PUZZLING Drat! Darn! Doggone!

Or 3-D for short. Here we go into the snake-infested waters of solid geometry, with a puzzle based on Piet Hein’s Soma cube game. There are lots of different ways to put the cube together, so you really do have to solve the clues to find the right one. Don’t panic if you’re a low scorer in spatial perception. You can still work it out – it just takes a little longer. In any case, here’s hoping you’ll find it a.3-D-light!



Instructions:

Solve the clue(s) for each piece and enter letters on appropriately numbered faces. The pieces may then be mentally fitted together to make the large cube, each visible face of which will spell out a different 3 x 3 word square, with words reading both across and down.



Example: ROW

ARE

NET



The (different) 3 x 3 top face of the large cube reads across west to north and north to east down. The pieces fit exactly as shown (no piece has to be turned over or reversed) and there are no sneaky, hidden faces. You must imagine that each face of an inner cube carries the same letters as the corresponding squares on the outer surface. So if the hypothetical bottom rear cube turned out to have E on top, F on its left face, and G on the right, you could project that there would be an E in square a; square b would have F; and c would be G. Thus how the pieces can fit together gives hints as to what letters other pieces must contain. A completed solution requires that the large cube and all the pieces have every component letter filled in.

Each clue indicates the answer in more than one way. In addition to straightforward definitions, clues may also contain puns, plays on words, anagrams (“The ability to lead people in confusion is a charm” – CHARISMA), or embedded spellings (“How it zeroes in distinguishes a cannon”). Another common type of clue is word construction, where the answer is built of component parts. Example: “American leader required identification in gift” (PRESIDENT = I.D. inside PRESENT).

All abbreviations are acceptable as long as they are in current usage (e.g., TV, p.d.q., etc.). Isolated letters may be indicated in a variety of ways – as compass points, Roman numerals, grades or scores (A,F, “zero” = O, “love” as in tennis = O), musical notations (P,F for soft or loud respectively). Parts of words may be used (IVE or just V might be indicated by “MidwIVEs”).

The one paramount rule is that the clue sentence, with a little repunctuation, will tell exactly how to get the answer.

Note: One clue answer is a proper name.



Send the completed puzzle (or reasonable facsimile) to Puzzling, D Magazine, 1925 San Jacinto, Dallas, Texas 75201. All correct solutions will be held for one week after receipt of (he first entry, at which time a drawing will take place to determine the winners. First winner will receive a $25 cash prize. Runner-up will receive a free one-year subscription to D. Winners and completed puzzle will appear in the May issue.