Question 187
Let $n \geqslant 2$ be a positive integer. Paul has a $1 \times n^{2}$ rectangular strip consisting of $n^{2}$ unit squares, where the $i^{\text{th}}$ square is labelled with $i$ for all $1 \leqslant i \leqslant n^{2}$. He wishes to cut the strip into several pieces, where each piece consists of a number of consecutive unit squares, and then translate (without rotating or flipping) the pieces to obtain an $n \times n$ square satisfying the following property: if the unit square in the $i^{\text{th}}$ row and $j^{\text{th}}$ column is labelled with $a_{ij}$, then $a_{ij}-(i+j-1)$ is divisible by $n$.
Determine the smallest number of pieces Paul needs to make in order to accomplish this.
Determine the smallest number of pieces Paul needs to make in order to accomplish this.