Packing 11 unit squares in a square

Letter from Martin Gardner, 1980-01-10

Best known packing since 1979 (Walter Trump), proven optimal in 2026 with AI assistance (Ahmed et al.).

Original cartoon by Randall Munroe, xkcd #2740. Corrected, modified and colorized using ChatGPT. Licensed under CC BY-NC 2.5 .

For more details see:

Packing-11-squares.pdf

Dynamic construction of the packing

Improving packings

Optimality of the Packing (2026)

Reference:
Gardner, Martin. Fractal Music, Hypercards, and More Mathematical Recreations
from Scientific American Magazine. New York: W. H. Freeman, pp. 299-300, 1992.