Introduction
is the brand name for a
set of hexagonal Bakelite tiles. Each tile has three lines, of different colours, which
go from one side to another. Some sets of tiles can be use as puzzles, in which you have
to arrange the tiles so that the edges match in colour, thus forming coloured lines or
even loops. The tiles can also be used for playing a game with two or more people. On this
page however, I will only discuss the puzzles.
There are three kinds of line segments - straights, bends, and corners - and these lead
to four different types of Tantrix tile:
Three corners
A straight andtwo corners
A straight andtwo (shallow) bends
A corner andtwo bends
The fifth possible tile shape, a tile with three straights, is not used in Tantrix.
The Tantrix game and puzzles were invented by Mike McManaway. The Tantrix tiles seem to be based on an
older tile set, created some 40 years earlier by Charles Titus and Craige Schenstedt. It was marketed
then as Psychepaths, but is now made and sold by
with the name Kaliko. The Kaliko tiles form a complete set of all possible path patterns with 3 or
fewer colours. Their patterns differ from Tantrix only in that a colour may be repeated on a tile, and the tile
type with 3 straights is used as well.
There are and have been several different Tantrix tile sets available. There are various small sets,
each containing about 10 distinct tiles, with which there are one or more puzzles to solve. There
is however also a complete set of 56 tiles, and from that any of the small sets can be selected.
Each tile uses exactly 3 colours. There are 14 possible tiles with three colours:
2 with three corners, 3 with a straight and two corners, 3 with a straight and two bends,
and 6 with a corner and two bends. The full set of tiles uses four colours (red, blue,
green , yellow). Each tile is therefore missing exactly one of the four colours. This
means that there are 4 sets of 14 tiles, for a total of 56 tiles.
I acquired the full set of 56 tiles quite a few years ago. At that time the
numbering of the tiles was given in the accompanying booklet. Nowadays a different numbering
scheme is used, and the numbers are engraved on the backs of the tiles and those numbers
are painted in 5 different colours.
If we use the letters R, B, G, and Y for the path colours (red/blue/green/yellow), then the
pattern on a tile can be described by a list of six such letters which denote the colour
at each of the edges, going clockwise around the tile. Below are conversion tables for
the two tile numberings, also listing all the tile patterns, and the colour of the number
in the new numbering.
OldNewColour
371yYYBRBR
332yRRBYYB
293yBBYYRR
364rBRYBYR
325rBBRYYR
346bYBRYRB
427bBBYRYR
418bBBRYRY
359yRBYRYB
3810rYYRBRB
3911rRRBYBY
4012yRRYBYB
3113bBBYRRY
3014bBBRRYY
515rGGRYYR
316rGGYRRY
1017yYYGRGR
918rYYRGRG
1319rRRGYGY
1420yRRYGYG
121yGGRRYY
422yRRGYYG
223yGGYYRR
4724rGGBRRB
4325rBBGGRR
4526rBBGRRG
5327rRRBGBG
4428rBBRRGG
5429rRRGBGB
4630rBBRGGR
1131yGGRYRY
732gGRYGYR
1233gGGYRYR
834gRGYRYG
635gYGRYRG
5236gGGRBRB
5637gBBGRGR
5538gBBRGRG
4839bGBRGRB
5040bBGRBRG
5141bGGBRBR
4942bRBGRGB
1543bBBYYGG
2044yYBGYGB
1645gBBGGYY
2546gGGBYBY
1747gBBYGGY
1948wGGBYYB
1849wBBGYYG
2250wBGYBYG
2151wGBYGYB
2652wGGYBYB
2453wYYGBGB
2354wYYBGBG
2755wBBGYGY
2856wBBYGYG
OldNewColour
121yGGRRYY
223yGGYYRR
316rGGYRRY
422yRRGYYG
515rGGRYYR
635gYGRYRG
732gGRYGYR
834gRGYRYG
918rYYRGRG
1017yYYGRGR
1131yGGRYRY
1233gGGYRYR
1319rRRGYGY
1420yRRYGYG
1543bBBYYGG
1645gBBGGYY
1747gBBYGGY
1849wBBGYYG
1948wGGBYYB
2044yYBGYGB
2151wGBYGYB
2250wBGYBYG
