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 Square Deal



This wall-hanging is called Square Deal. The version shown below was bought by the Science Museum, London, as were three other hangings. It depicts a square divided into the smallest known number of different squares which will fit together to make a square. For many years mathematicians had tried to solve this problem. In 1939 Roland Sprague did it using 55 squares. Nearly 40 years later, A.J.W.Duijvestjin found the solution shown here. It uses 21 different squares. No one has yet found a solution with fewer squares.

    

I used the numbers shown on the diagram as the lengths of the sides of the squares in centimetres. The resulting large square was a little over a metre square. I added a border and mounted it on a board.


Here is a version which Joan Hinchliffe of Stockport made by following the instructions in our booklet.
Some of the squares were knitted by her late mother, who was then in her eighties. The afghan is now used by Joan's grand-daughter.



Clarabelle's Square Deal afghan Here is Clarabelle's version.



We also have a cushion based on this design.



Information booklets for the afghans

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