MetaFilter posts tagged with puzzles

2 Across: Send in the ______. (6 Letters)

grumblebee — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:16:14 -0800

Stephen Sondheim's crossword puzzles for "New York Magazine." Incredibly rare.

Oracles in the community

Wrick — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 01:08:04 -0800

Painting +puzzle +compulsory 'Da Vinci' ref. Glasgow artist Frank McNab Previously has an interesting series of paintings on display in an exhibition at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow. Running until the end of October the paintings have the common theme of 'Libraries in the Community" and are a celebration of both the buildings themselves and their patrons. Check out the link not just for the obvious quality of the works on display but also to see if YOU can be the one to solve the riddle hidden within the paintings themselves.

4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42, and Other CIA Secrets Hidden in Plain Sight

pokermonk — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:23:53 -0800

Wired's Mystery Issue, guest-edited by J.J. Abrams, is a quizzical amalgam of puzzling things both obvious and less obvious... apparently the print edition's misspelled words, irregular borders, and seemingly random placements of numbers are all part of the game too. While the "master puzzle" was recently solved, there are reportedly still some codes left to crack. -Wired editors chat-you-up on the issue's concept -Abrams writes about the theme and teases the secrets within -Also from the issue, previously on MeFi

Spot the 9 differences

Kattullus — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:09:41 -0800

Difference Games offers you 9 spot-the-difference games. The 3 categories are Graphic Novels and Comics, Play With Mum and Difference Xtreme! My favorite is The Dragon and the Wizard, which makes failure interesting.
Difference Games offers you 9 "spot the difference" games. The three categories are Graphic Novels & Comics; Play with Mum and Difference Xtreme! My favourite is The Dragon and the Wizard, which makes success interesting.

The Mathemagician and Pied Puzzler, and others

cog_nate — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:21:50 -0800

The Mathemagician and Pied Puzzler (PDF, rough table of contents here) is a collection of puzzles created by members of the Gathering 4 Gardner Foundation, in tribute to the man himself (previously). Also freely available at the G4G site is Puzzle Craft (PDF), by Stewart Coffin. (The Puzzling World of Polyhedral Dissections, also by Coffin, is available here.)

Cryptarithms

Upton O'Good — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 23:44:39 -0800

   MEFI
   META
+ ASKME
-------
 FILTER

Each letter corresponds to a number 0-9. The solution is unique. A cryptarithm (or alphametic) is a puzzle in which each digit of an equation is replaced by a different letter. One of the first, and best known, appeared in 1924:

  SEND
+ MORE
------
 MONEY

A collection of classic cryptarithms can be found here; some interesting extensions to the concept can be found here. And, if you'd like to make your own, the alphametic generator here and solver here may be of use.

Twisty megapost

Wolfdog — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 06:28:57 -0800

Walter Randelshofer's Pretty Patterns collection (for Rubik's cubes up to 5x5x5) is one of the nicest twisty puzzle sites going. It's based on his CubeTwister software, which you can download (including a lovely OS X standalone). If you really want a treasure trove of twisty polyhedra, check out gelatinBrain's enormous collection of java applets (which unfortunately don't do so well on macs). Are those things even physically possible? Really? Mini bonus: Randelshofer also hosts an archive of fondly-remembered Amiga animations.

Chess Problems

Kattullus — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 09:03:58 -0800

Chess Problems has hundreds of problems in six difficulty classes from novice to fiendish [java]

Click.

jbickers — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:01:52 -0800

Created by flash artist and graphic novelist Mateusz Skutnik, Submachine is one of the class acts of the point-and-click Web-game genre. Mesmerizing, layered and absorbing, the latest chapter in the series has just been released. Play them all, in order:

Submachine 1 (a rather different version)
Submachine Zero: Ancient Adventure
Submachine 2: The Lighthouse (The story to this one is bone-chilling, it's so good)
Submachine 3: The Loop
Submachine 4: The Lab
... and the just-released Submachine 5: The Root

a cool game

Future Loop Foundation

Covert Front

a ton of platformers

Cut The Knot

parudox — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 23:52:10 -0800

Interactive mathematics miscellany and puzzles, including 75 proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem, an interactive column using Java applets, and eye-opening demonstrations. (Actually, much more.)

Logic puzzles

Upton O'Good — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:52:34 -0800

A virtually unlimited supply of randomly-generated logic puzzles, in a variety of sizes and difficulties: Nonograms. Slither Link. Nurikabe. Bridges. Light Up.

Spot the Five Differences.

brain_drain — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:06:48 -0800

Spot the Five Differences. It is fun. [flash]

National Geographic Photos Online

RussHy — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 09:10:33 -0800

National Geographic Magazine is all about the photos. Check out the Editor's Choices. Other goodness includes the Daily Dozen, a jigsaw puzzle generator, and user-generated photo galleries.

