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By Stewart T. Coffin

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Contents

Preface
Introduction
1. Two-Dimensional Dissections
Jigsaw Puzzles
Tangram
Other Tangram-Like Puzzles
A Five-Piece Square Dissection
Geometrical Dissections
Checkerboards
2. Two-Dimensional Combinatorial Puzzles
Regular Polygons as Building Blocks
Triangles as Building Blocks
Squares as Building Blocks
Pentominoes
More Checkerboards
The Cornucopia Puzzle
Hexagons as Building Blocks
3. Cubic Block Puzzles
The 3 x 3 x 3 Cube
The Solid Tetrominoes
The Solid Pentominoes
A Checkered Pentacube Puzzle
Polycubes in General
Rectangular Blocks
4. Interlocking Block Puzzles
Cubic Block Puzzles
The Convolution Puzzle
The Three-Piece Block Puzzle
5. The Six-Piece Burr
General Discussion
Burr No. 305
Difficulty Index and Burr No. 306
Higher-Level Burrs and Bill's Baffling Burr
6. Larger (and Smaller) Burrs
Symmetry
The Three-Piece Burr Problem
Practical 12-Piece Burrs
The Altekruse Puzzle
Variations of the Altekruse Puzzle
The Pin-Hole Puzzle
The Corner Block Puzzle
A 24-Piece Burr
7. The Diagonal Burr
8. The Rhombic Dodecahedron and Its Stellations
Theory of Interlock
Stellations
The Second Stellation
The Four Corners Puzzle
Color Symmetry
The Second Stellation in Four Colors
The Third Stellation in Four Colors
9. Polyhedral Puzzles with Dissimilar Pieces
The Permutated Second Stellation
The Permutated Third Stellation
The Broken Sticks Puzzle
The Augmented Second Stellation
Building Blocks
The Augmented Four Corners Puzzle
The Diagonal Cube Puzzle
The Reluctant Cluster Puzzle
10. Intersecting Prisms
The Hexagonal Prism Puzzle
The Triangular Prism Puzzle
The Star Prism Puzzle
The Square Prism Puzzle
The Three Pairs Puzzle
11. Puzzles that Make Different Shapes
The Star of David Puzzle
A Puzzle in Reverse
12. Coordinate-Motion Puzzles
The Expanding Box Puzzle
The Rosebud Puzzle
13. Puzzles Using Hexagonal or Rhombic Sticks
The Cuckoo Nest Puzzle
A Triple Decker Puzzle
A Holey Hex Hybrid
Notched Hexagonal Sticks
Notched Rhombic Sticks
14. Split Triangular Sticks
The Dislocated Scorpius Puzzle
The Scrambled Scorpius Puzzle
15. Dissected Rhombic Dodecahedra
Two-Tiered Puzzles
The Pennyhedron Puzzle
16. Miscellaneous Confusing Puzzles
The Pseudo-Notched Sticks Puzzle
The Square Face Puzzle
The Queer Gear
17. Triacontahedral Designs
Thirty Pentagonal Sticks and Dowels
Pentagonal Sub-Units
Notched Pentagonal Sticks
Notched Rhombic Sticks
The Jupiter Puzzle
The Dislocated Jupiter Puzzle
A Scrambled Jupiter?
The Dissected Triacontahedron
18. Puzzles Made of Polyhedral Blocks
Truncated Octahedra
Rhombic Dodecahedra
The Leftover Block Puzzle
Substitution of Spheres
The Four-Piece Pyramid Puzzle
The Octahedral Cluster Puzzle
19. Intermezzo
Computers and Puzzles
Abstraction and Reality
The Universal Language of Geometrical Recreations
Games
20. The Two Tiers Puzzle
21. Theme and Variations
The Six-Part Invention
The Eight-Piece Cube Puzzle
More Variations
The Pillars of Hercules Family
22. Blocks and pins
The Lollipop Puzzle
Drawing on the Brain
23. Woodworking Techniques
Lumber
Forming into Sticks
Cross-Cutting
Drilling Holes
Gluing
Sanding and Finishing
Summary
Finale
Bibliography
List of Figures and Tables
Puzzle Credits
©1990-2012 by Stewart T. Coffin
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