2354wYYBGBG
2453wYYGBGB
2546gGGBYBY
2652wGGYBYB
2755wBBGYGY
2856wBBYGYG
293yBBYYRR
3014bBBRRYY
3113bBBYRRY
325rBBRYYR
332yRRBYYB
346bYBRYRB
359yRBYRYB
364rBRYBYR
371yYYBRBR
3810rYYRBRB
3911rRRBYBY
4012yRRYBYB
418bBBRYRY
427bBBYRYR
4325rBBGGRR
4428rBBRRGG
4526rBBGRRG
4630rBBRGGR
4724rGGBRRB
4839bGBRGRB
4942bRBGRGB
5040bBGRBRG
5141bGGBRBR
5236gGGRBRB
5327rRRBGBG
5429rRRGBGB
5538gBBRGRG
5637gBBGRGR
Click image to see larger version
Click image to see larger version
Links to other useful pages:
A very nice page including a Java puzzle game, and it also allows you to play the Tantrix Strategy Game with other people. There is also a page about the , as well as a page about the
of Tantrix.
manufacture the predecessor of Tantrix, called .
has a , and it has solutions to the 'unsolved' puzzles.
Original Tantrix Puzzle (Crazy Tantrix)
The first version of Tantrix was a puzzle consisting of 10 hexagonal tiles.
The aim is to tile the pieces (without leaving holes) to make a single loop
using all the parts of one colour and such that the edges of all adjacent
tiles match colours. Any colour loop is possible. It is therefore three
puzzles in one, one for each colour.
The tiles are shown below. I have shown them using the colours red, blue, and
yellow. The colours of the real sets did vary however. I got one set with the
aforementioned colours. For a present I received second
set of 10 Tantrix pieces, but these used green instead of yellow. Other than
that they are exactly the same.
BBRRYY(30|14b)
BBRYYR(32|5r)
BBYRRY(31|13b)
BRYBYR(36|4r)
RBYRYB(35|9y)
YBRYRB(34|6b)
BBRYRY(41|8b)
BBYRYR(42|7b)
YYBRBR(37|1y)
YYRBRB(38|10r)
The solutions of the red/blue/yellow loops are shown further down the page. You can
click the link below-right to jump there directly.
It is possible to combine two differently coloured Crazy Tantrix sets to make
a larger puzzle. I have combined my red/blue/yellow and red/blue/green sets to
make a large red loop. A blue loop is also possible, though more difficult. A
solution to the red loop is given in the solutions section.
About the background of this page
The background image used on this page consists of a repeated pattern using
the ten tiles of the Original Puzzle. It was quite difficult to find a ten-tile
shape that can be tiled easily. I do not believe that there is such a shape that
tiles the plane with only translations, and that only shapes that need rotations
as well are possible. What makes it harder is that the background image must be
rectangular. In the end I plumped for the triangle shape shown below that combined
with an upside down copy of itself forms a 4 by 5 diamond. By making sure its edges
were such that the diamond could be tiled in a regular rectangular manner, the
eventual background image would remain fairly small. Click the image to see the rectangular
repeated pattern. I found several solutions, but this one is the only one I found that has
infinitely long lines of all three colours, though it does have a loop. I did not find
any with only loops or only lines that use ten tiles, but have not done an exhaustive
I did find a very nice 9-tile shape (3x3 diamond) that tiles the plane (without
rotations) and has only loops, and another that has only lines. The trouble with
these however is that they do not tile in a rectangular way, so the background image
would have to be quite large and contain many copies if this shape (18 in fact), or
be skewed in some way. The tiling patterns are shown below. Click on them to see the
large rectangular tile that would be needed for a background.
