Fun things

Cryptic crosswords

I enjoy both solving and designing cryptics. Here is a themed puzzle I constructed. Lately I have been working through (and highly recommend!) Māyā’s cryptic collection.

Modular origami

This solid icosahedron is built from the triangle edge unit designed by Lewis Simon and Bennett Arnstein.

Here are two (stellated) icosahedra I assembled from Sonobe units. One uses double-sided paper and a modified version of the unit with a reverse fold to expose the back.

This model of five intersecting tetrahedra was tricky to assemble correctly, but I am quite pleased with the result. I learned about it from a blog post on modular origami, along with many other designs, and followed Thomas Hull’s instructions to build it.

This last model, Maria Sinayskaya’s etna kusudama, is also based on the plan of a stellated icosahedron but with decorative holes in each point to give a floral appearance. Unlike the other models I have constructed, it would not hold together at all during construction and I had to use small paperclips at each joint to stabilise it. Once fully assembled, the clips can be removed and it seems fairly sturdy.