I can't take credit for this. It was submitted to a quiz page on the CBC's (Canadian Broadcasting Co) website by Professor Maria Klawe of the Computer Science department at the University of British Columbia. But I thought our group would enjoy it.

Remember when a bar of plain milk chocolate was scored to allow you to break it evenly into smaller pieces?

What is the smallest number of breaks needed to divide a 4 by 8 chocolate bar into single squares, where each break splits any one of the pieces along an original horizontal or vertical line of the bar? Your answer should explain why your number is the smallest possible.

I knew this group was good, and the answer would be obvious if you thought about the pieces. That's why I offered a couple of "hints" to try to keep you focussed on the breaks, instead. Didn't work ,though.

Nick, the point of the puzzle is that any legitimate way of breaking it results in 31 breaks; that attempting to work out different ways to improve the number is pointless.

Posted by TomM on 2002-06-12 18:36:27