Tantrix Xtreme Puzzle
Tantrix Xtreme is a puzzle version of Tantrix similar to the original, but
more challenging. It also consists of 10 hexagonal Tantrix tiles, but now
four colours are used in the set, and the tiles are numbered on the back.
The tiles are shown here:
Tile 1BBRGRG(55|38g)
Tile 2BBRGGR(46|30r)
Tile 3BBGGRR(43|25r)
Tile 4BGRGBR(49|42b)
Tile 5BBGRRG(45|26r)
Tile 6RGBGRB(50|40b)
Tile 7RRBGBG(53|27r)
Tile 8RRYBYB(40|12y)
Tile 9BRYRBY(34|6b)
Tile 10BBYRYR(42|7b)
Note that the exact colours may vary. In my set it is more purple than red, and
uses white instead of yellow. For consistency I have used the four standard colours
on this page however.
There are all together 10 challenges, from easy to rather hard. Start with
the tiles numbered 1-3, and make a single loop of one colour. The same rules
apply as with almost all other Tantrix puzzles - all adjacent tile edges
should match colour, and there should not be holes in the tile arrangement.
Once you have done a loop with tiles 1-3, then try to make a loop with 1-4,
and then 1-5 and so on until you eventually use all ten tiles to build a loop.
In most cases only one of the colours can be used for making the loop, the
others being impossible. In some cases, in particular the 10 tile loop, more
than one colour loop is possible.
After those eight loop challenges, there are two difficult line puzzles. The aim
is to put the ten tiles in a triangle shape, but with the red or the blue colour
forming one long line through all the tiles. Both red and blue have solutions.
The Super 5 Puzzles
In the booklet that comes with the 56 tile set several puzzles are given. The tiles
can be separated into 5 separate sets, which are called the 'Super 5' puzzles. They
are called Junior, Student, Professor, Master, and Genius. Apparently these were sold
separately as well.
In the Junior, Student and Master puzzles the aim is to make a loop of
one colour, just like the Original puzzle. Of course, the loop must include
all the tiles with that colour, and the tiles may not enclose a hole. In
the Professor puzzle the aim is to make two simultaneous loops. Again each
loop must use all the tiles of that colour. Tiles which have both chosen
colours must therefore be incorporated in both loops. The Genius puzzle is
extremely difficult, as now you must make two lines instead of loops. The
restrictions that loops impose do not apply to this puzzle. It has two
types of solutions (red/blue, red/yellow), and it took me about a week to find
a solution for each. I thought there was essentially only one solution of each
type, but Alexander Fronk sent me a second solution for the red/yellow lines.
Make a loop of any colour
BBRRYY (30|14b)
BBYYRR (29|3y)
BBYYGG (15|43b)
BBRYYR (32|5r)
BGYBYG (22|50w)
BBRYRY (41|8b)
GGBYBY (25|46g)
GGYBYB (26|52w)
RRYBYB (40|12y)
YYBGBG (23|54w)
