Editing Sam Loyd (section)

==Puzzles==

===Back from the Klondike===
{{main|Back from the Klondike}}
[[File:Back from the klondike.svg|thumb|300px|"Back from the Klondike" puzzle (modern rendering)]]
This is one of Sam Loyd's most famous puzzles, first printed in the ''New York Journal and Advertiser'', April 24, 1898 (as far as available evidence indicates). Loyd's original instructions were to: <blockquote>Start from that heart in the center and go three steps in a straight line in any one of the eight directions, north, south, east or west, or on the [[Bias (textile)|bias]], as the ladies say, northeast, northwest, southeast or southwest. When you have gone three steps in a straight line, you will reach a square with a number on it, which indicates the second day's journey, as many steps as it tells, in a straight line in any of the eight directions. From this new point when reached, march on again according to the number indicated, and continue on, following the requirements of the numbers reached, until you come upon a square with a number which will carry you just one step beyond the border, when you are supposed to be out of the woods and can holler all you want, as you will have solved the puzzle.</blockquote>

===Vanishing puzzles===
{{main|vanishing puzzle}}
A [[vanishing puzzle]] is a mechanical optical illusion showing different numbers of a certain object when parts of the puzzle are moved around.<ref>The Guardian, [http://www.theguardian.com/science/alexs-adventures-in-numberland/gallery/2014/apr/01/vanishing-leprechaun-disappearing-dwarf-puzzles-pictures ''Vanishing Leprechaun, Disappearing Dwarf and Swinging Sixties Pin-up Girls – puzzles in pictures'']</ref>
[[File:the_disappearing_bicyclist_vanishing_puzzle.svg|thumb|upright|left|link={{filepath:the_disappearing_bicyclist_vanishing_puzzle.svg}}|Interactive SVG of ''The Disappearing Bicyclist'' &ndash; in [{{filepath:the_disappearing_bicyclist_vanishing_puzzle.svg}} the SVG file,] move the pointer to rotate the disc]]

Loyd patented rotary vanishing puzzles in 1896 and published versions named ''Get Off the Earth'', ''Teddy and the Lion'' and ''The Disappearing Bicyclist'' (pictured). Each had a circular card connected to a cardboard backdrop with a pin, letting it rotate.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7k1xYW18mQYC&pg=PA220 | title=The Curious Book of Mind-boggling Teasers, Tricks, Puzzles & Games | isbn=9781402702143 | last1=Townsend | first1=Charles Barry | year=2003 | publisher=Sterling Publishing Company }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/puzzles-of-yore | title=Puzzles of Yore }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://themarginalian.org/2012/02/23/the-disappearing-bicyclist | title=The Disappearing Bicyclist: A Chess Champion's Vintage Puzzle to Tickle Your Brain | date=February 23, 2012 }}</ref> In ''the Disappearing Bicyclist'', when the disc is rotated such that the arrow points to A, 13 boys can be seen. When rotated so that the arrow points to B, only 12 boys appear.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/lilly/slocum/LL-SLO-025705 | title=Image Collections Online - "The Disappearing Bicyclist!" }}</ref>

====Vanishing area puzzle====
[[File:Loyd64-65-dis b.svg|thumb|upright=1.25|Chessboard paradox]]
A square with a side length of 8 units ("chessboard") is dissected into four pieces, which can be assembled into a 5x13 rectangle. Since the area of the square is 64 units but the area of the rectangle is 65 units, this seems paradoxical at first. It is just an optical illusion, however, as the pieces don't fit exactly to form a rectangle, but leave a small barely visible gap along the diagonal. This puzzle is also known as the [[chessboard paradox]] or [[paradox of Loyd and Schlömilch]].
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===Trick Donkeys problem===
{{main|Famous Trick Donkeys}}
[[File:Sam Loyd's Trick Donkeys.svg|thumb|upright|right|"Trick Donkeys" problem]]
One of Loyd's notable puzzles was the "Trick Donkeys". It was based on a similar puzzle involving dogs published in 1857. In the problem, the solver must cut the drawing along the dotted lines and rearrange the three pieces so that the riders appear to be riding the donkeys.