Enigmas & puzzles

March 22, 2007
The fifth elephant

"I could have sworn I ordered four elephants," said Paula Bear, principal pachyderm procurer at Longlegs Safari Park.

The lorry driver waved a grubby pink form. "It says five 'ere."

"Can't you take one back?"

"Sorry, luv—no returns accepted."

"But there's nowhere to put a fifth elephant! We built four pens, using 16 prefabricated steel fences. [See figure 1, below] And we haven't got any spare fences!"

"Couldn't ya just... move 'em arahnd a bit?"

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"Perhaps," said Paula. "But we could move at most two fences before sunset, and all animals must be safely locked away before dark. Also, regulations require that another pen would have to be the same size and shape as the others."

"'Ow abaht this, then, luv?" [See 2a and 2b, right]

"Almost—but health and safety won't allow a free end of the fence to be poking out like that. And we won't have time to take that fence away. But there must be some way to do it!"

What arrangement of fences would create an extra pen for the fifth elephant? (You can move at most two fences and cannot leave any free ends.)




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The answer

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The winner is Les Secular,
South Benfleet