Soma Cube




Copyright 1966 Piet Hein,
produced in Denmark by Skj0de of Skjern for Parker brothers, No. 1050.

(4" box with wood pieces, metal base, and instruction booklet, 3.1" assembled)

Six of the 7 pieces are formed from 4 unit size cubes and the last piece isformed from 3 unit size cubes; the goal is to assemble them into a 3x3x3 cube. This is a relatively easy puzzle with many solutions. John Rausch credits the invention of this puzzle to Piet Hein in 1936.

Further reading:
Stewart Coffin's book, from: http://www.johnrausch.com/PuzzlingWorld/chap03a.htm
McFarren's Page, from: http://www.geocities.com/abcmcfarren/soma/soma.htm
Lagoon Solution, from: http://www.give-me-a-clue.com
Johnson 1988 Patent, from: www.uspto.gov - patent no. 4,784,392
Johnson 1989 Patent, from: www.uspto.gov - patent no. 4,844,466