Make a loop of any colour
BBGGRR (43|25r)
GGRRYY (1|21y)
GGBRRB (47|24r)
BGRBRG (50|40b)
GRYGYR (7|32g)
RBGRGB (49|42b)
GGBRBR (51|41b)
GGRYRY (11|31y)
RRGBGB (54|29r)
RRGYGY (13|19r)
Make a loop of any colour
GGYYRR (2|23y)
BBGRRG (45|26r)
BBYGGY (17|47g)
RRGYYG (4|22y)
RGYRYG (8|34g)
YGRYRG (6|35g)
BBGYGY (27|55r)
GGRBRB (52|36g)
GGYRYR (12|33g)
RRBGBG (53|27r)
YYGBGB (24|53w)
YYRGRG (9|18r)
Make two simultaneous loops
BBGGYY (16|45)
BBRGGR (46|30r)
GGRYYR (5|15r)
RRBYYB (33|2y)
GBRGRB (48|39b)
GBYGYB (21|51w)
YBGYGB (20|44y)
BBRGRG (55|38g)
BBYGYG (28|56w)
RRBYBY (39|11r)
RRYGYG (14|20y)
YYGRGR (10|17y)
Make two lines
BBRRGG (44|28r)
BBGYYG (18|49w)
BBYRRY (31|13b)
GGBYYB (19|48w)
GGYRRY (3|16r)
BRYBYR (36|4r)
RBYRYB (35|9y)
YBRYRB (34|6b)
BBGRGR (56|37g)
BBYRYR (42|7b)
YYBRBR (37|1y)
YYRBRB (38|10r)
Three Pyramid Puzzles
The booklet of the Tantrix game used to contain three pyramid puzzles. With
these you have to use 15 tiles and they all have solutions in a pyramid shape,
i.e. a size 5 triangle. In puzzle 1 you have to make a red loop, in puzzle 2
two loops using any two colours (like the Super 5 Professor puzzle), and in
puzzle 3 two lines of any two colours (like the Super 5 Genius puzzle).
Puzzle 3 is extremely hard to solve. The current booklet no longer contains
these puzzles. The tiles to use are listed below:
Make a red loop.
GGRRYY (1|21y)
BBYYRR (29|3y)
GGRYYR (5|15r)
BBYRRY (31|13b)
BBRYYR (32|5r)
RRBYYB (33|2y)
YGRYRG (6|35g)
RBYRYB (35|9y)
YYGRGR (9|18r)
YYRGRG (10|17y)
GGYRYR (12|33g)
RRYGYG (14|20y)
YYRBRB (38|10r)
RRYBYB (40|12y)
BBRYRY (41|8b)
Make two loops.
GGYYRR (2|23y)
BBGGYY (16|45g)
BBGGRR (43|25r)
BBRRGG (44|28r)
GGYRRY (3|16r)
GGRYYR (5|15r)
BBYRRY (31|13b)
BBRYYR (32|5r)
BBRGGR (46|30r)
GGRYRY (11|31y)
GGYRYR (12|33g)
RRGYGY (13|19r)
RRYGYG (14|20y)
BBRYRY (41|8b)
BBYRYR (42|7b)
Make two lines.
GGYYRR (2|23y)
BBGGYY (16|45g)
BBYGGY (17|47g)
BBGYYG (18|49w)
BBRYYR (32|5r)
GBYGYB (21|51w)
BGYBYG (22|50w)
YBRYRB (34|6b)
GBRGRB (48|39b)
GGYRYR (12|33g)
RRGYGY (13|19r)
YYBGBG (23|54w)
YYGBGB (24|53w)
BBGYGY (27|55w)
GGBRBR (51|41b)
The Rainbow Puzzles
Nowadays another set of puzzles is given. Like the
five puzzles that together make the full set of 56 tiles. The numbers engraved on the back of the tiles
are painted in 5 colours, so that they can easily be separated into the 5 sets of tiles used. The puzzles
are as follows:
Green Numbers
Make a green loop
BBGGYY (16|45g)
BBYGGY (17|47g)
GRYGYR (7|32g)
RGYRYG (8|34g)
YGRYRG (6|35g)
BBGRGR (56|37g)
BBRGRG (55|38g)
GGBYBY (25|46g)
GGRBRB (52|36g)
GGYRYR (12|33g)
Yellow Numbers
Make a yellow loop
GGRRYY (1|21y)
GGYYRR (2|23y)
BBYYRR (29|3y)
RRGYYG (4|22y)
RRBYYB (33|2y)
RBYRYB (35|9y)
YBGYGB (20|44y)
GGRYRY (11|31y)
RRYGYG (14|20y)
YYBRBR (37|1y)
YYGRGR (10|17y)
RRYBYB (40|12y)
White Numbers
Make a loop of any colour
BBGYYG (18|49w)
