What Are Visual Puzzles? Visual puzzles come in all shapes and sizes. In this issue, I'll talk about a few, link to others and then share a special collection of my best puzzles (some are reprints.) Optical Illusions These are not really puzzles, but they are visual curiosities
What is it like to be a Crossword puzzle? Behind the grid of any puzzle hides a persona that is as rich and varied as a novelist's character. While displaying the traits of its constructor, a crossword puzzle's personality also reflects its environment. It may smile
Brevity is the soul of abbreviation Tvtropes.org describes Hurricane of Puns and cautions against its use. Apparently, I'm a self-proclaimed Pungeon Master. I must confess a weakness for puns that is exceeded only by my fondness for anagrams. (Thanks, Pop!) This morning was a good Friday, when
Happy Spring! I'm going to ease into this new, self-imposed editorial calendar. First, an update, then a bunch of puzzles for you to enjoy. Update I spent the last three months of 2024 writing a book about AI and puzzle design. I spent the first three months of
Alchemy What's old is new again. AI is the new Alchemy, and the world has gone mad, as little workshops spring up all over the benighted web. Let's ignore the doom and gloom. Instead, we will poke around in the, now venerable, ChatGPT-3.5 and leverage
As puzzle designers, our creativity can be stifled when digital workspaces become chaotic jumbles of files. Each new puzzle book project introduces elements, fonts, graphics, templates, and countless versions—all of which can overwhelm your system and your creative process. Without a thoughtful organization that follows the natural lifecycle of
As part of my puzzle design journey, I have joined several groups, mostly on Facebook. I've learned a lot of things and have now become a teacher of things. One of the things, of course, is puzzle design. Long-time readers may recall my essays from Substack. (Someday, I&
When you spend a lot of time constructing word-based puzzles, a mathematics of letters emerges. The most basic example is word length. Let's build a toolkit of more advanced mathematics and use it to gain an appreciation for different puzzles. For brevity, the term dataset refers to a
The mighty spreadsheet is a canvas for a puzzle constructor. Rows and columns are merely suggestions to someone who sees a vegetable garden. If you work professionally with Excel, you may have seen eye-popping dashboards that make you think Excel had run into a phone booth for a quick change
Have you ever had a flash of inspiration and checked to see if anyone else had ever thought of it? If you did an online search, chances are high that you'll find someone else who had the same idea. However, that doesn't change the fact that
As we move through November, many folks around the world are enjoying fall festivals and harvest celebrations that bring people together. Here in the USA, Thanksgiving is one such gathering--though of course, there are countless meaningful ways that different cultures and communities mark this season of gratitude and reflection. In
Simon Tatham has an incredible collection of puzzles that you can play online. Inertia is a challenging maze-like puzzle that requires you to collect gems while avoiding bombs. Finish this one, if you can (link) This puzzle is a great example of a mash-up of multiple puzzles. It has a