by Dave Youngs
We hope that you enjoyed last month's puzzle. This month we present you with a more challenging version. Squarely Constructed II is a more challenging puzzle.
It is based on a puzzle by Sam Loyd (1814-1911), one of the greatest puzzle creators of all time. Loyd's original puzzle showed an irregular piece of gingerbread (similar to the grid in Squarely Constructed II ) marked into squares.
His challenge was to find a way to cut the gingerbread along the lines to divide it into two pieces that could be fitted together to make an 8 x 8 square. In Squarely Constructed II students are given grids that show the gingerbread arrangement in Loyd's puzzle. Students cut out the grids and use them to try and solve the puzzle. Students should discover that the grid has an area of 64 square units and will form an 8 x 8 square. If students don't succeed in the first attempt, they should cut out another grid and try again. While this puzzle is more difficult than last month's, it should be solvable after some time is spent on it.