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A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is
expected to put pieces together in a logical way, in order to arrive at the correct or fun solution of the puzzle.
There are different genres of puzzles, such as crossword puzzles, word-search puzzles, number puzzles,
relational puzzles, and logic puzzles.
Puzzles are often created to be a form of entertainment but they can also arise from serious mathematical or
logical problems. In such cases, their solution may be a significant contribution to mathematical research.[1]
Contents
Etymology
Genres
Puzzle solving
Puzzle makers
History of jigsaw puzzles
History of other puzzles
Organizations and events
See also
References
External links
Etymology
The Oxford English Dictionary dates the word puzzle (as a verb) to the end of 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, first as an abstract noun 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".[2]
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.[3]
Genres
Puzzles can be categorized as:
Puzzle solving
Solutions of puzzles often require the recognition of patterns and the adherence to a particular kind of ordering.
People with a high level of inductive reasoning aptitude may be better at solving such puzzles than others. But
puzzles based upon inquiry and discovery may be solved more easily by those with good deduction skills.
Deductive reasoning improves with practice. Mathematical puzzles often involves BODMAS. BODMAS is
an acronym and it stands for Bracket, Of, Division, Multiplication, Addition and Subtraction. In certain
regions, PEDMAS (Parentheses, Exponents, Division, Multiplication, Addition and Subtraction) is the
synonym of BODMAS. It explains the order of operations to solve an expression. Some mathematical puzzle
requires Top to Bottom convention to avoid the ambiguity 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 is someone who
composes and/or solves puzzles.
Ernő Rubik
Sam Loyd
Henry Dudeney
Boris Kordemsky
David J. Bodycombe
Will Shortz
Lloyd King
Martin Gardner
Raymond Smullyan
John Spilsbury, an engraver and mapmaker, was also credited with inventing the first jigsaw puzzle in 1767.[4]
After becoming popular among the public, this kind of teaching aid remained the primary use of jigsaw
puzzles until about 1820.[5]
The largest puzzle (40,320 pieces) is made by German game company Ravensburger.[6] The smallest puzzle
ever made was created at LaserZentrum Hannover. It is only five square millimeters, the size of a sand grain.
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.
See also
List of impossible puzzles – Wikipedia list article
List of Nikoli puzzle types
Riddle – Statement or question or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a
puzzle to be solved
References
1. Kendall G.; Parkes A.; and Spoerer K. (2008) A Survey of NP-Complete Puzzles, International
Computer Games Association Journal, 31(1), pp 13–34.
2. "puzzle, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, December 2019. Web. 21 January 2020.
3. "puzzle, v." OED Online. Oxford University Press, December 2019. Web. 21 January 2020.
4. "History of Puzzles | PuzzleWarehouse.com" (https://www.puzzlewarehouse.com/history-of-puz
zles/). www.puzzlewarehouse.com. Retrieved 2019-11-20.
5. History of Jigsaw Puzzles (http://www.jigsaw-puzzle.org/jigsaw-puzzle-history.html) Archived (h
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20140211155914/http://www.jigsaw-puzzle.org/jigsaw-puzzle-histor
y.html) 2014-02-11 at the Wayback Machine The American Jigsaw Puzzle Society
6. "The worlds biggest Puzzle | Ravensburger" (https://www.ravensburger.us/discover/40-320-pie
ces-disney-puzzle/index.html). www.ravensburger.us. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
7. "A Brief History of Puzzles" (https://www.puzzlemuseum.com/puzzles/history-of-puzzles/brief-hi
story.html). Puzzle Museum. 6 April 2017. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20200414194
611/https://www.puzzlemuseum.com/puzzles/history-of-puzzles/brief-history.html) from the
original on 14 April 2020.
External links
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