Double Square
a.k.a. Square Me, Five Block Puzzle, Madagascar Madness
ThinkFun Binary Arts, 2003.
(plastic, 4-piece square is 3 inches, solved 5-piece square is 3.2 inches square)
People often quickly find the four piece solution and then get stuck trying "stretch"
the puzzle just a little bit in a way that will accommodate an additional small square piece.
If the four piece solution is 4 units square,
it has area 16,
the extra square has area 2,
and the five piece solution has area 18
(forming a square that is just under 4.25 units square);
for each of the pieces in the four piece solution, its orientation is 45 degrees counter-clockwise in the five piece solution:
Characterized on page 102 of the 1942
Filipiak book
Filipiak book
as "recorded in the records of antiquity",
has been periodically made as a promotional item.
CSPI promotional circa 1975.
(plastic, solved 5-piece 2.9 inches square;
this was a company that J. A. Storer's father was a part of in the 1970's;
came with a wire loop which J. A. Storer replaced in 2007 with Snowbird key ring)
Other Versions of Double Square
"Madagascar Madness", Behavioral Sciences Inc., 1969.
(5 inches square by 3/4 inch thick plastic box and five plastic pieces;
the square piece was lost and replaced with a green plexi-glass piece)
This puzzle is packaged with a tray for the 4-piece solution and the 5th piece loose;
perhaps to guide the solvers thinking away from the 5-piece solution.
The directions on a 4.5 inch square card inserted into the back give an interesting discussion of the geometry:
Other Versions of Double Square Continued
Dickinson's Witch Hazel promotional, unknown age.
(3" x 4.5" envelope with cardboard pieces, solved 5-piece square is 4" square;
Dickinson's Witch Hazel was first made in 1866 and was still being made in 2000)
Five Block Puzzle, S.S. Adams Co. circa 1950?
(1/4 inch thick wood pieces, solved 5-piece square is 5 inches square)
Further reading
Dickinson's Witch hazel Page,
from: http://www.witchhazel.com
Dickinson Co. Records,
from:
http://www.lib.uconn.edu/online/research/speclib/ASC/findaids/
EEDickinson/MSS19960001.html