Puzzles

So this month's issue of Wired is all about puzzles. It's edited by JJ Abrams, he of Lost fame and the upcoming Star Trek remake. The issue is amazing in both its scope and complexity and is utterly wonderful. I'll definitely be keeping this issue around to "play" with for awhile.

Here is a video about the issue, and below one of the puzzles I had the most fun figuring out. You can get the answer at wired.com/wired/puzzleanswerkey




Pick Nine: Forming Words From a Jumble of Toothpicks

By Martin Gardner 04.20.09

Toothpick puzzles challenge you to move line segments to form words or shapes. For example, removing the center bar below spells BOB:

Your challenge: Without rearranging any, remove exactly nine toothpicks below to spell the last name of a US president.