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Metapuzzle
A metapuzzle, also known as a meta-puzzle or meta, is a puzzle that uses the solutions to a set of puzzles to create or provide data for a final puzzle. Overview Game designer Cliff Johnson defines a meta-puzzle as "a collection of puzzles that, when solved, each give a piece of a master puzzle." A metapuzzle is a puzzle that unites several puzzles that feed into it. For example, five puzzles that had the answers BLACK, HAMMER, FROST, KNIFE, and UNION would lead to the metapuzzle answer JACK, which combines with all of those words to make new words and phrases. A "meta-meta" can exist in larger sets of puzzles, uniting several metapuzzles. So if that metapuzzle answer JACK was alongside three metapuzzles with the answers TEN, QUEEN, and ACE, the meta-meta answer would be KING, the remaining card in an ace high straight. Metapuzzles are frequently found in puzzle hunts. The structure of a metapuzzle often makes it possible to guess, with a greater or lesser degree of certainty, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puzzle
A puzzle is a game, Problem solving, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together (Disentanglement puzzle, or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to arrive at the correct or fun solution of the puzzle. There are different genres of puzzles, such as crossword puzzles, word-search puzzles, number puzzles, relational puzzles, and logic puzzles. The academic study of puzzles is called enigmatology. Puzzles are often created to be a form of entertainment but they can also arise from serious Mathematical problem, mathematical or logical problems. In such cases, their solution may be a significant contribution to mathematical research. Etymology The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' dates the word ''puzzle'' (as a verb) to the end of the 16th century. Its earliest use documented in the ''OED'' was in a book titled ''The Voyage of Robert Dudley (explorer), Robert Dudley...to the West Indies, 1594–95, narra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crossword
A crossword is a word puzzle that usually takes the form of a square or a rectangular grid of white- and black-shaded squares. The goal is to fill the white squares with letters, forming words or phrases, by solving clues which lead to the answers. In languages that are written left-to-right, the answer words and phrases are placed in the grid from left to right ("across") and from top to bottom ("down"). The shaded squares are used to separate the words or phrases. Types Crossword grids such as those appearing in most North American newspapers and magazines feature solid areas of white squares. Every letter is checked (i.e. is part of both an "across" word and a "down" word) and usually each answer must contain at least three letters. In such puzzles shaded squares are typically limited to about one-sixth of the total. Crossword grids elsewhere, such as in Britain, South Africa, India and Australia, have a lattice-like structure, with a higher percentage of shaded squares ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puzzle Hunts
A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to arrive at the correct or fun solution of the puzzle. There are different genres of puzzles, such as crossword puzzles, word-search puzzles, number puzzles, relational puzzles, and logic puzzles. The academic study of puzzles is called enigmatology. Puzzles are often created to be a form of entertainment but they can also arise from serious mathematical or logical problems. In such cases, their solution may be a significant contribution to mathematical research. Etymology The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' dates the word ''puzzle'' (as a verb) to the end of the 16th century. Its earliest use documented in the ''OED'' was in a book titled ''The Voyage of Robert Dudley...to the West Indies, 1594–95, narrated by Capt. Wyatt, by himself, and by Abram Kendall, master'' (published circa 1595). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puzzle Hunt
A puzzle hunt (sometimes рuzzlehunt) is a puzzle game where teams compete to solve a series of puzzles. A puzzle hunt can happen at a particular location, in multiple locations, or via the Internet. In a puzzle hunt, a puzzle is usually not accompanied by direct instructions for how to solve it (although the puzzle's title and its "flavor text" will often hint at how to solve it). Puzzles may come in familiar types such as crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, cryptograms, and others, but often involve an additional twist beyond the usual structures of such puzzles that solvers must discover. Other puzzles may have innovative structures whose mechanics solvers must work out from scratch. The answer to a puzzle is generally a word or phrase. Groups of puzzles in a puzzle hunt are often connected by a metapuzzle, which is a puzzle based on combining or comparing the answers of other puzzles. Puzzle hunt events Famous annual puzzle hunts *the MIT Mystery Hunt (Cambridge, Massachus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cryptogram
A cryptogram is a type of puzzle that consists of a short piece of encrypted text. Generally the cipher used to encrypt the text is simple enough that the cryptogram can be solved by hand. Substitution ciphers where each letter is replaced by a different letter or number are frequently used. To solve the puzzle, one must recover the original lettering. Though once used in more serious applications, they are now mainly printed for entertainment in newspapers and magazines. Other types of classical ciphers are sometimes used to create cryptograms. An example is the book cipher where a book or article is used to encrypt a message. History of cryptograms The ciphers used in cryptograms were not originally created for entertainment purposes, but for real encryption of military or personal secrets. The first use of the cryptogram for entertainment purposes occurred during the Middle Ages by monks who had spare time for intellectual games. A manuscript found at Bamberg states that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cliff Johnson (game Designer)
Cliff Johnson (born 1953) is an American game designer, best known for the puzzle video games '' The Fool's Errand'' (1987) and '' 3 in Three'' (1990). Both games use visual puzzles and a metapuzzle structure. Both won ''GAMES Magazine''s Best Puzzle Game of the Year. Biography Johnson was born August 14, 1953 in Hanover, New Hampshire, the only child of Norman and Leatrice Johnson. He attended Bristol Eastern High School in Connecticut, where he started making Super 8 movies. In 1972, he had jobs "building monsters" for five different amusement parks. He later attended University of Southern California's film school, where he became a teaching assistant in animation and created some of the Monty Pythonesque animations for Nickelodeon's television series '' Out of Control''. In 1984, using his first computer, a 512 KB Macintosh, he learned to program and created the game '' The Fool's Errand'', which in 1987 won "Best Puzzle Game of the Year" from ''GAMES Magazine'' and was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Word Search
