First choose one of the puzzles then scramble the board. Move the blocks
around to recreate the Home State of the puzzle. Once the puzzle
is scrambled, click on a block with the mouse to move it into the vacant square.
Notes on the 14-15 Puzzle
Created in the 1870s by the American puzzlist Sam Loyd, the 14-15 puzzle
begins with 15 blocks in regular order, except that blocks 14 and 15
are reversed. The goal of the original puzzle was to move the blocks
into correct numerical order, with the vacant square in the lower-right
corner (the Home State of the 15-Square puzzle).
Loyd offered $1,000 to the first person to find the correct solution.
The 14-15 puzzle, also known as the Boss puzzle, became quite
famous internationally, but no one ever received the prize. The puzzle
is in fact unsolvable.
But it is possible to solve the 14-15 puzzle if the Home State is modified
slightly, by placing the vacant square in the upper-left corner of the
board rather than the lower right. This is the form of the puzzle presented
here.
