Question du Lapin

This is a classic puzzle produced in Paris in about 1900. The name means "Rabbit Puzzle" and I first came across it in the book "Puzzles Old and New: How to Make and Solve Them" by Jerry Slocum and Jack Botermans (a great book on mechanical puzzles but difficult to get).

The puzzle consists of five octagonal cards with a shape cut out of the center of each. You have to place the cards on top of each other and with the correct rotation in order to end up with a cut-out in the shape of a rabbit.

When you start this on-line version of the game, you will see the cards at the left and five octagons in a box to the right. Each of these octagons represents one of the cards. Clicking on the octagon will flip the card over (the physical cards could be placed either way up) and clicking on the arrow at either side will cause the card to turn either anticlockwise or clockwise. In all three cases, the piece being clicked will be brought to the front so that you can see it better.

When you get all the cards in the right rotations and the correct sides then Dixie will appear.

This is not an easy puzzle, so to help I have added a button in the bottom left corner to allow you to bring up a picture of the solution. The first 3 times you bring it up, you will be able to see your cards below (which makes finding the solution easy). After 3 times, the cards will be taken away while the solution is shown so you will have to rely on memory.

To restart the game at any time, click on the button at the top right of puzzle.