National Puzzle Day

This is a screenshot of a Hidden Objects video game. This game is about a girl called Wanda who really really wants to be a witch. So she enrolls at this Abra Academy and you have to find hidden objects to help Wanda make her potions and spells.

Image Source - Abra Academy Puzzle Game screenshot

Hidden Object games start out being fun and challenging. There are tons of different story lines and genres. But eventually they all start looking the same - because they all have lots and lots of screens full of hidden objects (some of which have nothing to do with the storyline) that you must find - and for those people playing Hidden Object video games - usually you cannot continue the (video) game until you find them all. You also usually gets hints too but everytime you use a hint, you normally lose points.

If the hidden objects are in a book, then you can of course, find as many as you can or not, but you dont get any hints. So if you get tired or frustrated, at least you can just turn the page to a new game, or close the book.

The first Hidden Objects books that I remember, were the large Red and White WHERE"S WALDO books. The main objective was to find WALDO amongsts the thousands of figures on each double page spread.

The Rubiks Cube was invented by a Hungarian named Erno Rubik in 1980 and it became a HUGE craze during the 1980s. It eventually faded out as most crazes do.

But in the second decade of the 21st century, the Rubiks Cube seems to be making a come back. My family recently purchased a new Rubiks cube. Knowing that once we start twisting, we will probably never see it, in its original state again, I made sure that we took a photo or two.

Below are some videos on how to solve a basic 3x3x3 cube, and also a new 4x4x4 cube

You would be very wise to watch these videos first with pen and paper and write down the algorithms that are used. They are shown on the screen at the appropriate times. Do this for both cubes and you will find it easier to manipulate your own cubes.

Image source - Personal Photo - Copyright to Serenia

My most favourite puzzles that really challenge me are Logic Puzzles. I like to have a few books of them on hand in case I want to have a challenge and they are readily available to do.

If you want to try and solve the Einstein Logic Puzzle - click here for the riddle and the clues, (and scroll down to the comments for the answer) and click here for the grid which you will need to print out.

Image source - Wikipedia

I'm sure I don't need to explain what Jigsaw Puzzles are and how they work. They range anywhere from simple 4 and 6 piece puzzles for babies to 6000 piece monsters puzzles for the serious puzzler who has the space and the time to put the puzzle together.

More recently 3D puzzles have become the craze. These puzzles no longer lie flat on the table, but being built from the tabletop up to become a real model.

Image source - Currently says it has been Hacked....

The newest craze is Sudoku - a numbers game. Its been around since 2005.

I beleive the early versions of this game required you to insert digits from 1 to 9 into a 3x3 grid, to have the columns and rows add up to either 15 or 21 (or some other number).

Now that the 9x9 grid is very common, you have to put digits from 1 to 9 into each block of 3x3, in a such a way that each digit is used only once and is not repeated. You have to work around and include those numbers already preprinted on the grid.

Since I am not a fan of numbers or maths, I do NOT play Sudoku at all. But there are thousands of books published every year that are filled with nothing but Sudoku grids for people to fill in and be challenged.

Image source - Sudoku

Crossword Puzzles can come in many different designs, styles and subjects. Fanatical crossword puzzlers hold annual competitions, National Crossword Day is July 21st. The hardest crossword puzzles are reputed to be those of the New York Times newspaper, These have been edited by William Shortz for the last 18 years. He is a legend in the crossword puzzle community.

Image Source - The Partridge Family