116 Geometrical Problems
- THE MALTESE CROSS
Can you cut the star into four pieces
and place them inside the frame so as
to show a perfect Maltese Cross?
of the figure if we regard it as built
up of seventeen equal squares. You
can divide it up into these seventeen
squares with your pencil without dif-
ficulty. Now try to cut it into four
pieces to form a single square.- THE PIRATES' FLAG
Here is a flag taken from a band stripes represented the number of men
of pirates on the high seas. The twelve in the band, and when a new man was
admitted or dropped out a new stripe
was added or one removed, as the
case might be. Can you discover how
the flag should be cut into as few
pieces as possible so that they may be
put together again and show only
ten stripes? No part of the material
may be wasted, and the flag must re-
tain its oblong shape.
338. THE CARPENTER'S PUZZLE
Here is a well-known puzzle, given in all the old books. A ship's carpenter
had to stop a hole twelve inches square, and the only piece of wood that was