The Slothouber-Graatsma puzzle

The Slothouber-Graatsma puzzle consists of nine pieces that must fit into an open-ended 3 x 3 x 3 box. Three of the pieces are 1 x 1 x 1 cubes and six are 1 x 2 x 2 rectangular solids.

Although you may be tempted to view the solution out of frustration, really challenge yourself to solve it on your own!

  • The three 1 × 1 × 1 blocks need to be placed along a body diagonal of the box, as each of the 3 x 3 layers in the various directions needs to contain the 1 x 1 x 1 block.

    The puzzle is essentially the same if the three 1 × 1 × 1 blocks are left out, so that the task is to pack six 1 × 2 × 2 blocks into a cubic box with volume 27.

    View photo

 
 




  
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