SOMA Cube

We are asked regularly about our puzzles. A visitor wanted more information about the SOMA Cube.

The puzzle you describe is called the Soma Cube. It was invented by Piet Hein, a very interesting mathematician. This Wikipedia entry scratches the surface.

We see many very reasonably priced versions of the cube on Ebay.

Once you have one, be sure you don't limit its use to making cubes, here is a link that leads to many Soma Cube puzzles.

It has been said that a person who works intensively with the pieces for two weeks won't need the blocks any more to solve puzzles. That we would like to see!

Cross Puzzle with 4 pieces

You asked if the puzzle in TechLab with four pieces actually reassembles into one large square.

 Two small squares are easy.

The hint posted alongside this puzzle is that the square has twice the area of the cross. The only way this can be, using the same four pieces, is if the square has a hole in it with the same area as the cross. We will be the first to admit this is a sneaky solution.

In this case, the hole is actually the same shape as the cross. The drawing shows the cross pattern with one piece rotated into position as a corner of the square pattern.

Pi Codes by Scott Kim question

You ask if we would mail you the answers to the Pi codes. Naturally, I reply, of course not! But I will give you some hints, and if you push, I will answer your question more completely if you ask me again. Fair enough? I hope so.

Here is Pi to eight digits: 3.1415927

Here are the five statements:

1. We won your fund drive sign.

2. Circles and diameters are equally important.

3. The easy vowels echo mathematical magnitude.

4. Bring in your initial six questions.

5. May I draw a round perimeter?

We originally put this poster up as part of our Pi day celebration, and it was a math puzzle. In our transition to Codes And Ciphers, we realized that it was still appropriate. I will approach it here as a problem for a cryptanalist

First, having the number itself to work with is very helpful. A codebreaker calls this a "crib." Code breaking is as much about figuring out the encipherment as it is about reading the message.

Second, a good code master will never send a message in more than one code without changing it in some other way, by altering words or word orders, or the very words themselves. In this case, Scott Kim, the author of these lines, has not obeyed this rule.

Where to start? You may have noticed that each sentence has six words. This might be useful. Coincidence? I think not!

Look at the second and fourth digits of the number Pi, our crib. You will notice they are the same. Look at each sentence. What do the second and fourth words have in common?

Some of the sentences, three and four, have a word hint to the solution, the others make more general remarks about circles.

Two of the sentences' solutions, one and four, do not rely on a numerical trick.

I hope I have given you enough to get you started.