Puzzles
A puzzle asks you to find the hidden answer or pattern behind something that at first glance looks incomplete or meaningless (a computer scientist might call it a “planted problem”). I like writing and solving puzzles of all sorts, especially puzzles in puzzle hunts. I once wrote for and commentated a crossword tournament.
Here are some selected puzzles. If you “figure out” how the puzzle works and “do it”, then you can get a single answer word or phrase from each one. If you want to see how the puzzle works, you can read the solutions.
A unique logic puzzle with no written instructions.
It's really just a game. Type the words to the beat!
A benign-looking but extremely difficult word puzzle. Even experts will find it impenetrable.
Here are other puzzles that I’ve made.
- Me, the Worm (solution)
- Not to Scale (solution)
- Mixed Message (solution)
- Fridge Magnets (solution)
- Where are They? (solution)
- Special Snowflake (solution)
- o ea / Wrd Srch (solution)
- Learn to Play (solution)
- Hobbyists (solution)
- A Day in the Life of Cobot (solution)
- Numbered Hexes (solution)
- P vs NP (solution)
- My First Computer (solution)
- Hello from the Outside (solution)
- Pivots (solution)
- DMCA Takedown Notice
- Land Grab
- Evolutionary, My Dear Watson
- Please Share This Image
- World Pieces
- Alpha Equivalence
- Collage Application
- Nonverbal Communication
Other
- I wrote a bunch of crossword puzzles for the Chicago Maroon (the University of Chicago’s student newspaper) which you can solve here.
- Minus Square cryptic crossword with a mysterious layout and a 5-letter answer
- DFA crossword made for STOC 2022