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Games and Logical Puzzles

Some Puzzle Links:

Logic Puzzles

Some of my favorite Logic Puzzles (I have a huge collection of them):

 Jacob's Revenge     Rubik's CubeBedlam Cube

PentaminoesTangram  BlockHead

4 Pieces Puzzle Star Puzzle

Rubik Clock   Rubik Magic

Bottle 3   HorseShoe

Cubes    Brick by Brick  Block by Block

Some Other Great Metal and Wooden Puzzles I also have:

Eternity Puzzle: A polygonal jigsaw puzzle with an ingenious set of pieces, developed by Christopher Monckton. There are 209 pieces to be fitted into an outline. A prize of £1,000,000 was offered for its first solution. I bought the puzzle just a few days after being launched and almost solved it in about 1 month. Unfortunately it's been solved first by Alex Selby and Oliver Riordan (Their Solution). Independently, it was also solved by Guenter Stertenbrink (His Solution). The puzzle possible combinations is a number so huge as (6*2*1000)^209 = 3.5*10^852. So you may use all the computers around earth to find the solution in the next billions of years and still don't find it (by using brute force search)!

Some Simple Puzzles

Find the Cross: Find a bigger cross exactly with shape A in the big picture B!

A     B

Strange Triangle: Where went the two missing squares after rearranging the triangle pieces?

Lateral Thinking Puzzles

Lateral thinking puzzles are often strange situations which require an explanation. They are solved through a dialogue between the quizmaster who sets the puzzle and the solver or solvers who try to figure out the answer. The puzzles as stated generally do not contain sufficient information for the solver to uncover the solution. So a key part of the process is the asking of questions. The questions can receive one of only three possible answers - yes, no or irrelevant.

When one line of enquiry reaches an end then another approach is needed, often from a completely new direction. This is where the lateral thinking comes in. Some people find it frustrating that for any puzzle it is possible to construct various answers which fit the initial statement of the puzzle. However, for a good lateral thinking puzzle, the proper answer will be the best in the sense of the most apt and satisfying. When you hear the right answer to a good puzzle of this type you should want to kick yourself for not working it out!

This kind of puzzle teaches you to check your assumptions about any situation. You need to be open-minded, flexible and creative in your questioning and able to put lots of different clues and pieces of information together. Once you reach a viable solution you keep going in order to refine it or replace it with a better solution. This is lateral thinking!

Example of a Lateral Thinking Puzzle: (The Man in the Bar)

A man walks into a bar and asks the barman for a glass of water. The barman pulls out a gun and points it at the man. The man says 'Thank you' and walks out. What is the explanation?

(This puzzle has claims to be the best of the genre. It is simple in its statement, absolutely baffling and yet with a completely satisfying solution. Most people struggle very hard to solve this one yet they like the answer when they hear it or have the satisfaction of figuring it out. Solution )

Wally Tests

Wally Test: Assess your skill at a Wally Test from Paul Sloane's Great Lateral Thinking Puzzles. Get pencil and paper and write down the answers to following questions. You have two minutes:

1. If a ton of coal costs $30 and a ton of coke costs $25, what will a ton of firewood come to?
2. Removing an appendix is called an appendectomy, removing tonsils is called a tonsillectomy. What is it called when they remove a growth from your head?
3. Why are U.S. soldiers forbidden to carry rifles any longer?
4. What three things that you can eat can never have for breakfast?
5. If a farmer raises wheat in dry weather, what does he raise in wet weather?
6. What would you call a person who did not have all his fingers on one hand?
7. Which is greater: six dozen dozen or half a dozen dozen?
8. What is the best way to get down from a camel?
9. How could a man be severely injured being hit by some tomatoes?
10. Why do Chinese men eat more rice than Japanese men?

Check Out the Answers

Common Sense Test

Answers: