The definition of the word puzzle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

«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]

Etymology[edit]

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[edit]

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 Königsberg, the three cups problem, and three utilities problem
  • Sangaku (Japanese temple tablets with geometry puzzles)

• 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.
• 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
  • Minesweeper

Puzzle solving[edit]

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 involve BODMAS. BODMAS is an acronym and it 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[edit]

Puzzle 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:

• Ernő Rubik
• Sam Loyd
• Henry Dudeney
• Boris Kordemsky
• David J. Bodycombe
• Will Shortz
• Oskar van Deventer
• Lloyd King
• Martin Gardner
• Raymond Smullyan

History of jigsaw and other puzzles[edit]

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 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[edit]

There are organizations and events that cater to puzzle enthusiasts, such as:

• Nob Yoshigahara Puzzle Design Competition
• World Puzzle Championship
• National Puzzlers’ League
• Puzzlehunts such as the Maze of Games
• World Cube Association

See also[edit]

• List of impossible puzzles
• List of Nikoli puzzle types – Japanese puzzle publisher and magazine
• Riddle – Statement with a double meaning used as a puzzle

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• van Delft, Pieter; Botermans, Jack (1978). Creative puzzles of the world.

External links[edit]

Also found in: Thesaurus, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

puz·zle

 (pŭz′əl)

n.

1. Something, such as a game, toy, or problem, that requires ingenuity and often persistence in solving or assembling.

2. Something that baffles or confuses; an enigma: the puzzle of the author’s true identity.

3. The condition of being perplexed; bewilderment: I’m really in a puzzle over how this happened.

v. puz·zled, puz·zling, puz·zles

v.tr.

1. To baffle or confuse mentally by presenting or being a difficult problem or matter. See Synonyms at perplex.

2. To clarify or solve (something confusing) by reasoning or study: He puzzled out the significance of the statement.

v.intr.

1. To be perplexed.

2. To ponder over a problem in an effort to solve or understand it.

---

[Origin unknown.]

---

puz′zler n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

puzzle

(ˈpʌzəl)

vb

1. to perplex or be perplexed

2. (foll by: over) to attempt the solution (of); ponder (about): he puzzled over her absence.

3. (usually foll by: out) to solve by mental effort: he puzzled out the meaning of the inscription.

n

4. a person or thing that puzzles

5. a problem that cannot be easily or readily solved

6. the state or condition of being puzzled

7. (Games, other than specified) a toy, game, or question presenting a problem that requires skill or ingenuity for its solution. See jigsaw puzzle, Chinese puzzle

[C16: of unknown origin]

ˈpuzzling adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

puz•zle

(ˈpʌz əl)

n., v. -zled, -zling. n.

1. a toy, problem, or other contrivance designed to amuse by presenting difficulties to be solved by ingenuity or patient effort.

2. a puzzling question, matter, or person.

3. a puzzled or perplexed condition.

v.t.

4. to mystify; confuse; baffle.

5. to exercise (oneself, one’s brain, etc.) over some problem or matter.

v.i.

6. to ponder over some perplexing problem or matter.

7. puzzle out, to solve by careful study or effort.

[1585–95; orig. uncertain]

puz′zled•ly, adv.

puz′zle•ment, n.

puz′zler, n.

Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

puzzle

• rebus — A puzzle in which one must decode a message consisting of pictures representing syllables and words.
• puzzle — Comes from Old French opposaile, «thing set before one,» «bewildering thing»; as a verb, it first meant «be beset by difficulties.»
• cabobble — To mystify, puzzle, or confuse.
• word search — A puzzle consisting of letters arranged in a grid which contains a number of hidden words written in various directions.

Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.

puzzle

Past participle: puzzled
Gerund: puzzling

Imperative
puzzle
puzzle

Present
I puzzle
you puzzle
he/she/it puzzles
we puzzle
you puzzle
they puzzle

Preterite
I puzzled
you puzzled
he/she/it puzzled
we puzzled
you puzzled
they puzzled

Present Continuous
I am puzzling
you are puzzling
he/she/it is puzzling
we are puzzling
you are puzzling
they are puzzling

Present Perfect
I have puzzled
you have puzzled
he/she/it has puzzled
we have puzzled
you have puzzled
they have puzzled

Past Continuous
I was puzzling
you were puzzling
he/she/it was puzzling
we were puzzling
you were puzzling
they were puzzling

Past Perfect
I had puzzled
you had puzzled
he/she/it had puzzled
we had puzzled
you had puzzled
they had puzzled

Future
I will puzzle
you will puzzle
he/she/it will puzzle
we will puzzle
you will puzzle
they will puzzle

Future Perfect
I will have puzzled
you will have puzzled
he/she/it will have puzzled
we will have puzzled
you will have puzzled
they will have puzzled

Future Continuous
I will be puzzling
you will be puzzling
he/she/it will be puzzling
we will be puzzling
you will be puzzling
they will be puzzling

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been puzzling
you have been puzzling
he/she/it has been puzzling
we have been puzzling
you have been puzzling
they have been puzzling

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been puzzling
you will have been puzzling
he/she/it will have been puzzling
we will have been puzzling
you will have been puzzling
they will have been puzzling

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been puzzling
you had been puzzling
he/she/it had been puzzling
we had been puzzling
you had been puzzling
they had been puzzling

Conditional
I would puzzle
you would puzzle
he/she/it would puzzle
we would puzzle
you would puzzle
they would puzzle

Past Conditional
I would have puzzled
you would have puzzled
he/she/it would have puzzled
we would have puzzled
you would have puzzled
they would have puzzled

