and the number o f
coins:
Coins I 2 3 4 5

Moves I 3 7 15 31

The number of m oves is 2 times itself the same n u m ber of times as coins
use d , less l . Thus for three coins, it is (2 X 2 X 2) - I , or 8 - 1 which is 7 .

,--
--------------

1 � �
2

1 15
R iver Crossing
First , the two b oy s cross in the b oat : 1

Now one soldie r is across the river and the t wo boys an d the boat are on
the first bank with the soldiers. Repe at the operation as m any times as
there are soldie rs ! You note that the number of soldiers wasn't given ; it
doesn't m atter.

Collision Course ?

(1 ) W ( white e ngine) w ith its car backs far out to the right (one re-
versal) .
(2) W run s onto the switch , leaving its car on m ain track .
(3) B (black engine) with its car runs out to the righ t.
(4) W b acks onto m ain track ( t wo reversals) .
(5) W couples with black car and m oves forward to left of switch.
(6) B b acks onto switch (three reversals) .
( 7) W and black c ar back off to right and couple with white car ( four
reversals) .
(8) W pulls two cars to left of switch.
(9) B run s onto m ain track .
(1 0) B backs to train ( five reversals) .
(1 1 ) B p icks up two cars and pulls them to right.
( 1 2) B backs rear ( b lack) car onto switch ( six reversals) .
(1 3) B p ulls one car to right.
(1 4) W b acks p ast switch and picks up white car from engine ( seven re-
versals) .
(1 5) W pulls its car off to left and a way .
(1 6) B backs up to switch and p icks up its o wn car ( eight reversals) .
( 1 7) B engine pulls its car from switch onto track and goes on its way .

116
6. Reasoning and Logical Puzzles

Th in king Blocks
A.
- f--

a
----
t--

B.
,. - - - - - .. �-- - -'
I I I I
I I I I
�-- ---i
I I I
I I I
L _ __ _ _ _�

4
c.

D. �
- - .,
LW
�
I
L
--

_ _
i
- �

_ _
I

.
-,

J
I

Martian Orders!
(a) Thalia , Zane , Xeron ; (b) Shere e , Thalia, Zane, X eron.

Wha t Shape Nex t?

(A ) Shape c , (B) shape e.

IQ Puzzle
Shape 3 .

Odd Shape Out

a, 2 ; b , 3 ; c, 3 ; d , I .

The Same Sh ape

(A ) Shape d, (B) sh ap e c.

Nex t Shape, Please

1 17
Th e A p t House
H ouse 2 .

Wh o Is Telling th e Tru th ?
Con is.

Th e Colored Ch em icals Puzzle

O range , yello w , and green are p oison .

Mr. Black, Mr. Gray , and Mr. Wh ite

The key is that the m an in white is talking to Mr. Black and so cannot be
h im . Nor can he be Mr. White, since nobody is wearing his own color. So
the m an in white must be Mr. Gray . We can show what we know like this:

Mr. White

black

The straigh t line sh ows what m ust be true ; the wiggly line shows what can­
n ot be true. Mr White can not be wearing white ; so he 's in black . That
leaves Mr. Black wearing gray .

Hairdresser or Sh op A ssis tan t?

Amy and B abs are sh op assistants ; Carol is a hairdre sser.

Th e Zo okeeper 's Puzzle

A rt and Cora.

Wh o s Guilty ?
Alf and B ert are guilty .

Wh o 's in th e Play ?
Charle s an d Alice.

Tea, Coffee, or Malted Milk?

M alted m ilk.

Soda o r Milksh ake ?

Suppose Alan h as a soda. Then (a) say s Bet has a m ilkshake. But (c) tells
you Cis cannot then have a m ilkshake and m ust h ave a soda. But (b) says
b oth Alan and Cis cannot b oth h ave a sod a. Alan cannot have a sod a ; so
Alan has a m ilkshake. From (b ) that means Cis h as a soda. Which , from (c) ,
leaves Bet free to choose either a soda or a m ilksh ake . Thus there are two
p ossible orders : ( I ) Alan , m ilksh ake ; Cis, soda ; and Bet , sod a . ( 2) Alan,
m ilksh ake ; Cis, sod a ; Bet , milkshake.

118
Ne wton s Kittens
Obviously the k ittens could have gotten in and out by the same hole as the
m other cat !

March Hare 's Party

Sylvie had tea u n der the tree at table I because she wouldn't go near water.
Al and Barbra sat at table 3 : He couldn't take her in the b oat to table 4.
Gary j o ined the m at 3, roller-skating over the bridge : He couldn't go to
table 2 because of the "no boys" rule. That leaves Don , who wouldn't sit
with Gary at table 3 and also couldn't take the p ath to table 2. Don rowed
to table 4 and sat by h im self.
Answer: table I , Sylvie ; 2, n ob ody ; 3 , AI, Barbra , and Gary ; and 4 , Don.

Marriage Mix-up
Ted is m arried to Barbra with daughter Ruth , Pete to Sue with daughter
Wendy , and Charlie to Nicola with son Dick . The reasoning goes like this:
Ted's d aughter is not Wendy . So his daughter must be Ruth . So Pete is
father of other girl , Wendy . Which means Charlie is father of Dick . S o his
wife cannot be Barbra because she has a daughter. ( Assume a girl plays
Annie and Ophelia ! ) His wife is not Sue, so his wife has to be Nicola . Now
Pete's daugh ter is not Barbra's daughter because they have only one child
each. So Pete cannot be m arried to Barbra. That m eans Ted is m arried to
B arbra , and Pete there fore to Sue.

