Henry Ernest Dudeney/Modern Puzzles/147 - The Austrian Pretzel/Solution

Modern Puzzles by Henry Ernest Dudeney: $147$

The Austrian Pretzel

Here is a twisted Vienna bread roll, known as a Pretzel.

The twist, like the curl in a pig's tail, is entirely for ornament.

The Wiener Pretzel, like some other things, is doomed to be cut up or broken, and the interest lies in the number of resultant pieces.

Suppose you had the Pretzel depicted in the illustration lying on the table before you,

what is the greatest number of pieces into which you could cut it with a single straight cut of a knife?

In what direction would you make the cut?

Solution

The Pretzel may be divided into as many as ten pieces by one straight cut of the knife in the direction indicated in the illustration.

Sources

• 1926: Henry Ernest Dudeney: Modern Puzzles ... (previous) ... (next): Solutions: $147$. -- The Austrian Pretzel
• 1968: Henry Ernest Dudeney: 536 Puzzles & Curious Problems ... (previous) ... (next): Answers: $317$. The Austrian Pretzel