GGBYYB (19|48w)
BGYBYG (22|50w)
GBYGYB (21|51w)
BBGYGY (27|55w)
BBYGYG (28|56w)
GGYBYB (26|52w)
YYBGBG (23|54w)
YYGBGB (24|53w)
Blue Numbers
Make a pyramid with a blue line
BBRRYY (30|14b)
BBYYGG (15|43b)
BBYRRY (31|13b)
BGRBRG (50|40b)
GBRGRB (48|39b)
RBGRGB (49|42b)
YBRYRB (34|6b)
BBRYRY (41|8b)
BBYRYR (42|7b)
GGBRBR (51|41b)
Red Numbers
Make a pyramid with a red line
BBGGRR (43|25r)
BBRRGG (44|28r)
GGRYYR (5|15r)
GGYRRY (3|16r)
BBRYYR (32|5r)
BBGRRG (45|26r)
BBRGGR (46|30r)
GGBRRB (47|24r)
BRYBYR (36|4r)
RRBGBG (53|27r)
RRGBGB (54|29r)
RRGYGY (13|19r)
RRBYBY (39|11r)
YYRGRG (9|18r)
YYRBRB (38|10r)
The Tantrix Discovery Puzzles
The Tantrix Discovery is very much like . It is
a set of 10 tiles with which you can do several loop puzzles. They are exactly the
tiles numbered 1 to 10 in the complete set (as it is sold now, i.e. the new numbering
scheme). Start with the tiles numbered 1-3, which are yellow numbers, and make a single
yellow loop. Then add tile number 4, which is a red number, and try to make a red loop.
Continue on in the same way, each time adding the next tile and trying to make
a loop of the colour which that number has.
If you have more than one Discovery set then you can combine them to make larger loops,
again adding individual tiles in numerical order and making a loop of the colour given by
colour of the tile number just added. This can continue to indefinitely large loops, but
I will not give solutions to that.
The current booklet with the full set also says that you can continue by adding tiles
from 11 onwards, all the way up to 30. In the solutions section you can find a solution for
each of these loops. For completeness, here are the tiles used in the Discovery puzzles
from the full set:
Discovery set:
YYBRBR (37|1y)
RRBYYB (33|2y)
BBYYRR (29|3y)
BRYBYR (36|4r)
BBRYYR (32|5r)
YBRYRB (34|6b)
BBYRYR (42|7b)
BBRYRY (41|8b)
RBYRYB (35|9y)
YYRBRB (38|10r)
Further tiles:
RRBYBY (39|11r)
RRYBYB (40|12y)
BBYRRY (31|13b)
BBRRYY (30|14b)
GGRYYR (5|15r)
GGYRRY (3|16r)
YYGRGR (10|17y)
YYRGRG (9|18r)
RRGYGY (13|19r)
RRYGYG (14|20y)
GGRRYY (1|21y)
RRGYYG (4|22y)
GGYYRR (2|23y)
GGBRRB (47|24r)
BBGGRR (43|25r)
BBGRRG (45|26r)
RRBGBG (53|27r)
BBRRGG (44|28r)
RRGBGB (54|29r)
BBRGGR (46|30r)
The &Unsolved& Puzzles:
There are two so-called &unsolved& puzzles, using all 56 tiles.
1. The first is to find an
arrangement with the four longest lines, one of each colour. Only the longest
line of each colour counts, and the best is the one with the longest total
length. The current record according to the
is 146=40+37+35+34. Note that since all possible tiles are in the set, any solution
can be rearranged such that the colours are swapped around.
It can be proved that 146 is the maximum attainable, so this puzzle has actually been solved.
Nobody has ever done so by hand without computer assistance.
