ANSWERS to PUZZLES

triangles puzzle Answer - see picture right. You obvously need to hold the pencils in place, but the puzzle does not forbid this. Very rarely will anyone consider building four triangles in 3D (three-dimensional) as a pyramid. People's brains tend to stay fixed on a flat two-dimensional puzzle.
shovel puzzle Answer: slide the middle stick a half-stick-length right (or left), then move the top now unconnected stick to the opposite downward corner to make the new shovel. The puzzle is difficult because most people naturally imagine moving sticks to entirely different positions, and rarely consider shifting a stick only half of its length.