The Works of Archimedes

authority earlier than Lucian; and the so-called loculus Archimedius (Archimedes' puzzle/box), which was a sort of puzzle made of 14 pieces of ivory of different shapes cut out of a square, cannot be supposed to be his invention. The explanation of the name may be that it was only a method of expressing that the puzzle was cleverly made, in the same way as the problēma Archimedion (Archimedean problem) came to be simply a proverbial expression for something very difficult.