Veit, isn't this your cue? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Difference-map_algorithm I wouldn't be surprised if it could _design_ the puzzle (a.k.a Four Fit, Martin's Menace): Given the pentominoes, find the minimal box. --rwg Quibble: I wouldn't call this a dissection puzzle. On 2018-02-26 22:31, Mike Stay wrote:
My family recently gave me some packing puzzles for my birthday. One is a rectangle packing puzzle, where the rectangles' edges remain parallel to the sides of the tray; there are some pretty obvious algorithms for solving that one.
The other is "Stewart's Coffin", which Martin Gardner pronounced "...the finest dissection puzzle of all time. It looks easy but is fiendishly difficult." It involves four laser-cut polyominoes and a tray that is just slightly too small in either direction for easy placement of the poly[ominoe]s. Clearly the puzzle involves placing the pieces at an angle, but exactly which angle and how to arrange the pieces is the hard problem. Are there algorithms for solving a puzzle like this other than brute force?