Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 26, 2026

List of impossible puzzles

This is a list of puzzles that cannot be solved. An impossible puzzle is a puzzle that cannot be resolved, either due to lack of sufficient information, or any number of logical impossibilities.15 Puzzle – Slide fifteen numbered tiles into numerical order. It is impossible to solve in half of the starting positions. Five room puzzle – Cross each wall of a diagram exactly once with a continuous line. MU puzzle – Transform the string MI to MU according to a set of rules. Mutilated chessboard problem – Place 31 dominoes of size 2×1 on a chessboard with two opposite corners removed. Coloring the edges of the Petersen graph with three colors. Seven Bridges of Königsberg – Walk through a city while crossing each of seven bridges exactly once. Squaring the circle, the impossible problem of constructing a square with the same area as a given circle, using only a compass and straightedge. Three cups problem – Turn three cups right-side up after starting with one wrong and turning two at a time. Three utilities problem – Connect three cottages to gas, water, and electricity without crossing lines. Thirty-six officers problem – Arrange six regiments consisting of six officers each of different ranks in a 6 × 6 square so that no rank or regiment is repeated in any row or column.

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This is a list of puzzles that cannot be solved. An impossible puzzle is a puzzle that cannot be resolved, either due to lack of sufficient information, or any number of logical impossibilities.

See also

See also

References

References

  1. Archer, Aaron F. (November 1999). "A Modern Treatment of the 15 Puzzle". The American Mathematical Monthly. 106 (9): 793–799. doi:10.1080/00029890.1999.12005124. ISSN 0002-9890.
  2. Bakst, Aaron; Gardner, Martin (May 1962). "The Second Scientific American Book of Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions". The American Mathematical Monthly. 69 (5): 455. doi:10.2307/2312171. ISSN 0002-9890.
  3. Hofstadter, Douglas R. (1999). Gödel, Escher, Bach: an eternal golden braid (20th anniversary ed.). New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-394-75682-0.
  4. Starikova, Irina; Paul, Jean; Bendegem, Van (2020). "Revisiting the mutilated chessboard or the many roles of a picture". Logique et Analyse. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.31980.80007.
  5. Holton, Derek Allan; Sheehan, J. (1993). The Petersen graph. Australian Mathematical Society lecture series. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-43594-9.
  6. Euler, Leonhard (1953). "Leonhard Euler and the Koenigsberg Bridges". Scientific American. 189 (1): 66–72. ISSN 0036-8733.
  7. Kasner, Edward (1933). "Squaring the Circle". The Scientific Monthly. 37 (1): 67–71. ISSN 0096-3771.
  8. Sanford, A. J. (1987). The mind of man: models of human understanding. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-03960-3.
  9. Kullman, David E. (November 1979). "The Utilities Problem". Mathematics Magazine. 52 (5): 299–302. doi:10.1080/0025570X.1979.11976807. ISSN 0025-570X.
  10. Huczynska, Sophie (October 2006). "Powerline communication and the 36 officers problem". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 364 (1849): 3199–3214. doi:10.1098/rsta.2006.1885. ISSN 1364-503X.