21 Comments

Ooooo, this is a fun one. I’m gonna give it to the twins and see if a child with less knowledge might come up with the answer faster than I would have. Sometimes solutions are prevented by overthinking.

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It is indeed easy, once you see it. It was obvious that, since there are three in the upper row, one must be gotten rid of, but I couldn't figure out how. Now it is obvious that to make four squares with sixteen sticks, none can be contiguous.

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I had two other solutions come to mind before the supplied answer. A fun puzzle.

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Aug 17
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okay, now that stumped me. (i confess to limiting my scope of known possible actions on social media.) i did a search to see what you might mean. no luck. i don't have x or the other things, except facebook.

or maybe this is a bot thing, since the english isn't quite up to your standards. hmmmmmm.

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Aug 13Edited

I love these. Not very good at them but find them fun. If you like this type of fun check out the "Move One Matchstick" compilations on the internet. Here's an easy one to get you started LOL

https://i.postimg.cc/Kj9K1qh0/Matchstick-1.png

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The trick, such that there is one, is to avoid a random moving of sticks until you hit onto the solution by accident. Easy for me since I have spend 50+ years solving puzzles of various types- the first step for me is always to figure out how much information the puzzle itself gives me- so here it was "obvious" to me to count the sticks first.

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This reminds me of the advice I was given for exams. Read and re-read the question before attempting to reply:)

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What?

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Any favorite websites for puzzles like this? Thank you for sharing - I enjoyed the distraction from world news.

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It helped to count the number of sticks - 16 - which meant that all the sticks had to be monogamous

i.e. the result had to be 4 squares joined at the corners

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I did not see a rule that you need to use all of the sticks, so I simply removed the two sticks that connected the square at the upper left with the three on the right. You end up with four equally sized squares and two extra sticks. Is that not also a solution?

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Duh, I reread the rules.

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I made the same error.

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If nothing stands out, gather more information instead of brute forcing. 👍

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Somehow I thought to count the sticks, and realised four independent squares would do it. Couldn't visualise an alternating pattern, thought it was a scam. Wasn't until you confirmed the no neighbours that I went back and saw it. Now I'm pondering how our brains notice reality and why we do or don't pull on those threads.

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I got there through the same process- counting the sticks and knowing the 4 squares couldn't have any shared sides.

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took me a minute ...mine came out slightly different then yours --four equal squares on right side and one square by itself not touching on left side (it didn't say they had to touch) (i removed the second square in 2 horizontals and put them at the far left top to make a square)

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nm...it also helps if you dont quick read it ...lol

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Also helps if you don’t have 3 glasses of Rioja before attempting it…hey don’t judge me it’s been a stressful week!

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It was during my quick morning break and hadn't had coffee yet!

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I cheated and asked my local A/I wizard to solve it. That's what he's for isn't it? To relieve me from ever having to think again.

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