"Puzzle game" redirects here. For the video game genre, see Puzzle video game.
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 (or take them apart) 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. 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 or logical problems. In such cases, their solution may be a significant contribution to mathematical research.[1]
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]
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 and 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 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.[4]
Puzzle makersedit
Puzzle makers are people who make puzzles. In general terms of occupation, a puzzler is someone who composes and/or solves puzzles.
Jigsaw puzzles are perhaps the most popular form of puzzle. 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.[5]
After becoming popular among the public, this kind of teaching aid remained the primary use of jigsaw puzzles until about 1820.[6]
The largest puzzle (40,320 pieces) is made by a German game company Ravensburger.[7] 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.[8]
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 eventsedit
There are organizations and events that cater to puzzle enthusiasts, such as:
^"A Brief History of Puzzles". Puzzle Museum. 6 April 2017. from the original on 14 April 2020.
Further readingedit
van Delft, Pieter; Botermans, Jack (1978). Creative puzzles of the world. Cassell. ISBN978-0-304-30300-7.
External linksedit
Wikiquote has quotations related to Puzzle.
Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Puzzles
Look up puzzle in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
January 01, 1970
puzzle, common, jigsaw, puzzle, jigsaw, puzzle, other, uses, disambiguation, game, redirects, here, video, game, genre, video, game, puzzle, game, problem, that, tests, person, ingenuity, knowledge, puzzle, solver, expected, pieces, together, take, them, apart. For the common jigsaw puzzle see Jigsaw puzzle For other uses see Puzzle disambiguation Puzzle game redirects here For the video game genre see Puzzle video game 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 or take them apart 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 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 or logical problems In such cases their solution may be a significant contribution to mathematical research 1 Contents 1 Etymology 2 Genres 3 Puzzle solving 4 Puzzle makers 5 History of jigsaw and other puzzles 6 Organizations and events 7 See also 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External linksEtymology editThe 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 edit nbsp Various puzzles nbsp Simple puzzle made of three pieces Puzzles can be categorized as Lateral thinking puzzles 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 Konigsberg 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 puzzles 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 for instance sliding puzzles also called sliding tile puzzles such as the 15 Puzzle and Sokoban tiling puzzles like Tangram Tower of Hanoi 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 anagrams ciphers crossword puzzles Hangman game and word search puzzles Tabletop and digital word puzzles include Bananagrams Boggle Bonza Dabble Letterpress video game Perquackey Puzzlage Quiddler Ruzzle Scrabble 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 MinesweeperPuzzle solving editThis section possibly contains original research Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations Statements consisting only of original research should be removed November 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message 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 and 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 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 4 Puzzle makers editPuzzle makers are people who make puzzles In general terms of occupation a puzzler is someone who composes and or solves puzzles Some notable creators of puzzles are Erno Rubik Sam Loyd Henry Dudeney Boris Kordemsky David J Bodycombe Will Shortz Oskar van Deventer Lloyd King Martin Gardner Raymond SmullyanHistory of jigsaw and other puzzles editMain article Jigsaw puzzle Jigsaw puzzles are perhaps the most popular form of puzzle 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 5 After becoming popular among the public this kind of teaching aid remained the primary use of jigsaw puzzles until about 1820 6 The largest puzzle 40 320 pieces is made by a German game company Ravensburger 7 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 8 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 editThere 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 AssociationSee also editList of impossible puzzles List of Nikoli puzzle types Japanese puzzle publisher and magazinePages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Riddle Statement with a double meaning used as a puzzleReferences edit Kendall G Parkes A and Spoerer K 2008 A Survey of NP Complete Puzzles International Computer Games Association Journal 31 1 pp 13 34 puzzle n OED Online Oxford University Press December 2019 Web 21 January 2020 puzzle v OED Online Oxford University Press December 2019 Web 21 January 2020 Wilson R Sudoka Number Game Encyclopedia Britannica Retrieved 21 June 2022 History of Puzzles PuzzleWarehouse com www puzzlewarehouse com Retrieved 2019 11 20 History of Jigsaw Puzzles Archived 2014 02 11 at the Wayback Machine The American Jigsaw Puzzle Society The worlds biggest Puzzle Ravensburger www ravensburger us Retrieved 2018 06 23 A Brief History of Puzzles Puzzle Museum 6 April 2017 Archived from the original on 14 April 2020 Further reading editvan Delft Pieter Botermans Jack 1978 Creative puzzles of the world Cassell ISBN 978 0 304 30300 7 External links edit nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Puzzle nbsp Wikibooks has a book on the topic of Puzzles nbsp Look up puzzle in Wiktionary the free dictionary Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Puzzle amp oldid 1216633489, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
