Stupefied: Can You Build This Dungeon?

Given the post-vacation haze that has surely lifted around us, it’s time to get our brains back in action. Alex Bellos continues to be our beacon in a sea of particularly nasty puzzles. This one is no exception and has been adapted from Which Way Did the Bicycle Go? by Joseph Konhauser, Dan Velleman, and Stan Wagon. Here’s what it reads:

The image below is the horizontal cross section of a room. The bulb shows the position of the single light source. When the light is switched on, one wall (marked in brown) remains completely in shadow.”

Puzzle Room 1

Alex Bellos/Wikipedia

 This is what all you Hermiones need to do. You must construct a dungeon with straight walls in which there is a position for a single light source that leaves either part or all of every wall in shadow. Why? Hermione is designing a lab to investigate the growth of Dementors, for their eventual eradication, of course. This requires some completely blackened walls for the Dementor chambers and some partially lit ones for her safety.

 Mercifully, some hints from both Alex and ourselves have been included. We think this is a nice switch-up from the usual brain busters and look forward to seeing your responses. Be sure to tweet or comment at us with your drawings or descriptions. Good luck!

Hint 1
A point is in shadow if there is no direct line from the light source to it.
Hint 2
The straight wall sections need to join, so the cross-section of the room is a polygon. You can’t have a free-standing wall.
Hint 3
There is more than one acceptable answer. Quite a few, actually.
Solution

Puzzle Room Solution 1

Joe Hardy

Puzzle Room Solution 2

Filip and Maksim Mijovic

Puzzle Room Solution 3

Andrew White

Puzle Room Solution 4

Mike Welch