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nydus/The Canterbury Puzzles, and Other Curious ProblemsPublic
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Henry Ernest Dudeney collects a wide variety of original mathematical and mental puzzles into this volume. The book features an introductory essay on the nature of puzzles and provides solutions for all problems at the end.

Page 120 of 307
Table of Contents

77 .— Making a Flag.

A mathematical puzzle diagram showing an irregular polygon with four flower icons inside and two points labeled A and B.

A good dissection puzzle in so few as two pieces is rather a rarity, so perhaps the reader will be interested in the following. The diagram represents a piece of bunting, and it is required to cut it into two pieces (without any waste) that will fit together and form a perfectly square flag, with the four roses symmetrically placed. This would be easy enough if it were not for the four roses, as we should merely have to cut from A to B, and insert the piece at the bottom of the flag. But we are not allowed to cut through any of the roses, and therein lies the difficulty of the puzzle. Of course we make no allowance for "turnings."

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