How does the "Vanishing Leprechaun" puzzle work, in which one leprechaun disappears or reappears when the...

geometry/dissections/vanishing.leprechaun New

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Problem

How does the "Vanishing Leprechaun" puzzle work, in which one
leprechaun disappears or reappears when the pieces of the picture are
rearranged?

>Has anybody seen this puzzle?  Has anybody solved this puzzle.  I saw
>a big version of the puzzle when I was in Toronto this summer, and I
>got a miniature version of it for Christmas.

-- Todd Grimm <008035g@axe.acadiau.ca>, January 1994

Show solution

I assume you're talking about the Sam Loyd [Editor: spelled "Lloyd" in
the original, here and below] rearrangement puzzle where one leprechaun disappears/
appears (I'm pretty sure it's Loyd's...)

The leprechauns are different when rearranged; it's easier to see
using plain lines, and without interlacing the figures to disguise the
staggering:

-----------------       -----------------
|           |   |       |   |           |
|        H  |   |       |   |        H  |
|____H___H__|___|       |___|____H___H__|
|    H   H      |       |    H   H      |
|    H          |       |    H          |
|               |       |               |
-----------------       -----------------

-- Merlyn LeRoy <merlyn@digibd.digibd.com>