Elements of the puzzle: 4 wooden cubes with each cube having its faces painted one of 4
colors (or alternatively having each of its faces marked with one of 4 symbols that are visibly
distinct).
The object of the puzzle is to place the cubes in a row such that each of the four colors appears
in each plane (top, front, back, and bottom) as shqwn below. What happens at the ends is not an
issue as they are not part of the puzzle.
Manufacture of the puzzle: Make four identical wooden cubes approximately 1 and 1/2
to 2 inches per side. Paint the faces using 4 different colors or use some other way of
distinguishing between each face in 4 distinct ways (etching symbols is one other way). Each cube
must have at least 3 colors. It is important to realize that the faces should not be painted or
otherwise distinguished in a random order since this could result in the puzzle having no
solution or having more than one solution. The reason more than,one, solution is not wanted is
that when this happens the puzzle becomes too easy to solve and loses its appeal.
Secrets to solution of puzzle: First, opposite faces of each cube are either both in the
solution or both are not. Second, there are 2 sets of opposite face solutions for the complete
solution. Third, once one set of opposite face solutions has been found the other set can be found
independently (i.e. without disturbing the set already found).
Demonstration of the puzzle: The sample puzzle uses the colors RED (R), WHITE (W), GREEN (G), and
BLUE (B). The cubes can be distinguished by their color pattern but