Henry Ernest Dudeney/Modern Puzzles/132 - The Garden Bed

Modern Puzzles by Henry Ernest Dudeney: $132$

The Garden Bed

Here is quite a simple little puzzle.

A man has a triangular lawn of the proportions shown,

and he wants to make the largest possible rectangular flower-bed without enclosing the tree.

This will serve to teach the uninitiated a simple rule that may prove useful on occasion.

For example, it would equally apply to the case of a carpenter who had a triangular board

and wished to cut out the largest possible rectangular table-top without including a bad knot in the wood.

Sources

• 1926: Henry Ernest Dudeney: Modern Puzzles ... (previous) ... (next): Geometrical Problems: Various Geometrical Puzzles: $132$. -- The Garden Bed
• 1968: Henry Ernest Dudeney: 536 Puzzles & Curious Problems ... (previous) ... (next): Geometrical Problems: Triangle, Square & Other Polygon Puzzles: $262$. The Garden Bed