Cutting off one's nose to spite one's eyes

Question

Disclaimer: to keep graphic depiction of gratuitous violence to a minimum the face to be spited has been deliberately kept abstract.

You are required to further reduce any distress this puzzle may cause the faint at heart by cutting the nose into as few pieces as possible.

Go ahead, cut up the nose (the pink square) to spite the eyes where spiting of course means completely covering them.

"Clarification": The nose and eyes are the simple geometric shapes they appear to be; which exactly is part of the puzzle.

Fair warning: lateral thinking will get you nowhere.

And, yes, this was inspired by @Florian F's blockbuster puzzle.

@Stef, not sure I understand. You may find it difficult to cover the eyes if you cannot move the pieces. — loopy walt, Commented Aug 31, 2021 at 15:30
@loopywalt Yes I did find it difficult! But you specifically said "no lateral thinking", which made it sound like moving the pieces was cheating. — Stef, Commented Aug 31, 2021 at 15:32
@Stef Are we having a disagreement over the difference between lateral thinking and common sense? — loopy walt, Commented Aug 31, 2021 at 19:39

Daniel Mathias · Accepted Answer · 2021-08-30 23:49:38Z

15

A visual solution.

Five pieces:

answered Aug 30, 2021 at 23:49

Daniel Mathias

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1

$\begingroup$ Looks good. That said, for me to consider the solution complete I'd require some kind of argument why the pieces are fitting together the way they do. $\endgroup$
– loopy walt
Commented Aug 31, 2021 at 0:37
1

$\begingroup$ In a word: Tessellation. $\endgroup$
– Daniel Mathias
Commented Aug 31, 2021 at 0:54
$\begingroup$ Not an expert on that, but I'd assume you'd still have to demonstrate that the nose and eye tesselations are compatible. $\endgroup$
– loopy walt
Commented Aug 31, 2021 at 1:05
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$\begingroup$ @loopywalt You didn't provide the relative dimensions of the nose and eyes in the puzzle; how could it be possible to prove that the pieces fit, without that information? $\endgroup$
– Stef
Commented Aug 31, 2021 at 19:42
1

$\begingroup$ @Stef Exact geometry is explicitly stated as being part of the puzzle. This answer as it stands relies on the author's correct assumption that the eyes combined and the nose have the same surface area. Using the exact same assumption the maths can be done, as well. $\endgroup$
– loopy walt
Commented Aug 31, 2021 at 20:02

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