Puzzle
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
A puzzle is a problem or enigma presented as entertainment; that is written down, acted out, etc.
Many puzzles stem from serious mathematical or logistical problems (see packing problems and tour puzzles). Others, like chess problems, are derived from board games. Others again have been devised for the sole purpose of being brain teasers. The formal study of puzzles is called enigmatology.
The history of puzzles goes back many thousand years, Tangram being one of the earliest and still one of the most popular puzzles. In certain temples of Japan monks used to write mathematical puzzles on temple walls.
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Categories of puzzles
- boardgame puzzles - puzzles derived from board games
- computer puzzle games
- cube puzzles
- logic puzzles
- mathematical puzzles
- mazes
- mechanical puzzles
- packing problems
- pair-up puzzles
- polycube puzzles
- brain teaser
- riddle
- shuffling puzzles
- solitaire-type puzzles
- stick puzzles
- tiling puzzles
- tour puzzles
- transport puzzles
- whodunits
- word puzzles
For more examples click one of the categories.
Examples of puzzles that do not fit into any of the categories above
See also
Literature
- Creative Puzzles of the World, 1980, Plenary Publications International
- Denkspiele Der Welt, München 1977,1981, Heinrich Hugendubel Verlag
External links
- Brain teasers, puzzles and optical illusions from BrainBashers (http://www.brainbashers.com)
- The puzzle archive of the rec.puzzles newsgroup (http://www.rec-puzzles.org)
- WordFind - program to find words, anagrams and palindromes (http://www.andyscouse.com/pages/wordfind.htm)
- Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles (http://www.cut-the-knot.org)
- The Mind Breakers - Puzzles and Riddles (http://www.mindbreakers.com)
- World Puzzle Championship (http://www.worldpuzzle.org/)
- National Public Radio weekly puzzle page (http://www.npr.org/programs/wesun/puzzle/)
- Synopses of the National Public Radio weekly puzzle segment (http://igc.topica.com/lists/nprpuzzle@igc.topica.com/read)
- National Puzzlers League (http://www.puzzlers.org/)
- American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (http://www.crosswordtournament.com/)
- Ed Pegg Jr.'s math puzzles (http://www.mathpuzzle.com/)
- Richard Renner's puzzle links (http://rrenner.home.igc.org/Clock11.htm)bs:Enigmatikaeo:Enigmo
fr:Casse-tête hr:Enigmatika id:Tebakan ja:パズル pt:Quebra-cabeça sr:Енигматика vi:Trò chơi đố zh:趣題
