QED Night
← All puzzles

Bachet's Square

Unreviewed import — a classic from the public domain; its solution has not been machine-checked yet.

math
One of the oldest card puzzles is by Claude Caspar Bachet de Méziriac, first published, I believe, in the 1624 edition of his work. Rearrange the sixteen court cards (including the aces) in a square so that in no row of four cards, horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, shall be found two cards of the same suit or the same value. This in itself is easy enough, but a point of the puzzle is to find in how many different ways this may be done. The eminent French mathematician A. Labosne, in his modern edition of Bachet, gives the answer incorrectly. And yet the puzzle is really quite easy. Any arrangement produces seven more by turning the square round and reflecting it in a mirror. These are counted as different by Bachet. Note "row of four cards," so that the only diagonals we have here to consider are the two long ones.

Solution

Commit an attempt to unseal the proof. Write your answer — right or wrong, thinking it through is the point.

Rate this puzzle
Report a problem with this puzzle

Similar puzzles

Zebra∎ verified

The Three Houses: The Beer Drinker, the Person in the Red House, and the Baker

Three houses stand in a row, numbered 1 to 3 from left to right. Each holds exactly one of each attribute, and no attribute repeats. Work out the full arrangement from these clues: 1. The person in the red house is the …

Zebra∎ verified

The Three Shelves: The Author Whose Book Holds a Feather, the Mystery Writer, and the Author With the Cloth-bound Edition

Three shelves stand in a row, numbered 1 to 3 from left to right. Each holds exactly one of each attribute, and no attribute repeats. Work out the full arrangement from these clues: 1. The author whose book holds a feat…

Zebra∎ verified

The Three Houses: The Gardener, the Milk Drinker, and the Swede

Three houses stand in a row, numbered 1 to 3 from left to right. Each holds exactly one of each attribute, and no attribute repeats. Work out the full arrangement from these clues: 1. The beer drinker is the Swede. 2. T…

Zebra∎ verified

The Three Houses: The Fish Keeper, the Baker, and the Person in the Red House

Three houses stand in a row, numbered 1 to 3 from left to right. Each holds exactly one of each attribute, and no attribute repeats. Work out the full arrangement from these clues: 1. The horse keeper is the baker. 2. T…

Zebra∎ verified

The Three Seats: Bao, Dmitri, and Chiara

Three seats stand in a row, numbered 1 to 3 from left to right. Each holds exactly one of each attribute, and no attribute repeats. Work out the full arrangement from these clues: 1. The guest from Hanoi is directly nex…

Zebra∎ verified

The Three Shelves: Okafor, Tanaka, and Petrova

Three shelves stand in a row, numbered 1 to 3 from left to right. Each holds exactly one of each attribute, and no attribute repeats. Work out the full arrangement from these clues: 1. The author with the blue cover is …

Comments

No comments yet

Be the first to say something about this puzzle.