[math-fun] packing problem

You may be amused by the motivation. I built a 7x7x7 analog of Conway's 5x5x5 box packing problem, and was looking for ways to invite solvers by presenting it misassembled. I started by packing 13 4x4x1s, and was badly startled when the 14th didn't fit! (>69% unfilled volume.) I had to restore a bunch of the smaller pieces, largely reconstructing the complete packing, before I regained my marbles. So this is a great subpuzzle for the inexperienced: Hand them the solution. Tell them to take it apart, and then merely repack the 4x4x1s. So far, tested only once, on a photographer who was so shaken that he blurred www.tweedledum.com/rwg/7x7x7noflash.jpg (assembled correctly) and www.tweedledum.com/rwg/7x7x7flash.jpg . --rwg