Junior Paul Miller records his answer in Polyominoes and Soma Cubes. Gargoyle photo by Jack Snyder. (Click to create a slideshow)

Freshman David Hjelmstad (foreground) intently focuses on his work. Gargoyle photo by Jack Snyder. (Click to create a slideshow)

AFTER ANOTHER UNSUCCESSFUL attempt to put my blocks in a 5-by-12 rectangle, once again I restarted work on my puzzle.

Then, after arranging and rearranging my pieces for what seemed to be the thousandth time, I gave up and took a break.

Another student, senior Julian Hartman, finally solved his puzzle. His feat was the first time that anyone at my table had solved it. What I’m trying to say here is, polyominoes were not a piece of cake.

The scene was from the first day of my second-hour Polyominoes and Soma Cubes class, and my brain needed a break.

Polyominoes are colorful plastic pieces made up of five squares. There are 12 different configurations that they can be put in, and by using these 12 shapes you can solve puzzles.

According to our teacher, Gene Bild, the two main puzzles people try to solve are making a 5-by-12 rectangle and a 6-by-10 rectangle.

Apparently there are more a thousand solutions for both of the two rectangles; however, I had yet to find any of them.

The only puzzle I had been able to solve on the first day was making a 3-by-20 rectangle. This was a lot easier, because there are only two solutions and you pretty much knew when you had messed up.

Besides this, there were many other puzzles that could be attempted: an “x” and a cross were among the possibilities. However, on my own I could not solve these, either.

A finished soma cube. Gargoyle photo by Jack Snyder. (Click to create a slideshow)

Senior Jake Seeley plays his guitar after solving his puzzle. Gargoyle photo by Jack Snyder. (Click to create a slideshow)

But I was able to solve the “x” with a little aid from a book on polyominoes that Bild supplied. My success would continue from Tuesday into the rest of the week in the soma cubes section of the class.

Soma cubes are pretty much the three-dimensional version of polyominoes. They consist of different cubes in shapes of four or three blocks.

The objective of soma cubes is to put them into a 3-by-3-by-3 square. This was also quite difficult, but much easier than the polyominoes.

The soma cube is different from polyominoes in that the soma cube can actually be solved. After about 10 minutes of working I was able to make a cube. Within 10 more minutes, each person at my table was able to find one of the more than 100 solutions.

Throughout that class we chatted while we worked to find answers. Conversation topics ranged from tips on solutions to current movies. For an academic class, it was pretty relaxed, but it still managed to teach me something. I learned less about math and more about guess-and-check methods.

The class had an odd makeup. Every single student was male. I’m kind of unsure why, though. Unlike classes like Girls Basketball or Girls Soccer, students of any gender could join.

Students had to be dedicated enough to make the class worthwhile. If a student decided to give up early in the process there would be no chance that he would solve it. If he worked and got help from those nearby he would have little trouble.

Most students in my class decided to fight through the puzzle and solve it, but a few decided it wasn't worth their while and gave up to fiddle with their iPods.

I also felt that Bild taught the class well. He let us explore to find our answers, and he was good about pointing students in the right direction if they needed assistance.

He was able to help us in a field that professionals spend little time on. That and a few books offering tips were all we needed to guide us to success.

I took Polyominoes and Soma Cubes in my subbie year. The class was fun that time, so I decided to give it another shot. I once again enjoyed it in ’08. In years to come I would recommend the class to any student who enjoys puzzles or working with a challenge.