TITLE: A challenging straightedge and compass construction
QUESTION [8 upvotes]: Three points $A,O,B$ are given, and $0<\theta=\widehat{AOB}<\frac{\pi}{3}$.
  It is known that there are two points $A',B'$ on the segments $OA,OB$ such that 
  $$ BB'=B'A'=A'A $$
  holds. How to find them with straightedge and compass?

The problem is straightforward to solve through trigonometry: if we set $$OA=A,\;OB=b,\;\cos\theta=c,\; AA'=x$$
it boils down to solving the second-degree equation:
$$ (a-x)^2+(b-x)^2 - 2(a-x)(b-x)c = x^2, $$
but I wasn't able to find an elegant solution through straightedge and compass only.

REPLY [4 votes]: Thanks to Xaver, a simple solution (but a not-so-trivial one).


Lemma 1. If $P\in OA$ and $Q\in OB$ fulfills $PA=QB$, then $PB\cap QA$ lies on a line that is parallel to the angle bisector of $\widehat{AOB}$.
Lemma 2. $C=AB'\cap A'B$ lies on a fixed circle $\Gamma$ through the incenter of $AOB$, since $\widehat{ACB}=\frac{\pi+\theta}{2}$.

So, let $P$ be a point of $OA$ and $Q$ be the corresponding $Q$-point on $OB$, as in Lemma 1.
Let $D=BP\cap AQ$ and $\ell$ be the line through $D$ that is parallel to the angle bisector of $\widehat{AOB}$.
Let $I$ be the incenter of $AOB$ and $\Gamma$ the circumcircle of $AIB$.
Then $\color{blue}{C=\ell \cap \Gamma}$ and $A',B'$ are easily found.