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	puzzle — a particularly baffling problem that is said to have a correct solution; «he loved to solve chessmate puzzles»; «that’s a real puzzler» mystifier, puzzler, teaser problem — a question raised for consideration or solution; «our homework consisted of ten problems to solve» sudoku — a number puzzle in which the numbers 1 through 9 must be placed into a grid of cells so that each row or column contains only one of each number acrostic, word square — a puzzle where you fill a square grid with words reading the same down as across
	2.	puzzle — a game that tests your ingenuity Chinese puzzle — intricate or ingenious puzzle consisting of boxes within boxes game — the game equipment needed in order to play a particular game; «the child received several games for his birthday» jigsaw puzzle — a puzzle that requires you to reassemble a picture that has been mounted on a stiff base and cut into interlocking pieces tangram — a Chinese puzzle consisting of a square divided into seven pieces that must be arranged to match particular designs crossword, crossword puzzle — a puzzle in which words corresponding to numbered clues are to be found and written in to squares in the puzzle
Verb	1.	puzzle — be a mystery or bewildering to; «This beats me!»; «Got me—I don’t know the answer!»; «a vexing problem»; «This question really stuck me» bewilder, dumbfound, flummox, baffle, mystify, nonplus, perplex, stupefy, amaze, gravel, vex, pose, stick, beat, get stump, mix up — cause to be perplexed or confounded; «This problem stumped her» befuddle, confound, confuse, discombobulate, fox, bedevil, fuddle, throw — be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly; «These questions confuse even the experts»; «This question completely threw me»; «This question befuddled even the teacher» riddle — set a difficult problem or riddle; «riddle me a riddle» elude, escape — be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by; «What you are seeing in him eludes me» puzzle over — try to solve figure out, puzzle out, solve, lick, work out, work — find the solution to (a problem or question) or understand the meaning of; «did you solve the problem?»; «Work out your problems with the boss»; «this unpleasant situation isn’t going to work itself out»; «did you get it?»; «Did you get my meaning?»; «He could not work the math problem»
	2.	puzzle — be uncertain about; think about without fully understanding or being able to decide; «We puzzled over her sudden departure» meditate, mull, mull over, muse, ponder, chew over, think over, excogitate, reflect, ruminate, speculate, contemplate — reflect deeply on a subject; «I mulled over the events of the afternoon»; «philosophers have speculated on the question of God for thousands of years»; «The scientist must stop to observe and start to excogitate»

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

puzzle

verb

1. perplex, beat (slang), confuse, baffle, stump, bewilder, confound, mystify, faze, flummox, bemuse, nonplus What puzzles me is why nobody has complained before now.

puzzle something out solve, work out, figure out, unravel, see, get, crack, resolve, sort out, clear up, decipher, think through, suss (out) (slang), get the answer of, find the key to, crack the code of I stared at the symbols, trying to puzzle out their meaning.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

puzzle

verb

To cause to be unclear in mind or intent:

addle, befuddle, bewilder, confound, confuse, discombobulate, dizzy, fuddle, jumble, mix up, muddle, mystify, perplex.

Idiom: make one’s head reel.

phrasal verb
puzzle out

To find the key to (a code, for example):

noun

Anything that arouses curiosity or perplexes because it is unexplained, inexplicable, or secret:

The American Heritage® Roget’s Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Translations

لُغْزلُغْز، اُحْجِيَهمُشْكِلَهيُرْبِك، يُحَيِّريُفَكِّرُ مَلِيَّا

hádankahlavolamlámat si hlavuzáhadazmást

gådegruble overpuslespilforundreforvirre

arvoitusaskarruttaapähkinäpulmatehtävä

zagonetkazbunitismesti

rejtvényfejtörést okozpuzzle

òraut; krossgáta; pússluspilráîgátavalda heilabrotum, ruglavelta fyrir sér

難問

난문제

dėstasgalvosūkiskibučiaistebintisunkiai suvokiamas

apmulsinātgrūts uzdevumslauzīt galvumīkla

križankasestavljankaugankazmesti

pussel

ปริศนา

vấn đề khó

puzzle

[ˈpʌzl]

C. VI to puzzle about or over → dar vueltas (en la cabeza) a

Collins Spanish Dictionary — Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

puzzle

n

(= wordgame etc) → Rätsel nt; (= toy) → Geduldsspiel nt; (= jigsaw) → Puzzle(spiel) nt; books of puzzles or puzzle books for children → Rätselbücher pl → für Kinder

(= mystery) → Rätsel nt; it’s a puzzle to me → es ist mir ein Rätsel

vi to puzzle about or over something → sich (dat) → über etw (acc) → den Kopf zerbrechen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

puzzle

(ˈpazl) verb

1. to perplex, baffle or bewilder. The question puzzled them; What puzzles me is how he got here so soon.

2. to think long and carefully about a problem etc. I puzzled over the sum for hours.

noun

1. a problem that causes a lot of thought. Her behaviour was a puzzle to him.

2. a kind of game or toy to test one’s thinking, knowledge or skill. a jig-saw puzzle; a crossword puzzle.

ˈpuzzling adjective

difficult to understand. a puzzling remark.

puzzle out

to solve (a problem etc).

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

puzzle

→ لُغْز hádanka gåde Rätsel γρίφος rompecabezas arvoitus énigme zagonetka puzzle 難問 난문제 puzzel puslespill łamigłówka charada головоломка pussel ปริศนา bilmece vấn đề khó 谜

Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009