Martin Gardner introduced me to Vanishing Area Paradox Puzzles in Aha! Gotcha! with the Vanishing Leprechaun Puzzle. He explained the paradox by describing an old counterfeiting method. I've learned the method and so I'm going to share it with you.…
Knight mazes are a set of squares on a square lattice upon which a chess knight may move. We examine elements of mazes which can be both attractive and puzzling, and discuss two methods of creating mazes.
A scissors and tape activity on a letter sized sheet of cardstock, for building a horocyclic model of the hyperbolic plane, with a postcard-sized memento of of our sculpture build attached.
Years ago, when I first learned of the Temporal Logic system called D, I made a puzzle postcard using the system and mailed copies to a few friends. They seemed to enjoy it, so I'm doing it again, for the Gift Exchange.
The included piece will be a decorated deltoidal icositetrahedron net, which can be colored and subsequently cut and assembled. Alternatively, those with a cutting machine can cut the closed regions on each face of the polyhedron to obtain an…
I have gifted an assortment of laser cut acrylic kits of simple mechanisms, including locks, engines, and other such mechanical devices. These were originally designed as physical diagrams for a book project, but are now being produced for sale.…
This is a standard trihexaflexagon with some extra crease lines. Cut it out and fold it up in the usual way, using tape or glue, adding the extra creases. The new degrees of freedom allow the hexaflexagon to swim along itself like Escher's fish, as…
This net is similar to those in my 'Cubes and Things' 3D coloring books, where I use playful patterns to accent symmetries of polyhedra. By truncating one vertex of a dodecahedron, it becomes a tridecahedron. (Do you think truncating all the corners…
Noted high energy particle psychic Fermi Geller is conducting a study of detox particles in his lab. He has successfully generated 13 new particles of Woo-ium in his reactor, but he needs to move the particles into the numerologically stable…
A laser-cut puzzle that illustrates a proof of Pythagoras’ theorem. The puzzle pieces either fit in 2 squares aXa and bXb, or in a hypotenuse square cXc. The shapes in the puzzle are taken from a known proof of Pythagoras’ theorem. To my surprise the…
A small bag containing twelve square tiles, each with a different pentomino marked on it. Instructions for use in divination are included, along with a set of puzzles using the runes.
I made pentagons of edges whose lengths are 1,2,3,4 and 5 in order and can be tiled the flat infinitive plane. And also hexagons of 1,2,3,4,5,6 edge length. A set of a few of them is my exchange puzzle.
A polyomino packing puzzle with 8 pieces ranging in size from 1 to 8. The main goal is to create a 6x6 square. Further goal shapes (and solutions) can be found on https://www.jaapsch.net/g4g/g4g13.htm
A hand-made rubber bracelet in the form of a trefoil knot. It is a mathematical curiosity, a puzzle, an impossible object, and a piece of nerdy jewelry.
A simple puzzle made using Quandong (desert peach) seeds. Quandongs can be found throughout the arid areas of Central Australia and are an important food source for people and native fauna such as emu.