The Puzzler

 The Puzzler

By A.J. Jacobs

What makes puzzles—jigsaws, mazes, riddles, sudokus—so satisfying? Be it the formation of new cerebral pathways, their close link to insight and humor, or their community-building properties, they’re among the fundamental elements that make us human. Convinced that puzzles have made him a better person, A.J. Jacobs—four-time New York Times bestselling author, master of immersion journalism, and nightly crossworder—set out to determine their myriad benefits. And maybe, in the process, solve the puzzle of our very existence. Well, almost.

In The Puzzler, Jacobs meets the most zealous devotees, enters (sometimes with his family in tow) any puzzle competition that will have him, unpacks the history of the most popular puzzles, and aims to solve the most impossible head-scratchers, from a mutant Rubik’s Cube, to the hardest corn maze in America, to the most sadistic jigsaw. Chock-full of unforgettable adventures and original examples from around the world—including new work by Greg Pliska, one of America’s top puzzle-makers—The Puzzler will open listeners’ eyes to the power of flexible thinking and concentration. Whether you’re puzzle obsessed or puzzle hesitant, you’ll walk away with real problem-solving strategies and pathways toward becoming a better thinker and decision maker—for these are certainly puzzling times.

I'm cheating, I suppose, or at least, bending the rules in myriad ways. Fitting, probably, for a book that is all about solving puzzles by thinking outside the box. Using your creative brain to figure out mind teasers and word benders. As to how I'm bending the rules, well, the book came before the ending lines. I didn't read the book because of the ending, but you have to admit as endings go, it's a pretty good one. And yes, it's not the last line of the book, but I'm considering everything after to be more like... appendixes. The final final line, is the solution to the puzzles that have come before (and one I freely admit to not solving myself).  And finally, it's not one line, but two:

"Only 1,298,074,214,633,706,907,132,624,082,305,018 moves to go.

After that, I promise to quit puzzles."

I'm obviously the target audience but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Typically when someone writes a whole book about puzzles it seems like they try to compensate for the subject matter by taking an ultra scholarly approach to it, which sucks all the fun out of the fun in the first place.  In The Puzzler, Jacobs knows what we're here for: puzzles! Some hard ones, so we have a challenge, some easy ones, so we can feel triumphant.

I appreciated not only the approach but the scope of it. Clearly he can't cover every puzzle type ever but I think within the constraints that he had, there was good coverage. I will however admit to some outrage on the absolute travesty of not including logic problems,  which are both a favorite of mine as well as, I think, a classic in the genre. But of course, jumbles, acrostics, word searches and others (not to even mention Tetris and other video game puzzles) didn't make the cut either. And even the ones that were included couldn't be fully plumbed either. 

I will say that as much as I appreciated the light, personal tone of the book, it was vastly more political than I expected. I wasn't surprised by content of the comments so much that they appeared at all. In a world where it often seems like everyone who is even mildly in the public eye must be sanitized for broad consumption, it offered a little insight on our erstwhile puzzler. And he struck the right balance, I think, of humility and curiosity (of which he mentions the importance of multiple times) and is an engaging guide for those of us interested in the games people play. He reminds us about how much joy there is in solving puzzles for the sheer sake of solving them. Even if, as he admits, we have to bend the rules a bit to do it (like getting someone else with more experience to solve it for you).

I certainly hope that Jacobs has as much fun writing it as I did reading it. As a lifelong puzzle addict myself (although not as dedicated to the wordplay puzzles as Jacobs is, I will admit to already knowing the difference between labyrinths and mazes before picking this up) I'm newly appreciative to the creators and the others who love and support the puzzlers. By coincidence, I'm entering my first speed puzzle competition next week. Fingers crossed I don't come last. 

2: A Book You Want To Read Based On The Last Sentence

Montague Island Mysteries and Other Logic Puzzles

Montague Island Mysteries and Other Logic Puzzles

By R. Wayne Schmittberger

Solve logic puzzles AND play sleuth at the same time! This thoroughly unique book—written by the former editor of Games magazine—offers the immersive pleasure of a novel as it follows a group of friends who meet regularly to play murder-mystery games at the island home of a wealthy couple. As you go about completing the puzzles, you’ll learn more about the guests, the house, and the island . . . and uncover a secret about the mansion itself. Maps of the island throughout enhance the atmosphere and draw solvers deeper into the story.

So although I was somewhat incorrect in my original understanding of what this was, I still had a really good time solving the puzzles.  I originally though that this was a story-based book with puzzles to solve, which would require the solving of an earlier puzzle in order to arrive at the correct solution for later puzzles, and this isn't set up that way at all.  It does have a loose "story" (seven guests are invited to the island and solve puzzles, but every so often there's an allusion to some secret reason the guests were invited, which is resolved in the final puzzle) but none of the puzzles require information or answers from any of the other puzzles.

What I appreciated about this book was the variety of logic puzzles (some had maps, some were based on tournaments, some were very traditional, and I just skipped the ones that asked about card hands, since I don't have time for that) and the care the author took to keep the puzzles as little confusing as possible.  What I mean by that is, names weren't similar and didn't start with the same letter, clues and important categories weren't overly long or unnecessarily numerical or anything like that.  For example, there weren't any puzzles that required you to figure out if events took place in 1912, 1931, 1971, 1928 or 1952.  Maybe it's small news, but the online logic problem site I've been going to (puzzle baron, if you're curious) seems way too invested in small puzzles which are incredibly confusing for keeping the categories straight.

I liked that we followed the same group of people the whole way, although it took me a bit to get used to the "one of these people is lying" puzzles.  I would do a few puzzles a week, and with some pauses, it took me about two months to finish.  It felt substantial.   I also really appreciated the solution key in the back, along with the explanations, they helped me when I couldn't figure out what some of the early puzzles were.  I checked it sort of religiously, although I suppose that wasn't quite necessary, since the correct answers didn't impact any later puzzles.  In fact, if there would be one change for the next book, I'd love if one or more of the puzzles had hints which relied on previous puzzles.

It's not a normal book, and I'm not at all sure that I was really following the prompt, since this is more like a book of crosswords than it is a typical book, but it's one of my most enjoyed of this project, and I am already anxiously waiting on the sequel!

39: A Book Revolving Around A Puzzle Or A Game