From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles

I have a sheet of stiff card and a sheet of newspaper. I cut a 100 mm
diameter circle out of the card and a square hole from the centre of the
sheet of newspaper. What is the smallest side length of the square hole
which will allow the circle to pass through the hole in the paper
without bending the card and without tearing the paper? For the purposes
of the puzzle, we can ignore the thickness of the card.

I hope that is clear. If not, can you suggest how to make the intention
clear?
--
David Entwistle

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From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles

In article <10cnn3t$3hgk4$1@dont-email.me>,
David Entwistle <qnivq.ragjvfgyr@ogvagrearg.pbz> wrote:

I have a sheet of stiff card and a sheet of newspaper. I cut a 100 mm >diameter circle out of the card and a square hole from the centre of the >sheet of newspaper. What is the smallest side length of the square hole >which will allow the circle to pass through the hole in the paper
without bending the card and without tearing the paper?

But presumably not without "bending" the paper...

-- Richard
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From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles


richard@cogsci.ed.ac.uk (Richard Tobin) posted:

In article <10cnn3t$3hgk4$1@dont-email.me>,
David Entwistle <qnivq.ragjvfgyr@ogvagrearg.pbz> wrote:

I have a sheet of stiff card and a sheet of newspaper. I cut a 100 mm >diameter circle out of the card and a square hole from the centre of the >sheet of newspaper. What is the smallest side length of the square hole >which will allow the circle to pass through the hole in the paper
without bending the card and without tearing the paper?

But presumably not without "bending" the paper...

-- Richard

Isn't bending the paper the whole trick?
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From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles

On Wed, 15 Oct 2025 12:00:21 GMT, James Dow Allen <user4353@newsgrouper.org.invalid> wrote:

richard@cogsci.ed.ac.uk (Richard Tobin) posted:

In article <10cnn3t$3hgk4$1@dont-email.me>,
David Entwistle <qnivq.ragjvfgyr@ogvagrearg.pbz> wrote:

I have a sheet of stiff card and a sheet of newspaper. I cut a 100 mm
diameter circle out of the card and a square hole from the centre of the >> >sheet of newspaper. What is the smallest side length of the square hole
which will allow the circle to pass through the hole in the paper
without bending the card and without tearing the paper?

But presumably not without "bending" the paper...

-- Richard

Isn't bending the paper the whole trick?

Yes!
--
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com
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From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles

On 15/10/2025 10:14, Richard Tobin wrote:

But presumably not without "bending" the paper...

Ah, no. My intention was to allow bending, or folding, of the paper. Not
the card, just the paper.

We could allow two answers, one with no folds and no bends to the paper
and one with paper folding.

The simple person that I am, I have to admit to having cut a disk out of
card and a square hole in a sheet of newspaper. I then spent longer than
you may imagine folding the paper and passing the disk through the hole.
Each time I, after looking at the flat sheet, was still slightly (not
sure of the word) "surprised(?)" that it actually fits through.
--
David Entwistle
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