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.

Categories of puzzles

• boardgame puzzles - puzzles derived from board games
  • chess-type problems
    • chess problems
    • Eight queens puzzle
    • Knight's Tour
• computer puzzle games
• cube puzzles
• logic puzzles
  • Paint by numbers
• mathematical puzzles
• mazes
• mechanical puzzles
  • Rubik's Cube
• packing problems
• pair-up puzzles
• polycube puzzles
  • Soma cube
• brain teaser
• riddle
• shuffling puzzles
  • Tower of Hanoi
• solitaire-type puzzles
  • Peg solitaire
• stick puzzles
  • matchstick puzzles
• tiling puzzles
  • jigsaw puzzles
  • polysquare puzzles
  • Tangram
• tour puzzles
• transport puzzles
  • sliding puzzles
    • Fifteen puzzle
  • Sokoban
• whodunits
• word puzzles
  • anagrams
  • code crackers
  • crossword puzzles
  • ditloids
  • the -gry puzzle
  • word seek puzzles
  • verbal arithmetic

For more examples click one of the categories.

Examples of puzzles that do not fit into any of the categories above

• Geocaching
• Logiquiz
• Situation puzzles
• The Incompatible Food Triad Puzzle

See also

• List of puzzle topics
• Letter game
• Mind sport
• Game of skill
• Word play

Literature

• Creative Puzzles of the World, 1980, Plenary Publications International
• Denkspiele Der Welt, München 1977,1981, Heinrich Hugendubel Verlag

External links

• The puzzle archive of the rec.puzzles newsgroup
• WordFind - program to find words, anagrams and palindromes
• Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles
• The Mind Breakers - Puzzles and Riddles