Who Invented Puzzles?
A puzzle is a sort of game or problem that is meant to challenge people mentally, making them a great way to keep the mind sharp. While they were originally meant as a toy for children, they have become increasingly popular with people of all ages.
Now they have become a great source of entertainment and relaxation for many people who are looking for a way to escape the stress of their day-to-day lives. While the word “puzzle” as it is used today is still fairly new, the concept of puzzles has been around for centuries.
When people think about puzzles, they usually automatically think the classic jigsaw puzzle, which was first created by British cartographer and engraver John Spilsbury, in the 1760s. But, there are a number of other types of puzzles as well.
Types of Puzzles
As mentioned before, there are a number of different kinds of puzzles out there. Although the end goal for all of the different types of puzzles is to solve them in a particular manner. These are some of the most popular kinds of puzzles available:
- Guessing Puzzles are puzzles made out of words and are most commonly riddle or situation games. With these types of puzzles, you are supposed to use the information that is provided to guess the right answer. Riddles usually involve trying to guess an object, for example, “What has an eye but can not see?” is one famous riddle, (the answer, in this case, would be a needle). Situation puzzles, on the other hand, are more like a game of 20 Questions. This is where you are presented with a situation. You have to deduce the answer through a series of yes or no questions.
- Logic Puzzles tend to involve math and deduction skills. They were first popularized by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, more famously known as the author Lewis Carrol. Logic puzzles can include the word logic, where you are given a set of premises that you then have to deduce a specific answer from. They can also include other forms of puzzles like Sudoku, Paint by Numbers and other forms of logic mazes.
- Mechanical Puzzles are some of the most well-known types of puzzles available and come in a wide variety of forms and styles. While the goals of mechanical puzzles are to solve them, just as it is with any puzzle, the method used to do so can vary greatly.
- Some, require you to make a series of sequential moves to create a certain combination, like a Rubik’s Cube where you try to get all similarly-colored blocks on a single side.
- There are also construction puzzles, where the goal is to construct something with the provided pieces; jigsaw puzzles are one type of construction puzzle.
- Disentanglement puzzles require you to release a piece or set of pieces from each other in a specific way.
- Lock puzzles are another old form of a mechanical puzzle, where the goal is to “unlock” the puzzle in order solve it.
- Transport Puzzles are puzzles that are based on real-life transportation issues. These require more active participation to be solved and include things like mazes, labyrinths, elimination puzzles, and Sokoban-style puzzles.
- Word and Number Puzzles are similar to logic puzzles in a sense. The goal of a word puzzle is to guess the word, which can be done a number of different ways: through the arrangement of letters, through given clues, or linguistic recreations. Popular versions of word puzzles include Anagrams, crosswords, Mad Libs, and even spelling bees. Number puzzles
Famous Puzzle Inventors
Because of their long history, there are a number of notable puzzle inventors. While you may not know necessarily them by name, you are certain to recognize their puzzles when you see them! Some of the most notable puzzle inventions include:
- John Spilsbury: Originally, puzzles were used for educational purposes rather than a form of entertainment; maps were pasted onto wood and cut into odd shapes to help teach children geography. It was not until 1767 that British Cartographer and engraver John Spilsbury created the first true jigsaw puzzle and made it available commercially for all consumers. And most would say he is the inventor of puzzles because of this. But really this is only because this is on record.
- Ernö Rubik is a name you probably recognize as he is the father of the infamous Rubik’s Cube, which has long tested people’s problem-solving abilities. When he first created the Rubik’s Cube in 1974, he explained he was looking for a special task for his students that would challenge their minds and teach them about space alteration, movement, and time.
- Sam Loyd has been considered one of the greatest puzzle makers in history and is known for his complex chess puzzles, such as the Excelsior problem, the Steinitz Gambit problem, and the Charles XII problem. Beyond chess, he also created the Trick Donkey and Back from Klondike puzzles.
- Henry Dudeney was an English author and mathematician who specialized in logic and mathematical puzzles and is most famously known for his Haberdasher’s Puzzle, which involves trying to make a square out of the pieces of an equilateral triangle. He is also credited with creating the first crossnumber puzzle.
- David J. Bodycombe is both a puzzle maker and game show consultant, who is known for his puzzle columns which appear in major British publications like the Daily Mail, Daily Express, Metro, and the BBC Focus. He has also contributed to shows such as the classic Crystal Maze, Mind Games, and most recently, Fifteen to One.
- Will Shortz is an American puzzle maker best known for this crossword puzzles which can be found in The New York Times.
There are countless puzzles that exist, but some are more famous than the rest. Some of the more notable ones include the following:
- The Rubik’s Cube: As said before, this famous puzzle has been around since the 70s. This 3-D puzzle cube that is made up of multiple smaller cubes with different colored faces. To solve this puzzle, you have to rotate the various smaller cubes until all the similarly colored squares are on a single side. Shown above is a speed cube. Get it here.
- The Trick Donkeys: Sam Loyd’s 1858 puzzle still leaves people scratching their heads today. The puzzle is printed on a piece of paper and has 3 parts: two separate donkeys and two riders. The goal of this puzzle is to arrange these three pieces of the puzzle in such a way that it appears that the riders are mounting the donkeys.
- The Haberdasher’s Puzzle by Henry Dudeney is another famous one, which is a triangle dissected into four smaller pieces. With this puzzle, the goal is to rearrange the pieces to form a square.
- Why is six so afraid of seven?: This is probably the most famous jokes and riddles around, that continues to amuse people to this day. Do you know the answer?
Professional Puzzle Solvers
Puzzle solving is not just a fun way to pass the time, but it also can be helpful for people in their professional lives. People who are good at puzzles would likely excel at jobs that require similar deduction skills. This would involve the use of logic, reasoning, and even mathematical skills.
The job should really make them think in order to come up with the right solution. These jobs would include jobs in the medical field, a police detective, computer analyst, and even an accountant. Just to name a few.
Where to buy puzzles in store?
The great thing about puzzles is that you can find them virtually everywhere; any store that sells toys or books is likely to have an entire section dedicated to different kinds of puzzles.
This can range from books filled with logic puzzles and riddles to complicated disentanglement puzzles. If you look online, you may even be able to find whole stores dedicated to puzzles in your area.
What do you do in the case that there is not one of these physical stores in your area? There are plenty of online stores that offer a huge selection of puzzles for purchase. One of the biggest is Amazon. Buy Puzzles Here.
If you want to make wooden puzzles here are some tools.