Piet Hein of Denmark is the inventor of Soma, described by Parker Brothers as “the world’s finest cube puzzle game.” There are seven pieces – all the irregular shapes that can be formed from four cubes or less. These pieces can be fitted together into a 3x3x3 cube, though not exactly with ease! The name “Soma” goes back to ancient India where it was an intoxicating plant juice, and more recently to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, in which it was the Utopian society’s perfect drug – euphoric, narcotic, pleasantly hallucinatory, and without aftereffect. In all its uses, Soma has been a means of taking the user’s mind off reality for awhile and it is with that hope that I present this puzzle based on Hein’s game.
Solve the clue(s) for each Soma piece and enter the letters. The pieces may then be mentally fitted to make the large cube, each visible face of which will spell out a different 3×3 word square, with words reading both across and down.
Example:
ROWARENET
The top face of the cube will read west to north. The pieces fit exactly as shown (no piece has to be turned over or reversed) and there are no cubes hidden. You must imagine that each inner cube carries the same letters as the corresponding squares on the outer surface. Thus 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 square a was E; b was F; and c was G; etc. Thus, by mentally fitting together the pieces, you’ll get hints as to what the other pieces must contain.
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 requires indentification 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” = 0, “love” as in tennis = 0), musical notations (P, F for soft or loud respectively). Parts of words may be used (IVE or just V might be indicated by “Mid-wIVEs”).
The one paramount rule is that the clue sentence, with a little repunctuation, will tell exactly how to get the answer.
The clues contain two proper nouns. The “together (a) and (b) . . . ” clues sire simply additional hints.
Send the completed puzzle with name and address to Puzzling, D Magazine, 2902 Carlisle, Dallas 75204. All correct solutions will be held for one week after receipt of the 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 October issue.
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