Henry Ernest Dudeney/Modern Puzzles/104 - The Square Table-Top

Modern Puzzles by Henry Ernest Dudeney: $104$

The Square Table-Top

A man had three pieces of beautiful wood, measuring $12$ units, $15$ units and $16$ units square respectively.

He wanted to cut those into the fewest pieces possible that would fit together and form a small square table-tip $25$ units by $25$ units.

How was he to do it?

Dudeney adds:

I have found several easy solutions in six pieces, very pretty, but have failed to do it in five pieces.

Perhaps the latter is not possible.

I know it will interest my readers to examine the question.

Sources

• 1926: Henry Ernest Dudeney: Modern Puzzles ... (previous) ... (next): Geometrical Problems: Dissection Puzzles: $104$. -- The Square Table-Top
• 1968: Henry Ernest Dudeney: 536 Puzzles & Curious Problems ... (previous) ... (next): Geometrical Problems: Dissection Puzzles: $328$. The Square Table-Top