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The game of Cram consists in placing dominoes on a grid. Remarkably, its study can be reduced, via the definition of a category of mathematical objects called "nimbers", to the Marienbad matchstick game.

For many people, the rhombus—originally called a "rhomb" (see In Brief, "The origin of the rhombus"; the associated adjective is still "rhombic")—is characterized by its acute angles pointing upward and downward. Yet, as Euclid already observed, this quadrilateral is defined by the equal lengths of its sides. Its ability to form tilings accounts for its use in architecture and decoration.

Three books to finish. Hundreds of journalists on the lookout since the Nobel Prize in Physics was announced on October 6, 2020. Yet Sir Roger Penrose, aged 89, agreed to give your favourite magazine more than three hours of his time in a video interview. With generosity, passion and enthusiasm, he tells us the story behind some of his geometric discoveries.