Magic Patchwork
by Werner Miller

Werner Miller is a retired teacher of mathematics, whose hobbies are recreational mathematics and magic. A magical inventor and writer, Werner has produced a prolific volume of work, mostly semi-automatic card tricks and other self-working miracles. He is the author of "E-Z Square 1 & 2", the "Enigmaths" series and several other books and ebooks on mathematical magic, besides more than 300 contributions to various magazines and web sites. You can find his tricks regulary in, e.g., the German magazine "Magische Welt" and the British "Mystery Magazine", as well as here at Visions.

1. Put your finger on any colored number square.

2. Move your finger left or right to any even number.

3. Move your finger up or down to the nearest odd number.

4. Move your finger left or right to the nearest 2-digit number.

5. Move your finger up or left to the nearest odd number.

You end up on the black square numbered 15.

Because there are 880 different 4x4 magic squares it is not difficult to find one that works equally well:

2. Move your finger up or down to any even number.

3. Move your finger left or right to the nearest odd number.

4. Move your finger up or down to the nearest 2-digit number.

5. Move your finger down or right to the nearest odd number.

You end up on the yellow square numbered 1.

Inspired by Pedro Alegria’s "El cuadro de colores" (http://divulgamat.ehu.es/weborriak/cultura/MateMagia/Colores/colores.html).

Werner Miller