Solved cryptogram
There are exactly five perfectly regular solids, and no arrangement of geometry allows a sixth.
Mathematics Facts, sourced to Wolfram MathWorld.
Or go to the puzzle’s own page first.
What it means
The tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron and icosahedron exhaust the possibilities. The reason is simple enough to state: at least three faces must meet at each corner, and their angles must add to less than a full turn or the shape cannot close up. Working through the identical regular polygons that satisfy both conditions leaves five options and no others.
The claim comes from Wolfram MathWorld.
- SourceWolfram MathWorld
- CollectionMathematics Facts
- Difficultymedium
- Length79 letters, 21 unique
Nearby in the collection
The facts either side of this one.
- Wolfram MathWorldhard, 65 letters
- Wolfram MathWorldmedium, 75 letters
- Wolfram MathWorldmedium, 81 letters
- Wolfram MathWorldhard, 79 letters
About as hard as this one
Scored closest to it by the model behind our guide to solving cryptograms.
- Wolfram MathWorldmedium, 70 letters
- MacTutormedium, 77 letters
- Wolfram MathWorldmedium, 80 letters
- MacTutormedium, 72 letters