First published here on Mariano’s Scifoo14 blog

In 1880 the Art Lithographers Wemple & Company (New York) edited “The Magic Egg Puzzle” (1) , a rather curious postcard to be cut in three pieces. In the original arrangement, the picture shows a chicken with 10 eggs:

After interchanging the upper pieces, one egg has vanished:

See here many similar puzzles.

The topic of “Vanishing puzzles” has been widely analysed by Martin Gardner. In 1981 Donald E. Knuth composed a poem in his honor – “Disappearances” (2) , which incorporated the same magic properties of a vanishing puzzle.

After interchanging the right-hand portions of the poem, the eight-line verse becomes a seven-line verse. Which line disappears?

Some days ago Knuth’s poem has been featured on Futility Closet blog; in the occasion I have worked on an Italian adaptation of the text. In order to ease my task, I have created a Magic Poems Editor, an online tool which help in keeping track of the internal constraints. A rather Oulipian exercise!

My creative tool for playing at the intersection between Magic and Poetry is free and available here.

If you come across an excellent poem (or a good adaptation in a foreign language), please share the results with me: I will publish them!

Notes