text: how do you lay 6 cocktail sticks so they all touch each other?   your question suggests you want an answer that only involves 2 dimensions. this is not possible. if you arrange the sticks in a star shape as has been suggested then once two sticks touch you cannot get any more across the boundary they create. if you are allowed into the 3rd dimension slightly then you can arrange the sticks as follows. arrange two sticks in a v shape. insert another stick into the v so it touches the other two sticks but doesn't push them apart. i don't have a character on my keyboard to illustrate but the result will look like the three fingers remaining if you folded your thumb and little finger down. now do the same but laying the remaining three sticks on top on the three you just put down and making sure the neck of the second v is rotated by 90 degrees with respect to the first.