I have a cross in the form of one square with four identical squares surrounding it

   _
 _|_|_
|_|_|_|
  |_|

Cut it into the fewest number of pieces possible such that, when rearranged the pieces form two smaller crosses of identical size.

Ok, here's another 3 peice solution, based on the authors statement that the crosses have to be similar to the original and identical to eachother.

I'll try to put it into text graphics.

      _  _
     |a|  |
 _ _|_|b|_ _
|_ _ _ _ _ _ |
|_ _       _ _|
      |  c |
      |_ _|
               _
       _     |  |
      | |    |  |
      | |_ _|  | _ _
 _  _|  c   | b _ _|
|_a_|  _ _|  |
      |  |    |_|
      |_|


which, to accentuate the crosses, looks like this:
               _
       _     | |
      | |    | |
      | |_ _| |_ _
 _ _|  |_ _   _ _|
|_ _    _ _| |
      | |     |_|
      |_|

the crosses are identical to eachother, and are similar to the original... depending on how you define similar. they have a 1 square center, with 3 2X1 rectangles and 1 3X1 rectangle.

If this isn't an acceptable solution, then I need more clarification on the rules. This method matches all rules that have been stated so far.

Posted by Stephen on 2006-03-11 18:51:15