Sketch of proof: Consider an arrangement with 4 lines of total length 146. A line of length n
uses n tiles, and therefore involves 2n tile sides. Of these, 2n-2 sides are internal, and 2 sides are
the endpoints. The 4 lines will therefore use 2&146-8=284 internal sides of tiles. The 56 tiles have
6&56=336 sides all together, leaving 336-284=52 sides along the outside of the arrangement. Longer
lines would leave fewer external sides. The size 5 regular hexagon with one edge shaved (i.e. a hexagon
with sides 5, 5, 5, 4, 6 and 4) is the shape with the smallest possible perimeter, namely 52. Therefore
the lines cannot be longer than 146.
The difficult step is proving that the hexagon shape has the smallest perimeter. I have proved this, in a
long and tedious manner as follows: first show that the best shape is nearly convex, i.e. has at most one
tile with one external edge. Then write the number of tiles in each row in a list, and show that with the
best shape the list will look something like this: 7, 8, 9, 10, 9, 8, 5, i.e. first strictly increasing
then decreasing and with successive differences equal to 1 except possibly for the last one. This leaves
only a relatively small number of possibilities, and of these the sequence 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5
is the best.
2. The second unsolved puzzle is to find the arrangement with the four longest loops.
The current record is 136=38+35+33+30. In 2003 Jack Kuipers became the first person to solve this puzzle
by hand without using a computer.
It can probably be proved that 136 is the maximum attainable.
Sketch of proof:Any shape
with 56 tiles must have some tiles with an odd number of external sides, because they cannot be arranged
in a triangle (tiles with 4 external edges are at a 60 degree corner, with 2 external edges along a
straight side of the arrangement). Each tile with an odd number of external sides must have
at least one line connecting to an internal with an external side. Thus any such odd corner will be the
start of a line leading into the arrangement, wasting internal sides which are better used for forming
loops. The best shape is therefore one with a small perimeter, but which has few odd corners and has its
odd corners close together.
Consider a size 10 triangle with one extra tile added anywhere on its side. This has perimeter 62, and
its two odd corners are adjacent so these waste only 2 internal sides. This leaves 336-64=272 internal
sides for a total loop length of 272/2=136. Any other shape with more odd corners that is more convex
will have a smaller perimeter but all internal sides gained are probably all wasted on the lines between
the odd corners. It is likely that no other shapes have more available internal sides.
Again the difficulty is proving that this shape is the best. I have not properly proved this.
My own puzzles
The Master puzzle above (see the ) has many solutions.
I found about 30 solutions in one evening. The loop in a solution has both convex and concave
parts. Usually three tiles are involved in the concave parts (the 'dents' if you like). As far
as I know there is only one solution in which only two tiles are part of the concave sections of
the loop. Find it.
From the full set, take the 12 pieces which have a straight line and two bends. Try to make the shape
shown on the right - a triangle with sides of length 5 but with its tips missing. In other words, the
shape with rows of lengths 2,3,4,3.
Do the same as the previous puzzle, but with the 12 pieces which have a straight line and two
Take the 8 pieces which have 3 corners, and any single piece with a corner and two bends (e.g.
RRBYBY). Try to make any shape containing 5 circles.
can also be done using only three colours.
In other words, using the 14 tiles with only three of the colours make a shape with the
longest three lines. Only the longest line of each colour counts, and the aim is to make the
sum of the three lengths as large as possible. The highest possible total length is 32, and I
have two solutions to it.
can also be done using only three colours.
In other words, using the 14 tiles with only three of the colours make a shape with the
longest three loops. Only the longest loop of each colour counts, and the aim is to make the
sum of the three lengths as large as possible. My best solution had total length 8+8+7=23, but
I received a solution by Neil O'Rourke with length 12+9+4=25. I don't know what the highest
possible total is.
