Part 7 (1/2)
It will be seen that in this case the square patchwork quilt is built up of 169 pieces The puzzle is to find the smallest possible number of square portions of which the quilt could be coether Or, to put it the reverse way, divide the quilt into as few square portions as possible bythe stitches
174--THE SQUARES OF BROCADE
[Illustration]
I happened to be paying a call at the house of a lady, when I took up from a table two lovely squares of brocade They were beautiful specin, a delicate chequered pattern
”Are they not exquisite?” said ht to me by a cousin who has just returned froive me a little assistance You see, I have decided to join thee square cushi+on-cover How should I do this so as to mutilate the material as little as possible? Of course I propose tothe lines that divide the little chequers”
[Illustration]
I cut the two squares in the ether and for care that the pattern should match properly, and when I had finished I noticed that two of the pieces were of exactly the same area; that is, each of the two contained the same number of chequers Can you sho the cuts were made in accordance with these conditions?
175--ANOTHER PATCHWORK PUZZLE
[Illustration]
A lady was presented, by two of her girl friends, with the pretty pieces of silk patchwork shown in our illustration It will be seen that both pieces are made up of squares all of the same size--one 12 12 and the other 5 5 She proposes to join theether and make one square patchwork quilt, 13 13, but, of course, she will not cut any of the material--ain What perplexes her is this A friend assures her that there need be no more than four pieces in all to join up for the new quilt Could you show her how this little needlework puzzle is to be solved in so few pieces?
176--LINOLEUM CUTTING
[Illustration]
The diagram herewith represents two separate pieces of linoleum The chequered pattern is not repeated at the back, so that the pieces cannot be turned over The puzzle is to cut the two squares into four pieces so that they shall fit together and form one perfect square 10 10, so that the pattern shall properly er piece shall have as small a portion as possible cut from it
177--ANOTHER LINOLEUM PUZZLE
[Illustration]
Can you cut this piece of linoleuether and for the lines
VARIOUS GEOMETRICAL PUZZLES
”So various are the tastes of men” MARK AKENSIDE
178--THE CARDBOARD BOX
This puzzle is not difficult, but it will be found entertaining to discover the siular cardboard box The top has an area of 120 square inches, the side 96 square inches, and the end 80 square inches What are the exact dimensions of the box?
179--STEALING THE BELL-ROPES
Two ht to steal the bell-ropes The two ropes passed through holes in the wooden ceiling high above the to the top Then one man drew his knife and cut the rope above his head, in consequence of which he fell to the floor and was badly injured His fellow-thief called out that it served hi such a fool He said that he should have done as he was doing, upon which he cut the rope below the place at which he held on Then, to his dising on as long as his strength lasted, he was coo and fall beside his co with their limbs broken How far did they fall? One of the ropes when they found it was just touching the floor, and when you pulled the end to the wall, keeping the rope taut, it touched a point just three inches above the floor, and the as four feet fro was the rope fro?
180--THE FOUR SONS
Readers will recognize the diagram as a familiar friend of their youth A man possessed a square-shaped estate He bequeathed to histhe quarter of it that is shaded off The rest his four sons, so that each should receive land of exactly the same area and exactly similar in shape We are sho this was done But the reenerally known In the centre of the estate was a well, indicated by the dark spot, and Benjamin, Charles, and David complained that the division was not ”equitable,” since Alfred had access to this well, while they could not reach it without trespassing on somebody else's land The puzzle is to sho the estate is to be apportioned so that each son shall have land of the saoing off his own land
[Illustration]
181--THE THREE RAILWAY STATIONS
As I sat in a railway carriage I noticed at the other end of the coed in conversation with another passenger, as evidently a friend of his
”How far have you to drive to your place froer
”Well,” replied the squire, ”if I get out at Appleford, it is just the saefield, another fifteen ed at Appleford and went thirteen miles from there to Carterton, it would still be the same distance You see, I aood choice of trains”
Now I happened to know that Bridgefield is just fourteenout the exact distance that the squire had to drive hoot out at What was the distance?
182--THE GARDEN PUZZLE
Professor Rackbrain tellsa friendly pipe under a tree in the garden of a country acquaintance The garden was enclosed by four straight walls, and his friend inforths to be 80, 45, 100, and 63 yards respectively ”Then,” said the professor, ”we can calculate the exact area of the garden” ”Iet an infinite nuet,” Rackbrane said, with a twinkle in his eye, ”that you told me once you had planted this tree equidistant froarden's area?
183--DRAWING A SPIRAL
If you hold the page horizontally and give it a quick rotaryat the centre of the spiral, it will appear to revolve Perhaps a good many readers are acquainted with this little optical illusion But the puzzle is to shoas able to draw this spiral with sobut a pair of coram was made Hoould you proceed in such circumstances?
[Illustration]
184--HOW TO DRAW AN OVAL
Can you draw a perfect oval on a sheet of paper with one sweep of the cos in the world when you kno
185--ST GEORGE'S BANNER
At a celebration of the national festival of St George's Day I was conte the familiar banner of the patron saint of our country We all know the red cross on a white ground, shown in our illustration This is the banner of St George The banner of St Andrew (Scotland) is a white ”St Andrew's Cross” on a blue ground That of St Patrick (Ireland) is a siround These three are united in one to fore's banner it occurred toquestion wouldmeasures four feet by three feet, hoide must the arm of the cross be if it is required that there shall be used just the sa?
[Illustration]
186--THE CLOTHES LINE PUZZLE
A boy tied a clothes line from the top of each of two poles to the base of the other He then proposed to his father the following question As one pole was exactly seven feet above the ground and the other exactly five feet, as the height froround where the two cords crossed one another?
187--THE MILKMAID PUZZLE
[Illustration]
Here is a little pastoral puzzle that the readeris very profound, involving deep calculations He ive any answer unless we are told so definite as to the distances And yet it is really quite ”childlike and bland”
In the corner of a field is seen aa cow, and on the other side of the field is the dairy where the extract has to be deposited But it has been noticed that the young wooes down to the river with her pail before returning to the dairy Here the suspicious reader will perhaps ask why she pays these visits to the river I can only reply that it is no business of ours The alleged oing to, my pretty maid?” ”Down to the river, sir,” she said ”I'll not choose your dairy, my pretty maid” ”nobody axed you, sir,” she said
If one had any curiosity in the matter, such an independent spirit would entirely disarm one So ill pass from the point of commercial morality to the subject of the puzzle