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 2024

Advent calendar 2023

Advent calendar 2022

Advent calendar 2021
List of all puzzles

Tags

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

Archive

Show me a random puzzle
▼ show ▼
© Matthew Scroggs 2012–2025