The Rock is a three-dimensional version of Tantrix. It has the shape of a truncated octahedron, which
has 8 hexagonal faces and 6 square faces. There are hexagonal and square Tantrix tiles which attach to these
faces, and the aim is of course to place all these tiles so that all the coloured lines match up. This means
that each colour will be one or more loops on the surface of the rock. Instead of taking the tiles off
completely and trying to solve it, it is also possible just to rotate the tiles in place which makes for an
easier puzzle.
The tiles are as follows:
Hexagonal tiles:
BBYRYR, BBRYRY, YYBRBR; BRYBYR, RBYRYB; RBBRYY, BRRBYY; BBRRYY
Square tiles:
BRBR, BYBY. RYRY, BBRR, BBYY, RRYY
This puzzle has only 5 solutions.
Tips on finding a solution to any loop puzzle:
Before you read on, please be aware that these tips will make some of
the puzzles quite easy and may spoil your enjoyment of the puzzle.
First decide which colour you are going to make the loop from. If
you are doing the original puzzle, any colour can be solved. The Super 5
puzzles Junior/Student/Master (see below) only allow one colour to be
looped. It is usually not hard to decide which colour to use by eliminating
those that are impossible.
If two colours cross an odd number of times, neither colour can be looped.
This is because a colour that crosses into a loop must exit it somewhere
If a colour has an odd number of shallow bends it cannot be looped. If you
imagine travelling around a loop, your heading will change through 360
degrees. A corner will change your heading by 120 degrees. A shallow bend
however changes your heading by 60 degrees so you must pass an even number
of them to get your heading to be a multiple of 120, such as the 360 needed
for a full circle.
A good strategy is to make a loop of your chosen colour, completely
ignoring the other colours. Then swap pairs of pieces that leave the
loop intact but fix the other lines so that the colours match up. The
following tips delve deeper into this strategy.
Try to fix the lines inside the loop first, and only then the parts on
the outside.
If you are doing a puzzle that uses only three colours, remember that
every tile uses every colour. In the original Crazy Tantrix for example
yellow crosses with blue on only two tiles. Therefore when making a blue
loop, a yellow line must enter and exit the loop using the two crossing
tiles available and go through every tile that lies mostly inside the
loop. Try to arrange the entrance and exit tiles of the yellow line to
make it as easy as possible to achieve this.
Once you have a rough idea of where the entrance/exit points of the
line should be, try to swap other tiles of the loop to build the line between
the two points. Focus only on keeping the loop in the same shape, and building
this line across it. If it fails, you may have to move your entrance/exit
points and try again. When the loop and the line across it are done, the third
and final colour must automatically also be correct inside the loop.
Once the loop and its insides are correct, make swaps of tiles which lie
mostly outside the loop to try to correct any faults until all tiles match up.
If you make a red loop with the Crazy Tantrix puzzle, there are four yellow
and four blue crossings. In this case choose one of the two colours, and plot
two lines that go into and out of the loop, and that together go through every
tile that lies mostly inside the loop. Similarly, if you are doing a loop puzzle
with four colours on the tiles, look at each colour inside the loop individually.
Making a loop of one colour is relatively simple if you don't care about
matching the other colours. You may however wish to explore the many possible loop
shapes systematically.
First determine the amount of turn that is available in your chosen colour.
The bends contribute 1 to the turn and corners 2. Straights are ignored. For example,
there are 4 blue bends and 5 blue corners.
This gives a turn of 4+2&5 = 14. This number represents the amount your heading
changes (in units of 60 degrees) in either direction if you were to travel along a path
consisting of all those pieces.
Subtract 6 to get the excess amount of turn. If you travel around a loop, the net
change in your heading is 360 degrees. This therefore requires you to use up 6 from the
amount of turn available.
Divide by 2 to get the concavity. The excess amount of turn must cancel itself out,
which means that half of it is used to turn in one direction, the other half in the other
direction. So half of the excess turn is turning against the direction of the loop, and
therefore it is the amount of concavity in the loop. It represents how many dents there
are in the loop. For example, the Crazy Tantrix blue loop has a concavity of (14-6)/2 = 4.
