TileWhirlTriangle tray challenges
These puzzles are written for the 8-row tray (64 tiles in rows A to H), and most work on the 12-row tray too. Some have one answer, some have many.
Tiles that share an edge always point opposite ways. Six tiles meet at every inside corner. The center tile, F6, is the only one that stays put when you turn the tray a third of a turn.
Two-Tone
EasyFill the tray with two colors so that no two tiles sharing an edge match.
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Tiles sharing an edge always point opposite ways. Make every point-up tile one color and every point-down tile the other.
Corner Rainbow
HardNo two tiles that touch, even at a single corner point, may share a color. How few colors can you use?
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Six tiles meet at every corner point, so you need at least six colors. Six is enough, using 9 to 12 tiles of each.
Mirror Match
EasyBuild any design on the left half, then build the right half as its mirror image.
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The tiles down the center line (A1, B2, C3 and so on to H8) mirror onto themselves. Everything else pairs up across the line.
Spin Three
MediumBuild a design that looks the same after you turn the tray a third of a turn.
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F6 is the only tile that stays put. Every other tile moves in a group of three, so one color count must be one more than a multiple of 3 and all the others must be multiples of 3.
Kaleidoscope
HardMake a design that looks the same when turned a third and when mirrored across any of the three center lines.
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Tiles fall into groups of 1, 3 or 6 that must match. Design one sixth of the tray and the rest is decided for you.
Tile Budget
MediumRebuild any picture from the library using only three colors, or no more than 10 tiles of any one color.
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There is no single answer. Look for colors that can stand in for each other, like navy for black.
Rule Builder
MediumTurn A1 "on". Each point-up tile below is "on" if exactly one of the two point-up tiles above it is on. Point-down tiles are background.
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This rule grows the Sierpinski triangle. You will need 27 "on" tiles, so use white, the only color with enough.
Hexagon Hunt
Easy to mediumBuild a design with exactly five single-color hexagons (six tiles around a point) and no other one-color hexagons. Then try for as many as possible.
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Open-ended. Count the corner points first: every inside corner is the center of a possible hexagon.
Memory Flash
EasyStudy a pattern page for 30 seconds, cover it, and rebuild it from memory.
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Score one point for every tile in the right place, out of 64.
Fewest Swaps
MediumBuild one library design, then turn it into another by swapping two tiles at a time. Use as few swaps as you can.
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This only works between two designs with the same tile counts. Compare the counts on each pattern page to find a matching pair.
Three Sides (2 players)
All agesTake turns placing a tile of your own color anywhere. The first player to build a connected chain touching all three sides of the tray wins.
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Based on the classic Game of Y. A game can never end in a draw.