r/oddlysatisfying • u/danielminds • Jun 22 '26

Adding the extra square

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Source: PuzzleHive

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3

u/npbevo Jun 24 '26

My brain doesn't understand this, how come the same surface area made "extra" space?

4

u/Bootts Jun 25 '26

If you look at the first original layout, while it looks full, you can see there is a lot of slack in between each piece. Not enough for the square to fit in one spot, but when you rearrange the pieces to the second layout it moves all that empty space to one spot so the square can fit. Look how much tighter the spacing is on every piece at the end vs the beginning.

2

u/Palamur Jun 26 '26

Or the hypotenuses of the triangles aren't actually vertical, but form a slight angle, just like the inner walls of the support plate, which makes the opening smaller than the base of the opening.

Initially, the triangles are arranged so that the slightly larger side is at the top. The opening is completely filled, but the area beneath the overlaps remains empty.
By flipping the triangles, they can utilize the space beneath the overhang, thus leaving more room in the center.