Wh o Does Wh ich Jo b ?
Orville i s bartender and singer ; Virgil i s private ey e and racing d river;
Homer is jockey and cardsharp. This is how you get the answer. Draw a
table to show the men and the jobs, and fill it in as follows:

Facts used Orville Virgil Hom er

3 Priv ate eye

I 2 Racing driver X

2 S inger X X

3 4 J ockey X X

4 B artender

I Cardsh arp

First look at the jo bs. Fact 1 tells us the b artender is not the same m an as
the racing driver. Put a 1 beside them ( as sho wn) . Similarly the racing
d river ( 2 ) is not the singer (2) . And so on. Now look at the men. Fact 2

1 19
tells us Homer is neither the racing d river nor the singe r ; so p ut an X in the
table under Hom er opp osite those two job s , as shown . Fact 5 says Virgil is
not th e singer; put an X under Virgil op posite Singer. Fact 6 tells y ou
Homer is the j o ckey as Virgil and Orville are not ; opp osite Jockey put X's
under V and 0 and a check under H.
Now for the reasoning. Orville m ust be the s inger- since neither Virgil
nor Homer is-so put a check under 0 opp osite Singer. Here is the table so
far in brief:
o V H
P

R X

S x X

J x X J
B

To fill the Singer line put a check under Orville ( 0) . Then in the Jockey
line put a check un der Homer (H) . And so on.
Fact 2 tells us to put a cross under H opp osite R. Fact 3 gives an X
under H opp osite P and B . That leaves o nly C for H's second j o b : put a
check there. The t able looks like this :

o V H

P X

R X

S X X

J X X J
B X

C J
Now we can put a check under V op p osite R. So Fact 1 gives an X
under V opp osite B -thus forcing a J under 0 on th at line ( that is , Orville's
second job is bartender) . Fin ally , the bottom line with two X' s means
V irgil's second job is P ( p rivate eye) .

Birds and Insects

A nswer A alone follows logically .

1 20
Wonderland Golf
Five shots : DDDS D or S DDSD. There is a pattern. To see it , turn back to
the map of the golf course. Working b ackward s from h ole 1 8 , a D shot gets
you back to hole 9, then an S sh ot to 8, followed by three D's to the first
tee. (From 2 to I could be an S as well.) You can also work it out by arith­
metic. Divide the hole number by 2 over and over again , n oting if there is a
remain der of l . For 1 8 y ou get :
,..----,

18
9
4 r 1
2
1

Count up the number of answers and rem ainders : 9 , 4 , 1 , 2 , 1 , which

m akes five numbers; that's how many shots it takes. This rule w ork s for
any hole.

Mad Hatte r 's Tea Party

Set G to table 1 , M to 3 , and B to 4. Table 2 stay s e m p ty .

7 . Mathematical Games

Nim
The way to calculate a winning position is best shown with the starting
p osition of Nim . It has 3 , 4, an d 5 m atches. We rewrite the rows in binary ­
that is, in powers of 2 , or in "doublings." The numbers 1 0 0 , 1 0 , an d 1 in
b inary are 4 , 2 , and 1 in every d ay nu mbers. While 1 1 in usual counting
num bers means 1 ten an d l one, in binary it m eans 1 two and l one. We
can m ake 3 out of 2 + 1 and in binary write it as 1 1 . Then 4 in binary is
1 00 , m eaning 1 four and no twos and no ones, an d 5 in binary is 1 0 1 , mean­
ing 1 four , no twos an d l one. We set the rows out in b inary as follows:

Matches Fours Twos Ones

Top ro w 3 I 1

Middle row 4 1 0 0

B ottom row 5 1 0 1

Totals 2 1 2

As y ou see , we added each colu mn up in ordinary num bers ; but we did not

1 21
" carry " num bers over from one column to the next. Two column totals
are eve n , and one, the m iddle colu m n , is odd . To m ake the p osition safe
for y ourself, all y ou do is make the totals of each column even. So your
first m ove is to take 2 m atches from the top row , as explained. This
changes the t op binary num ber to I . The colu mns then become :

Matches Fours Twos Ones

T op row I I

Mid dle row 4 I 0 0

B ottom ro w 5 I 0 I

Totals 2 0 2

Now e ach column adds up to an even number. The p osition is safe .

Daisy
Here is the second player's winning strategy : Say the first player takes one
p etal ; then the second p layer takes t wo pe tals, which m ust be n ex t to each
other, d irectly opp osite the one taken by the first p layer. If the first player
takes two adj acent petals, the sec ond player takes one petal, again directly
opp osite . Either way this leaves two sets of five petals , sy m metrically ar­
range d ab out the two spaces. All the second player has to do now is to
keep the p attern sy mmetric al, taking special note of the spaces.

Th e Cop and th e R o b ber

The cop h as first to go around the triangular block at the top left corner.
Then he is an odd number of corners away from the robber and can cat ch
him - p rovided the ro bber does not go arou nd the triangle! Remember,
there are only three corners in the triangular block , and you can get right
around it in three m oves.

Morra
Morra' s Winnings

Other sh ows
I finger 2 fingers
M orra shows I finger +2 - 3
2 fingers - I +2

M orra's best strategy , to reduce his losses, is to sh ow two fingers all the
tim e ; then he never loses more than one penny .

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