Marcel Danesi Ph.D - The 125 Best Brain Teasers of All Time: A Mind-Blowing Challenge of Math, Logic, and Wordplay

Copyright 2018 by Marcel Danesi

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Illustration Lan Truong, 2018 (cover); Drekhann/iStock.com (cover background and interior).

ISBN: Print 978-1-64152-008-9 | eBook 978-1-64152-009-6

I dedicate this book to my three grandchildren, Alexander, Sarah, and Charlotte. They have solved my own puzzle of existence simply by being born and being so beautiful.

CONTENTS

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SINCE THE DAWN OF CIVILIZATION, we have been fascinated by conundrums, rebuses, riddles, and enigmas of all kinds. The historical record has made this quite obvious, demonstrating our innate propensity for puzzles and games that has no parallel in any other species. The oldest known ciphera message laid out in secret codeis a Sumerian text written in cuneiform (wedge-shaped markings carved in soft clay tablets), which dates back to around 2500 BCE. This text is one of the first examples of cryptography, now a popular genre of puzzles. Similar kinds of puzzles and games from the Old Babylonian period (18001600 BCE), Egypt (17001650 BCE), and the ancient civilizations of the Orient and the Americas have also been discovered by archaeologists. Even more ancient discoveries include game sticks in Africa going back ten thousand years.

One of the oldest puzzles known is the so-called Riddle of the Sphinx. In Greek mythology, the Sphinx was a monster with the head and breasts of a woman, the body of a lion, and the wings of a bird. Lying crouched on a rock, it stopped all those about to enter the city of Thebes by asking them a riddle. (You will find that riddle here in this book as .) Those who failed to answer the riddle correctly were killed on the spot. On the other hand, the Sphinx vowed to destroy itself if anyone managed to come up with the correct answer. When the hero Oedipus solved the riddle, the Sphinx killed itself as forewarned. For ridding them of this terrible monster, the Thebans crowned Oedipus their king.

Throughout history, puzzles have captivated the fancy of many famous personages. Riddle contests were organized by the biblical kings Solomon and Hiram. Charlemagne (742814), the founder of the Holy Roman Empire, hired a scholar to create puzzles for various reasons. Edgar Allan Poe (18091849), the great American writer, and Lewis Carroll (18321898), best known for his two great childrens novels, Alices Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1872), made ingenious puzzles. The love of puzzles is ancient and shared by everyone, as witnessed today by the widespread popularity of puzzle magazines, brain challenging sections in newspapers, riddle books for children, TV quiz shows, websites, social media sites, and game tournaments. Millions of people the world over simply enjoy solving puzzles for their own sake. As the great British puzzlist Henry E. Dudeney (18571930) aptly put it, A good puzzle, like virtue, is its own reward.

15 FASCINATING FACTS

1 . There is no culture on earth without puzzle and game traditions. This strongly suggests that puzzles are hardwired in the brain and may serve some basic function in our species.

2 . Many puzzles are associated with myth and legend. For example, arranging the first nine integers in a square pattern so that the sum of the numbers in each row, column, and diagonal is the same is called Lo Shu in China. (In English, its Magic Square.) Lo Shu was invented 4,000 years ago, and the Chinese have always believed it possesses mystical properties. To this day, it is thought to protect against the evil eye when placed over the entrance to a dwelling or room. I have one on the door to my office, and I carry another in my wallet, just in case!

3 . Author Mark Twain (18351910) had this take on riddles (both of the puzzling and the philosophical variety): Let us consider that we are all partially insane. It will explain us to each other; it will unriddle many riddles; it will make clear and simple many things which are involved in haunting and harassing difficulties and obscurities now.

4 . The Alzheimers Association in the United States has endorsed sudoku as a preventive therapy against the disease. Their recommendation is based on published studies. Other puzzle genres such as crosswords and jigsaw puzzles are also recommended. In other words, puzzles may indeed be therapy for the aging brain.

5 . The number of possible sudoku puzzles that can be made with the first nine digits is calculated to be 6,670,903,752,021,072,936,960! It would take a computer over 211 billion years to solve them all.

6 . The late puzzlist James Fixx (19321984) wrote, Puzzles not only bring us pleasure, but also help us to work and learn more effectively. Consider that to be a general principle.