Henry Ernest Dudeney/Puzzles and Curious Problems/281 - A Match Puzzle/Solution

Puzzles and Curious Problems by Henry Ernest Dudeney: $281$

A Match Puzzle

The $16$ squares of a chessboard are enclosed by $16$ matches.

It is required to place an odd number of matches inside the square so as to enclose $4$ groups of $4$ squares each.

There are $4$ distinct ways to do this, up to reflection and rotation.

Solution

In each case $11$ matches are used:

$\qquad$

$\qquad$

Sources

• 1932: Henry Ernest Dudeney: Puzzles and Curious Problems ... (previous) ... (next): Solutions: $281$. -- A Match Puzzle
• 1968: Henry Ernest Dudeney: 536 Puzzles & Curious Problems ... (previous) ... (next): Answers: $497$. A Match Puzzle