Here is a fun cartoon. Count the people. Wait. Count again.
Answer explained in the extended entry.
Kelly and I noticed that when there are 13 people, pieces of them are missing. One guy is missing the top of his head. Anther one is missing his chin. Another is missing his knees. How do all these little pieces add up to a 13th person? We also noticed that people were staggered from high to low. We were on to something. A Google search of: Count 12 13 people puzzle” found the answer.
I took the puzzle drawing and rearranged the 12 guys from high to low. The orange line is where the puzzle “cuts” them. If you take the lower half and slide it one person to the right, you make 13 people, which is shown in the lower half of the drawing. That’s basically what is going on, but the effect is disguised by mixing up the people and making it a two-part shift.
How does that work!?!?
I posted the answer to the puzzle in the extended entry of the original puzzle.
I had noticed the missing top of the head and how some people got shorter, but I didn’t figure out how they could take pieces of each person and make a new person. Your diagrams make it more clear what is happening.