Box and Floor Puzzles
The linear-order puzzle family — stacked boxes, building floors, a week's schedule — including how to translate 'above', 'gap of two', 'immediately' and negative clues, run an attribute column, and fix the most constrained variable first.
What you will be able to do
- Set a fixed numbering for the line and keep one 'top' convention throughout.
- Translate above/below, gaps, 'immediately', and negative clues into position facts.
- Fix the most constrained variable first and branch only when forced.
- Carry a second attribute column and use position-to-attribute clues.
What is inside this lesson
- 1One family, many disguises
- 2Set up the frame
- 3Translate the phrases
- 4Running the attribute column
- 5Worked example: a stack of seven boxes
- 6Worked example: six floors with a colour
- 7Common mistakes
- 8Quick revision
- 9Practice
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One family, many disguises
Stacked boxes, floors of a building, and a Monday-to-Sunday schedule are the same puzzle: a set of items placed in a single line of numbered slots, with clues about who is where.
Often there is also one attribute per item — a colour, a weight, a department — that you solve alongside the order.
The skill is turning loose phrases into hard position facts, then placing the most constrained item first and letting the rest fall out.
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