As Nora and I played with a deck of cards this past weekend, we laid out cards of each suit and rank in a variety of different patterns. Near the end, we wound up with a 4×4 grid of cards, and I wondered out loud:
Can we lay out the 16 face cards so that each row, column, and diagonal has exactly one of each rank and exactly one of each suit?
Apparently, yes we can, as shown in the image above. But is this the only solution available?
I don’t believe that it is, and this very question is this week’s GeekDad Puzzle of the Week: Please submit three (3) solutions not including the one above that are not simply rotations or flips of one another or of the solution in the picture above.
Congratulations to Itamar O for sending in four solutions. Instead of using a diagram or text descriptions of the cards’ placements like most submitters, Itamar sent in actual pictures of cards. Here are Itamar’s solutions:
This week’s prize, a $50 Gift Certificate from the amazing team of rocket scientists and mammal wranglers at ThinkGeek, will be on its way to Itamar shortly!
A list of the some 144 solutions that I found without repeats based upon rotations or flips appears below.
All 144 solutions – click, then right click to View Image to embiggen.
Thanks again to everyone that submitted a solution, and to ThinkGeek for providing our prizes.
Happy puzzling!
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