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Solution: Penning a Half-Dozen
Penning a Half-Dozen was a toothpick puzzle that went along with a story.
This story explains that a shepherd had a sheep pen made of 13 identical fence
pieces which enclosed six rectangular sheep pens all of identical shape and
size. One night a thief stole one of the fence pieces, leaving the shepherd
with only 12. How can the shepherd rebuild the pens so that their are still
six pens of identical shape and size? All of the fence pieces must be used without
overlapping or cutting any of them. Students were to model the shepherd's solution
using 12 toothpicks. The solution appears below.
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