The Six Pencils ^[solution]

One of the 6-pencil solutions is shown in the illustration above.

Actually the 7-pencil solution to this puzzle is possible as well. The 7-pencil solution is shown in the illustration above.

And if to add two pencils but somewhat shorter (approx half the length of the given pencil) to the existing 6 pencils, then it is still possible to perform the task with these 8 pencils. The 8-pencil solution is shown in the illustration above.

This solution was sent to us by Ed Pegg Jr. who runs www.mathpuzzle.com.