mscroggs.co.uk
mscroggs.co.uk
blog     puzzles     academic     talks     contact     subscribe↓ ☰ ↓

subscribe

Puzzles

Placing plates

Source: Problem Solving 101 by Stephen Muirhead (Chalkdust Magazine)
Two players take turns placing identical plates on a square table. The player who is first to be unable to place a plate loses. Which player wins?

Show answer & extension

Tags: games, geometry, symmetry
If you enjoyed this puzzle, check out Sunday Afternoon Maths LVIII,
puzzles about games, or a random puzzle.

Archive

Show me a random puzzle
 Most recent collections 

Advent calendar 2025

Advent calendar 2024

Advent calendar 2023

Advent calendar 2022
List of all puzzles

Tags

lines 2d shapes people maths coins symmetry balancing factorials tiling lists palindromes menace even numbers geometric means cryptic clues square grids binary wordplay tournaments prime numbers percentages integers calculus money chalkdust crossnumber volume bases dodecagons scales parabolas square numbers rugby advent triangle numbers floors colouring ave coordinates circles remainders addition digits median surds chess functions dominos square roots hexagons spheres clocks unit fractions averages multiplication dates folding tube maps rectangles fractions irreducible numbers triangles quadrilaterals routes star numbers odd numbers polynomials algebra range multiplaction squares trigonometry elections regular shapes area products means time polygons sets digital products graphs sport consecutive integers perfect numbers chocolate shapes numbers logic shape doubling matrices albgebra probability the only crossnumber differentiation taxicab geometry christmas neighbours books ellipses dice powers indices pentagons arrows geometric mean multiples mean complex numbers squares cards determinants perimeter proportion xor planes factors games crosswords partitions medians crossnumbers angles division expansions consecutive numbers axes decahedra tangents prime factors combinatorics 3d shapes grids number pascal's triangle probabilty sums cubics gerrymandering speed quadratics cube numbers integration digital clocks cryptic crossnumbers sum to infinity sequences geometry

Archive

Show me a random puzzle
▼ show ▼
© Matthew Scroggs 2012–2026