mscroggs.co.uk
mscroggs.co.uk

subscribe

Puzzles

Light work

"I don't know if you are fond of puzzles, or not. If you are, try this. ... A gentleman (a nobleman let us say, to make it more interesting) had a sitting-room with only one window in it—a square window, 3 feet high and 3 feet wide. Now he had weak eyes, and the window gave too much light, so (don't you like 'so' in a story?) he sent for the builder, and told him to alter it, so as only to give half the light. Only, he was to keep it square—he was to keep it 3 feet high—and he was to keep it 3 feet wide. How did he do it? Remember, he wasn't allowed to use curtains, or shutters, or coloured glass, or anything of that sort."

Show answer & extension

If you enjoyed this puzzle, check out Sunday Afternoon Maths XI,
puzzles about squares, 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

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

Archive

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