2026-07-31 · history
Get Off the Earth (1896) — The Patent Sam Loyd Took Out on a Miscount
In 1896, puzzle columnist Sam Loyd patented a rotating vanishing puzzle called Get Off the Earth. This piece traces the real mechanism behind its disappearing figure, its 1880 predecessor The Magic Egg Puzzle, its roots in Loyd's 1858 Trick Mules, and the trail this rearrangement trick has left in optical-illusion puzzles today.
