Tetrabolos – the puzzle pieces
The 14 Tetrabolos each consist of four congruent isosceles right triangles. Within each Tetrabolo, the triangles are joined either along their hypotenuses or along their legs; a hypotenuse never meets a leg.
Tetrabolos belong to the polyabolo family, also known as polytans.

Tetrabolo Puzzles
Martin Gardner describes the Tetrabolos in his book Mathematical Magic Show. Together, the 14 Tetrabolos cover an area of 56 isosceles right triangles.
The underlying grid allows figures with up to fourfold rotational symmetry and four axes of reflection. However, no figure with this maximum symmetry can be assembled from all 14 Tetrabolos. The rectangle shown also cannot be assembled from all 14 pieces. The few known symmetric figures made from all 14 pieces have at most one axis of reflection.
Examples of Tetrabolo Figures
















Resources & Downloads
3D-Printing Templates
The 3D-printing files include the 14 Tetrabolos and a box.


Cardboard Templates
The PDF contains templates in several colors and instructions for making a Tetrabolo puzzle from cardboard.



