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#241 Escape room

set by Rob Eastaway and Brian Hobbs

To celebrate the release of , our book of ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ puzzles, there is no right answer for this week’s puzzle. Instead, we want your creative solutions – mathematical, scientific, lateral or just eccentric. Credit will be given for imaginative use of all items in the room. Our three favourite answers will win a copy of our book, with the best printed in ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ.

Prince Golightly dizzily opened his eyes. He was tied to a chair with a rope that seemed to be loose – he reckoned he could untie it. Looking around, he saw he was in a square room roughly 10 metres on each side, with four vicious monsters chained in each corner. They were currently sleeping – but get within a metre of one of them and he was finished.

There was a door in the centre of one wall, and he needed to reach it without waking the monsters. Close to him, a light dangled on a long cord from the middle of the ceiling. By his feet, he noticed a large dictionary, a roll of duct tape, a broom, a kitchen clock and a bucket of water with a russet fish swimming in it. Just then, the light bulb blew. Now it was totally dark, and he had no sense of direction. How could he escape?

Email your suggested solution to , subject: Headscratcher

#240 Tango tiles

Solution

On the left is a way to do it with six congruent tiles. If you don’t want to turn tiles over, it can be done with as few as 24 tiles, as shown on the right.

The graphical solution to puzzle #240 Tango tiles has been changed to the correct version now shown here.