The puzzle is twofold, and is described in the following quaint and curt manner in the little boxes sold in the streets:—
The Puzzle of Fifteen.—"Remove the 16 block. Put the pieces in the box irregularly, and arrange them to regular order by shoving."
The Magic Sixteen, or the Puzzle of Thirty-four.—"Arrange the sixteen blocks so that the sum of the numbers added up in any straight line, either vertical, horizontal, or diagonal, will be 34."
| 1 | 14 | 15 | 4 |
| 8 | 11 | 10 | 5 |
| 12 | 7 | 6 | 9 |
| 13 | 2 | 3 | 16 |
Fig. 1.—A Solution of the "34" Puzzle.
| 1 | 15 | 14 | 4 |
| 12 | 6 | 7 | 9 |
| 8 | 10 | 11 | 5 |
| 13 | 3 | 2 | 16 |
Fig. 2.—Another Solution of the "34" Puzzle.
It would appear that the "15" puzzle has the merit of being entirely new, a claim to which the "34" puzzle has no sort of right, it being found in many books of old and recent date. It is believed that there are in all sixteen different ways of arranging the numbered blocks so that the sum of the numbers will be 34 in every direction; but two ways will suffice to quote here, and they are as shown in Figs. 1, 2. The fascination and popularity of "Boss," however, all centre around the "15" puzzle; it is the solution of that which is said to have sent some people mad, to have made more forsake their ordinary occupation, and which claims to have given to a still larger and ever growing number of human beings a new incentive to life. The puzzle is fairly stated above in the words, "Put the pieces in the box irregularly," &c. As a first attempt, however, place the pieces as arranged when the "34" puzzle has been solved, and the "15" puzzle may be easily accomplished after a little practice. To describe the various moves would be unnecessary, but the object first to be aimed at is to get the first row of cubes, viz., 1, 2, 3, 4, into their proper places, attention being next directed to getting the 12 cube into its place; that cube will have to be again moved before all the cubes have been consecutively arranged, but it should always be kept as near to its proper position as possible. The cubes, when arranged, should read as follows (Fig. 3):—
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 |
Fig. 3.—"15" Puzzle—The Cubes in Order.