This puzzle, also known as the 'Seven-Counters Game', was described in detail in 1908 by William F. White in his book 'A Scrap-Book of Elementary Mathematics' (Notes, Recreations, Essays). He writes:
"Required to place seven counters on seven of the eight spots in conformity to the following rule: To place a counter, one must set out from a spot that is unoccupied and move along a straight line to the spot where the counter is to be placed.
The writer remembers seeing this as a child when the game was probably new. The solution is so easy that it offered no difficulty then. A puzzle whose solution is seen by almost any one in a minute or two is hardly worth a name, and one wonders to see it in Lucas's Recreations mathematiques and dignified by the title 'The American Game of Seven and Eight.' Lucas explains that the game, invented by Knowlton, of Buffalo, N. Y., was published, in 1883, by an American journal offering at first a prize to the person who should send, within a fixed time, the solution expressed in the fewest words."
Suggested
Tantrum
A game, a puzzle and a challenge involving counters being placed at the corners of a square on a grid.
The short web address is:
Transum.org/go/?Num=359
Suggested
Scallywags and Scoundrels
Arrange the scallywags and scoundrels on the chairs so that the numbers of any two sitting next to each other add up to a prime number.
The short web address is:
Transum.org/go/?Num=356
Suggested
Thrice
A challenge to place all nine counters on the grid in such a way that they form exactly 10 straight lines, with each line containing three counters.
The short web address is:
Transum.org/go/?Num=357
Suggested
Puzzle Cube Net
A jumbled moving-block puzzle cube is shown as a net. Can you solve it?
The short web address is:
Transum.org/go/?Num=637
Suggested
Cryptographic
Fill in the squares according to the clues given by the string of numbers for each row and column.
The short web address is:
Transum.org/go/?Num=570
Suggested
Egg Timers
The classic hourglass puzzle; Time the boiling of an egg using only the two egg timers provided.
The short web address is:
Transum.org/go/?Num=1022
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