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A puzzle is a
game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...
, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or
knowledge Knowledge is an Declarative knowledge, awareness of facts, a Knowledge by acquaintance, familiarity with individuals and situations, or a Procedural knowledge, practical skill. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is oft ...
. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to find the solution of the puzzle. There are different genres of puzzles, such as crossword puzzles, word-search puzzles, number puzzles, relational puzzles, and logic puzzles. The academic study of puzzles is called enigmatology. Puzzles are often created to be a form of entertainment but they can also arise from serious
mathematical Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
or logical problems. In such cases, their solution may be a significant contribution to mathematical research.


Etymology

The ''
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...
'' dates the word ''puzzle'' (as a
verb A verb is a word that generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual description of English, the basic f ...
) to the 16th century. Its earliest use documented in the ''OED'' was in a book titled ''The Voyage of Robert Dudley...to the West Indies, 1594–95, narrated by Capt. Wyatt, by himself, and by Abram Kendall, master'' (published circa 1595). The word later came to be used as a
noun In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an Object (grammar), object or Subject (grammar), subject within a p ...
, first as an
abstract noun In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an object or subject within a phrase, clause, or sentence.Example ...
meaning 'the state or condition of being puzzled', and later developing the meaning of 'a perplexing problem'. The ''OED''s earliest clear citation in the sense of 'a toy that tests the player's ingenuity' is from Sir Walter Scott's 1814 novel '' Waverley'', referring to a toy known as a "reel in a bottle". The etymology of the verb ''puzzle'' is described by ''OED'' as "unknown"; unproven hypotheses regarding its origin include an Old English verb ''puslian'' meaning 'pick out', and a derivation of the verb ''pose''.


Categories

Puzzles can be categorized as: *
Lateral thinking puzzle Situation puzzles, often referred to as minute mysteries, lateral thinking puzzles or "yes/no" puzzles, are puzzles in which participants are to construct a story that the host has in mind, basing on a puzzling situation that is given at the sta ...
s, also called "situation puzzles" * Mathematical puzzles include the missing square puzzle and many impossible puzzles — puzzles which have no solution, such as the Seven Bridges of Königsberg, the three cups problem, and three utilities problem ** Sangaku (Japanese temple tablets with geometry puzzles) *A chess problem is a puzzle that uses chess pieces on a chess board. Examples are the knight's tour and the eight queens puzzle. * Mechanical puzzles or dexterity puzzles such as the Rubik's Cube and Soma cube can be stimulating toys for children or recreational activities for adults. **
combination puzzle In mathematics, a combination is a selection of items from a set (mathematics), set that has distinct members, such that the order of selection does not matter (unlike permutations). For example, given three fruits, say an apple, an orange and a ...
s like Peg solitaire ** construction puzzles such as stick puzzles ** disentanglement puzzles, ** folding puzzles ** jigsaw puzzles. Puzz 3D is a three-dimensional variant of this type. ** lock puzzles **A puzzle box can be used to hide something —
jewelry Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...
, for instance. ** sliding puzzles (also called sliding tile puzzles) such as the 15 Puzzle and Sokoban ** tiling puzzles like Tangram * Metapuzzles are puzzles which unite elements of other puzzles. * Paper-and-pencil puzzles such as '' Uncle Art's Funland'', connect the dots, and nonograms **Also the logic puzzles published by Nikoli: Sudoku, Slitherlink, Kakuro, Fillomino, Hashiwokakero, Heyawake, Hitori, Light Up, Masyu, Number Link, Nurikabe, Ripple Effect, Shikaku, and Kuromasu; takuzu. * Spot the difference * Tour puzzles like a maze * Word puzzles, including
anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...
s,
cipher In cryptography, a cipher (or cypher) is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption—a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is ''encipherment''. To encipher or encode i ...
s, crossword puzzles, Hangman (game), dropquotes, and word search puzzles. Tabletop and digital word puzzles include Bananagrams, Boggle, Bonza, Dabble, Letterpress (video game), Perquackey, Puzzlage, Quiddler, Ruzzle,
Scrabble ''Scrabble'' is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a Board game, game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, re ...
, Upwords, WordSpot, and Words with Friends. Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show) is a game show centered on a word puzzle. * Puzzle video games ** Tile-matching video game ** Puzzle-platformer ** Adventure game ** Hidden object game ** Minesweeper


Puzzle solving

Solutions of puzzles often require the recognition of patterns and the adherence to a particular kind of order. People with a high level of inductive reasoning aptitude may be better at solving such puzzles compared to others. But puzzles based upon
inquiry An inquiry (also spelled as enquiry in British English) is any process that has the aim of augmenting knowledge, resolving doubt, or solving a problem. A theory of inquiry is an account of the various types of inquiry and a treatment of the ...
and
discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...
may be solved more easily by those with good deduction skills. Deductive reasoning improves with practice. Mathematical puzzles often involve BODMAS. BODMAS is an acronym which stands for Bracket, Of, Division, Multiplication, Addition and Subtraction. In certain regions, PEMDAS (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition and Subtraction) is the synonym of BODMAS. It explains the order of operations to solve an expression. Some mathematical puzzles require top to bottom convention to avoid the
ambiguity Ambiguity is the type of meaning (linguistics), meaning in which a phrase, statement, or resolution is not explicitly defined, making for several interpretations; others describe it as a concept or statement that has no real reference. A com ...
in the order of operations. It is an elegantly simple idea that relies, as sudoku does, on the requirement that numbers appear only once starting from top to bottom as coming along.


Puzzle makers

Puzzle makers are people who make puzzles. In general terms of occupation, a ''puzzler'' or ''puzzlist'' is someone who composes and/or solves puzzles. Some notable creators of puzzles are: * Ernő Rubik * Sam Loyd * Henry Dudeney * Boris Kordemsky * Will Shortz * Oskar van Deventer * Lloyd King * Martin Gardner * Raymond Smullyan


History of puzzles

The nine linked-rings puzzle, an advanced puzzle device that requires mathematical calculation to solve, was invented in China during the
Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...
(475-221 BCE). Jigsaw puzzles were invented around 1760, when John Spilsbury, a British engraver and cartographer, mounted a map on a sheet of wood, which he then sawed around the outline of each individual country on the map. He then used the resulting pieces as an aid for the teaching of geography. After becoming popular among the public, this kind of teaching aid remained the primary use of jigsaw puzzles until about 1820. The largest puzzle (40,320 pieces) is made by a German game company Ravensburger. The smallest puzzle ever made was created at LaserZentrum Hannover. It is only five square millimeters, the size of a sand grain. The puzzles that were first documented are riddles. In Europe, Greek mythology produced riddles like the riddle of the Sphinx. Many riddles were produced during the Middle Ages, as well. By the early 20th century, magazines and newspapers found that they could increase their readership by publishing puzzle contests, beginning with crosswords and in modern days sudoku.


Organizations and events

There are organizations and events that cater to puzzle enthusiasts, such as: * Nob Yoshigahara Puzzle Design Competition * World Puzzle Championship * National Puzzlers' League * National Puzzle Day * Puzzlehunts such as the Maze of Games * World Cube Association


See also

* * *


References


Further reading

*


External links

{{Authority control Problem solving