Henry Ernest Dudeney/Puzzles and Curious Problems/309 - Domino Sequences

Puzzles and Curious Problems by Henry Ernest Dudeney: $309$

Domino Sequences

A boy who had a complete set of dominoes, up to double $9$, was trying to arrange them all in sequence, in the usual way --

$6$ against $6$, $3$ against $3$, blank against blank, and so on.

His father said to him, "You are attempting an impossibility, but if you let me pick out $4$ dominoes it can them be done.

And those I take shall contain the smallest total number of pips possible in the circumstances.

Now, which dominoes might the father have selected?

Remember that the dominoes in common use stop at double $6$, but we are here using a set up to double $9$.

Sources

• 1932: Henry Ernest Dudeney: Puzzles and Curious Problems ... (previous) ... (next): Crossing River Problem, and Problems Concerning Games and Puzzle Games: $309$. -- Domino Sequences
• 1968: Henry Ernest Dudeney: 536 Puzzles & Curious Problems ... (previous) ... (next): Domino Puzzles: $488$. Domino Sequences