Won't somebody PLEASE think of the children?

dersins — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:48:16 -0800

Bored on your summer vacation? Well, the US government has lots of fun stuff for kids to do on line. Learn fascinating facts about cows (and agricultural marketing!) from the Department of Agriculture. Take a ride to Money Central Station with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. If you live in a federally-funded housing project, HUD wants you to learn more about being a good citizen. Want something more action-packed? Help FBI Special Agent Bobby Bureau go undercover, or become one of America's Crypto-Kids at the NSA. Play thrilling puzzle games or visit the world's most secret museum at the CIA. Play more games or become a Disaster Action Kid at FEMA! And no list of government kids' pages would be complete without revisiting the children's art contest from the ATF, which I've linked to before...

PuzzleFilter

lalex — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:22:17 -0800

Puzzability is a puzzle writing company created by three former editors of Games Magazine. Start with their puzzle sampler and come back for a set of regularly updated games. Puzzability is also responsible for creating the New York Times' intricately crafted Op-Ed Puzzles. Unlike the Times' daily crosswords, these wonderfully elaborate puzzles are available in a free archive.

Snakes, in my heart-blood warm'd, that sting my heart!

Wolfdog — Thu, 31 May 2007 13:18:36 -0800

SlitherLink - a little spatial-numerical puzzle. Here's a better exposition of the rules from the puzzle's inventors, and another collection of puzzles. Oh, and a little survey of other sneaky, snaky puzzles.

Ages 8-Adult

MtDewd — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 04:40:16 -0800

Rush Hour is a sliding block puzzle invented by Nob Yoshigahara and manufactured by ThinkFun. The goal of the game is to get the red car out of a six-by-six gridlock of vehicles by moving the other vehicles out of its way (youtoob). There are several online versions in Java/Flash (bottom of link)- my favorite has the first 2 complete sets from the board game. It's a gentle warm-up for your brain.

1 Across: Matthowie's community blog

painquale — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 13:07:31 -0800

Since Wordplay has come out, crossword puzzles have been on the rise. If you want to join in on the fun, read this primer by Will Shortz to get started, then download Across Lite, head to Cruciverb, and do free puzzles in the right-hand sidebar. Will Johnston's page contains a huge repository of Across Lite puzzles. If you get stuck, can't figure out why an entry is correct, or just want to chat about a grid's brilliant construction, try reading the crossword blogs. The best two are Diary of a Crossword Fiend and Rex Parker Does the New York Times Crossword Puzzle. (Caution! Spoilers abound!) And, if you want to try your hand at constructing some crosswords of your own (submission guidelines for various papers here), Crossword Compiler is an outstanding piece of software. [Via this AskMetafilter question]

Labor Intensive

painquale — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 13:17:32 -0800

Labor Intensive is a new online puzzle extravaganza in the style of the MIT Mystery Hunt and the aforelinked Puzzle Boat. Appease the Gods by performing twelve puzzly labors. Good luck!

Surviving Sudoku

staggernation — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 06:53:34 -0800

Surviving Sudoku. Matt Gaffney, a crossword puzzle designer, examines the crossword community's ambivalent relationship with the phenomenally successful number puzzle. Meanwhile, it's high time to resurrect Done in Pen: The Poems of New York Times Puzzle Editor Will Shortz.

AcceleRacers: Track Mod

Gator — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 14:15:02 -0800

AcceleRacers: Track Mod is a fun little Pipe-Dream-esque Flash game in which your object is to manipulate sections of track in order to get each of your six racecars to the finish line inside the time limit. Gets a lot harder as you go up in levels and more obstacles are added. Yes, it is a HotWheels game.

The Mystery of Castle Wildenburg

Gator — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 19:05:24 -0800

"King Anfortas currently owns this magic stone, schmooze him, take him surprise, how ever you will get it, but bring me this stone! As award I promise you my daughter and a place on the crown!" -- The Mystery of Castle Wildenburg, a slightly goofily-translated game that combines point-&-click with classic text adventure gameplay, and photos of the lovely German countryside. Read the "Prehistory," mouseover everything, save often (though you lose your accumulated points on loading a saved game), and be careful not to die of thirst.

Time to tango with tangrams.

anjamu — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 15:20:17 -0800

Tangram House

数独 Friday

sellout — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 09:57:58 -0800

It's Friday, waste some time: Iron Sudoku, a daily sudoku challenge from the makers of Babble. (Free) registration required.

My Dumb Quotient is 86

antifuse — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 01:55:12 -0800

Dumb: The Game is an extremely addictive puzzle game, with the added addictiveness of a "world rankings" scoreboard to prove to the world just how smart you are. If you get stuck, the forums contain a LOT of hints. [More inside]