I believe I have a solution to the puzzle problem. I wrote it in C# in an attempt to solve 9 piece puzzles such as the ones found here:

http://www.google.com/products?q=B+Dazzle+Game+Birds+&hl=en&aq=f

So far, after letting it run for about an hour, I have 3 working solutions.

Let me know if you would like to see the rest of the project.

Here is some of the code:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using Puzzle;

namespace Puzzle
{
public class Piece : IEquatable
{
private int _number = -1;
private int _attempt = 0;
private Side _top;
private Side _bottom;
private Side _left;
private Side _right;

public Piece(int Number)
{
_number = Number;
}

public int Number
{
get { return _number; }
set { _number = value; }
}

public int Attempt
{
get { return _attempt; }
set { _attempt = value; }
}

public Side Top
{
get { return _top; }
set { _top = value; }
}

public Side Bottom
{
get { return _bottom; }
set { _bottom = value; }
}

public Side Left
{
get { return _left; }
set { _left = value; }
}

public Side Right
{
get { return _right; }
set { _right = value; }
}

public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
return Equals(obj as Piece);
}

public bool Equals(Piece other)
{
// Check whether the compared object is null.
if (ReferenceEquals(other, null)) return false;

// Check whether the compared object references the same data.
if (ReferenceEquals(this, other)) return true;

// Check whether the Piece’ properties are equal.
return Number.Equals(other.Number) &&
Top.Equals(other.Top) &&
Bottom.Equals(other.Bottom) &&
Left.Equals(other.Left) &&
Right.Equals(other.Right);
}

public override int GetHashCode()
{
//Get hash code for the ProductId field.
int hashNumber = Number.GetHashCode();

int hashTop = Top == null ? 0 : Top.GetHashCode();
int hashBottom = Bottom == null ? 0 : Bottom.GetHashCode();
int hashLeft = Left == null ? 0 : Left.GetHashCode();
int hashRight = Right == null ? 0 : Right.GetHashCode();

//Calculate the hash code for the product.
return hashNumber ^ hashTop ^ hashBottom ^ hashLeft ^ hashRight;
}

public static bool operator ==(Piece a, Piece b)
{
// If both are null, or both are same instance, return true.
if (System.Object.ReferenceEquals(a, b))
{
return true;
}

// If one is null, but not both, return false.
if (((object)a == null) || ((object)b == null))
{
return false;
}

return a.Equals((object)b);

}

public static bool operator !=(Piece a, Piece b)
{
return !(a == b);
}

}

public class Side
{
private Col _color;
private Part _birdpart;

public enum Col
{
Blue,
Green,
Pink,
Black
}

public enum Part
{
Head,
Tail
}

public Col Color
{
get { return _color; }
set { _color = value; }
}

public Part BirdPart
{
get { return _birdpart; }
set { _birdpart = value; }
}

public static bool operator ==(Side leftside, Side rightside)
{
bool match = false;

// If both are null, or both are same instance, return true.
if (System.Object.ReferenceEquals(leftside, rightside))
{
return true;
}

// If one is null, but not both, return false.
if (((object)leftside == null) || ((object)rightside == null))
{
return false;
}

if (leftside.BirdPart == Side.Part.Head)
{
if (leftside.Color == rightside.Color && rightside.BirdPart == Side.Part.Tail)
{
match = true;
}
}
else if (leftside.BirdPart == Side.Part.Tail)
{
if (leftside.Color == rightside.Color && rightside.BirdPart == Side.Part.Head)
{
match = true;
}
}

return match;

}

public static bool operator !=(Side a, Side b)
{
return !(a == b);
}
}
}

I’m not sure if that’s any use to you but thought I’d mention it.

Peace