PUZZLING The Impossible Figure

In a 1958 British psychological journal, L.S. and R. Penrose published a construction they called the “tribar.” It appeared to be in logical perspective, a composition of square sides resting on each other at right angles, but the pieces were joined together in a way that was spacially incorrect. I couldn’t resist turning this perfectly sensible yet impossible thing into a puzzle.



Instructions:

Each clue is made up of two straightforward definitions – one for a six-letter word and the other for a four-letter word (though not necessarily in that order). Four of the larger word’s letters may be rearranged to make up the smaller word. So subtracting the four-letter word from the six-letter word leaves you with two letters. These remainders are to be entered into the two visible sides of the appropriately numbered cube, the first letter into the numbered side and the second into the attached blank side that would be part of the same block. For instance, suppose one of the clues were “10. Just paradise.” The words defined would be EVEN and HEAVEN, and the letters left after the subtraction would be HA. So the side numbered 10 would contain H, and the (partially hidden) side attached above it would contain A.

When the blocks have been correctly filled in, the result reading around the diagram counter-clockwise will be a famous quotation from Shakespeare appropriate to this time of the year. If I identified the play it comes from, you’d guess it immediately. That’s a hint. The ten letters of the V-shape on the plane that starts at square 1 will spell out who uttered the deathless phrase. The twenty-letter quotation will be contained in the ten-letter V-shape starting at square 6, followed immediately by the ten-letter V-shape started at square 11.

As an additional help, when the clue answers are properly completed, the cirled letters taken in order will reveal a phrase describing the impossible figure (like maybe FROM A TWISTED MIND?).

Send the completed puzzle (or reasonable facimile) to Puzzling, D Magazine, 1925 San Jacinto, Dallas, Texas 75201. 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. Runnerup will receive a free one-year subscription to D. Winners and completed puzzle will appear in the April issue.

(Note: A complete solution will include the answers to all the clues.)