Wrapped Trapezoid

Wrapping up this gift was much more challenging than I expected.

But it got me thinking about how this could be an interesting project.  Questions such as “What’s the smallest square piece of wrapping paper that could do the job?” or “What kind of rectangle would work best?” are compelling and  easy to investigate.  And maybe someone could make a triangle or trapezoid do the job efficiently.  There’s a lot of room for creativity and exploration here.

The usual restrictions on tearing and cutting would apply, although relaxing those restrictions might create interesting problems, too.

It wasn’t easy, but I did pick up some unexpected ideas along the way.  And the gift was well-received, too!