Delft, autumn 1799
A potter, a merchant and a floor that must never repeat itself
The Guild of Saint Luke is gone and England sells cheaper pottery. Lucas has only four of his twenty workers left.
Then Cornelis Verhoeven, a cloth merchant from Leiden, unrolls a drawing on the workbench. “I have calculated how many ways you can draw these lines. Exactly 1799.”
He wants all of them, in one floor, before the new century begins.
Read the whole story
Delft, autumn 1799.
Lucas sits exhausted in his workshop. All around him lie blue-and-white tiles. Hundreds of them. Perhaps thousands.
For generations, his family has built a reputation as master potters. But times are changing. The Guild of Saint Luke has been dissolved, and wealthy families are choosing modern pottery from England instead. Of the twenty workers Lucas once employed, he can now afford to keep only four.
Then, on a rainy afternoon, Cornelis Verhoeven appears in his doorway. A wealthy cloth merchant from Leiden, with a special love of mathematics and puzzles.
Cornelis unrolls a drawing on the workbench. Hexagons, crossed by lines that run from one side to another.
“I have calculated how many ways you can draw these lines,” he says. “Exactly 1799.”
As many as the year itself. To Cornelis, that is no coincidence.
Cornelis wants a floor for his garden room. A pattern made of tiles, each one different, surrounded by a decorative border. Where the tiles meet, the lines must continue seamlessly. No line may end.
Cornelis is a superstitious man. He believes that luck will stay in his home only if it has no way to escape and the pattern never repeats itself.
There is just one problem.
“The floor must be finished before the new century begins.”
Lucas has accepted the commission. For weeks, he has worked without rest. Tile by tile, he has painted the lines on the white glaze, in a paint that is almost black. In the kiln, it turned cobalt blue. On the back of each tile, he has scratched a number with a nail, with the year 1799 beneath it. For the border, he has made tiles in dark manganese, decorated with cream-white lines.
Now his storeroom is full. Every tile is ready. Every line has been carefully painted.
But the hardest task is still ahead. 1799 separate tiles. One harmonious pattern. And time is running out.
Every tile carries its own number on the back, scratched into the clay by Lucas.
The rules
Three rules. Endless floors.
Every tile is different
Six lines join twelve points on six sides. That gives exactly 1799 tiles, and each may be used only once.
No line may end
Where two tiles meet, the lines must flow on. Turn a tile, swap it, try another, until every line finds its way.
The border closes the floor
Dark manganese border tiles catch every line at the edge and send it back inside. Use as many as you need.
Daily Puzzle
Cornelis cannot wait. Every morning he asks for a sample.
The floor is due before the new century, but Cornelis wants to see the work now. Each day he sends Lucas a note asking for a small shape, with a wish for the lines.
Become Lucas’s Apprentice and help him with these puzzles. It takes a few minutes.
Play today’s puzzleIt’s free.
To Master Lucas van der Kleij, De Kleijne Pot, Delft
Show me a line that travels far: twenty-four tiles before it stops.
Cornelis Verhoeven
The Manufactory
Floors made with the same 1799 tiles
In the Manufactory you design your own floors, tile by tile. Each floor below uses tiles from the same set. The Manufactory can also help: choose a goal and let it search for a pattern.
One line
All 1799 tiles. One line that never ends.
Every tile in one floor, joined by a single closed line. Watch it draw itself, as slowly or as fast as you like.
Watch the line ›Design your own floor.
Enter the ManufactoryComing soon
1799 hexagons in your hands. A floor of your own at home.
Lucas’s work is not finished yet. Soon the Manufactory becomes a tabletop puzzle: 1799 numbered pieces plus the border pieces, printed on high-quality board and packed in one box.
Keep me postedUse webmail? Send a message with Gmail, Outlook or Yahoo Mail.
No spam. Lucas only writes when there is news from the Manufactory.