A word search, word find, word seek, word sleuth or mystery word puzzle is a word game that consists of the letters of words placed in a grid, which usually has a rectangular or square shape. The objective of this puzzle is to find and mark all the words hidden inside the box. The words may be placed horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Often a list of the hidden words is provided, but more challenging puzzles may not provide a list. Many word search puzzles have a theme to which all the hidden words are related such as food, animals, or colors. The puzzles have, like crosswords and arrowords, become very popular. Also in common with these latter puzzles, have had complete books and mobile applications devoted to them. Strategies A common strategy for finding all the words is to go through the puzzle left to right (or right to left) and look for the first letter of the word (if a word list is provided). After finding the letter, one should look at the eight surrounding lett ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matt Gaffney
Matt Gaffney is a professional crossword puzzle constructor and author who lives in Staunton, Virginia. His puzzles have appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine, the ''Chicago Tribune'', the ''Daily Beast'', ''Dell Champion Crossword Puzzles'', ''GAMES'' magazine, the ''Los Angeles Times'', ''New York'' magazine, the ''New York Times'', '' Newsday'', ''The Onion'', ''Slate'' magazine, the ''Wall Street Journal'', the ''Washington Post'','' Washingtonian Magazine'', ''The Week'', and ''Wine Spectator''. Gaffney was thirteen when his first crossword puzzle was published in Dell Champion Crossword Puzzles, and has gone on to create more than 4,000 crossword puzzles over the past 25 years. His puzzles have been published in the ''New York Times'' 58 times. He has served as judge for Will Shortz's American Crossword Puzzle Tournament and won the Junior division as a contestant in 1997. He has created puzzles for Lollapuzzoola and guest-constructed for Brendan Emmett Quigley. He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The New York Observer
''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper printed from 1987 to 2016, when it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainment and publishing industries. History The ''Observer'' was first published in New York City on September 22, 1987, as a weekly newspaper by Arthur L. Carter, a former investment banker. The ''New York Observer'' had also been the title of an earlier weekly religious paper founded by Sidney E. Morse in 1823. In July 2006, the paper was purchased by the American real estate figure Jared Kushner, then 25 years old. The paper began its life as a broadsheet, and was then printed in tabloid format every Wednesday, and currently has an exclusively online format. It is headquartered at 1 Whitehall Street in Manhattan. Previous writers for the publication include Kara Bloomgarden–Smoke, Kim Velsey, Matthew Kassel, Jillian Jorgensen, Joe Cona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puzzlewright Press
Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. is a publisher of a broad range of subject areas, with multiple imprints and more than 5,000 titles in print. Founded in 1949 by David A. Boehm, Sterling also publishes books for a number of brands, including AARP, Hasbro, Hearst Magazines, and ''USA TODAY'', as well as serves as the North American distributor for domestic and international publishers including: Anova, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Carlton Books, Duncan Baird, Guild of Master Craftsmen, the Orion Publishing Group, and Sixth & Spring Books. Sterling also owns and operates two verticals, Lark Crafts and Pixiq. Sterling Publishing is a wholly owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, which acquired it in 2003. On January 5, 2012, ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported that Barnes & Noble had put its Sterling Publishing business up for sale. Negotiations failed to produce a buyer, however, and Sterling is reportedly no longer for sale as of March, 2012. In January 2022, Sterling rebrand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microsoft Puzzle Hunt
{{refimprove, date=January 2013 The Microsoft Puzzlehunt is a quasi-annual Microsoft tradition started in 1999. It is a puzzlehunt in the same vein as the MIT Mystery Hunt and has some similarity to The Game. The hunt is a team puzzle competition which challenges each team to solve a large number of original puzzles of all different kinds. The answers, when used in conjunction with the metapuzzle, lead to a hidden treasure concealed somewhere on the Microsoft campus. Teams spend the weekend solving original and unique puzzles, usually created by the team that won the last hunt. Puzzles may be anything from traditional puzzles like crosswords, word searches, cryptograms, jigsaw puzzles, word play and logic problems to wandering around campus to find landmarks or puzzles that have to be solved on location. Microsoft Puzzlehunt was founded by Bruce Leban, along with Roy Leban and Gordon Dow. The Microsoft Puzzlehunt takes place over a weekend at the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microsoft Puzzle Safari
Puzzle Safari is a one-day team letterboxing event held annually on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington. There are a maximum of four participants per team. The event takes place over the course of two rounds. Each round, the teams receive a batch of puzzles and a logbook, each of which may be solved to a location on the Microsoft campus. By taking the logbook to that location, the team can find a unique rubber stamp with which they may stamp their logbook. The logbook is turned in and scored at the end of each round. Puzzles may be anything from traditional puzzles like crosswords, word searches, cryptograms, jigsaw puzzles, word play and logic problems to wandering around campus to find landmarks or puzzles that have to be solved on location. When arriving at a stamp location, the team may find information about a challenge event. Each year the distribution method for these challenge events change slightly. One common distribution method is a ticket at the stamp locatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