In tip 1 it was already said that there must be an even number of bends for a loop to be
possible, and in that case the concavity will be a whole number.
Decide how many bends and corners you will use to make up this concavity, where corners
count as 2 and bends as 1. A concavity of 4 can be achieved in three ways: using 4 bends,
or 2 bends and a corner, or 2 corners. In the case of the Crazy Tantrix blue loop the first
of these is easily found to be impossible, because the 4 concave bend tiles must lie mostly
inside the loop and there are not enough other blue loop parts to stretch around them. The
other two choices do both lead to solutions.
Put the concave tiles together in all possible ways (ignoring the other colours for now
as usual), and complete the loop around them with the other tiles. In this way you can find
many possible loop shapes fairly easily. Be careful not to overlook some loop shapes where the
concave tiles don't all touch each other.
Solutions to Original Puzzle
Here are three solutions of the original Tantrix puzzle, one
of each colour. There are dozens of possibilities for each, so these are
only examples.
Here is a solution for a large red loop with two sets combined. A blue loop is a little
more difficult, and I leave that to you.
Solutions to Tantrix Xtreme
Here are solutions to the 8 loop puzzles. Two solutions are given for the 7 and the 10 tile loop,
because two colours are possible. In all the other cases, only one of the colours can be
used to make a loop.
1-4, green
1-5, green
1-7, green
1-10, blueBy Michael Gegenwart
Here are the solutions to the 2 pyramid puzzles. There are essentially three
solutions for a red line and only one for a blue line. These are shown below.
Minor variations are possible by rearranging one or more
sets of tiles. For example in the first solution you could swap tiles 2 and 4, or
swap tiles 5 and 7, or turn tile 1 around a bit, which leads to 8 variations. In
solution 2 only tiles 3 and 8 on the corners can be trivially swapped. In solution 3
we can swap 3 and 5 as well as the trivial corners 2 and 6. There are six variations
of the blue solution by rearranging the tiles from left and right columns (tiles 1-5).
Solutions to the Super 5 Puzzles:
While the professor and Genius solutions are essentially unique, the others have
other solutions than those given here.
Junior loop puzzle.Only a blue loop is possible.
Student loop puzzle.Only a green loop is possible.
Master loop puzzle.Only a green loop is possible.
Professor double loop puzzle.Only blue/yellow loops are possible.
Genius double line puzzle.The red/yellow solution 1:
Genius double line puzzle.The red/yellow solution 2:By Alexander Fronk.
Genius double line puzzle.The red/blue solution:
Solutions to the pyramid puzzles:
Pyramid Puzzle 1.Red loop.
Pyramid Puzzle 2.Red/Yellow loops.
Pyramid Puzzle 3.Red/Blue lines.
Solutions to the Rainbow Puzzles:
Green Numbers.
This solution is essentially unique. There will always be blue on some of the pieces
chosen to form the concave parts of the loop. Since blue and green don't cross, there must be
a small blue circle inside the green loop, and this drastically restricts the possibilities.
Yellow numbersSeveral loop shapes are possible.
White numbers
Many blue loop shapes are possible. Yellow and green cross 3 times so cannot form loops.
Blue numbers
There are only two essentially different solutions
Red numbers
There are only four essentially different solutions
Solutions to the Discovery Puzzles:
Solutions to the &Unsolved& Puzzles:
Lines: 40+37+35+34 = 146by Jamie Sneddon and Paul Martinsen
Loops: 48+46+44+40 = 136by Milan Kuchtiak
Solutions to my own puzzles:
Master PuzzleLoop with only two concave pieces
Straight + Bends&
Straight + Corners&
Five Rings&
Three line puzzleTotal length= 9+11+12=32
Three loop puzzleTotal length= 8+8+7=23
By Neil O'RourkeTotal length= 12+9+4=25
Solutions to the Rock: