What World Wide Web sites have puzzles?
references/web.sites New
New entry, edited from material collected for the archive and not yet in a released version.
Problem
What World Wide Web sites have puzzles? [ Editor: question reconstructed from postings of 1995-1997 that pointed to puzzle pages on the Web. The addresses are as posted then and many will no longer work. ]
Show solution
[ Editor: the section headings and dates are the editor's. ]
General puzzle archives
-----------------------
[ Editor: in reply to a 1995 question about puzzle archives: ]
Try on the WWW:
http://alpha.acast.nova.edu/puzzles.html
-- Gregory C. Causey <gcc@lal.eeap.cwru.edu>
Mathematical puzzles
--------------------
The MathSoft Home Page on www.mathsoft.com contains some puzzles.
I should have been more precise and given the correct link which is:
http://www.mathsoft.com/puzzle.html
This page contains occasional puzzles from the MIT Tech Review, with
answers given as Mathcad documents. You can download a 'Mathbrowser'
which allows you to read Mathcad documents over the Web.
-- Paul Sloane <PSloane@MathSoft.com> (February 1995)
If you like Mathematical problems then check out - The Mathcad Puzzler
and Unsolved Mathematics Problems
Both on the MathSoft home page on:
http://www.mathsoft.com
-- Paul Sloane <PSloane@Mathsoft.com> (August 1995)
FreeCell
--------
Lee Daniel Crocker <lcrocker@netcom.com> wrote:
> posted that they were working on a Web page with the results of the
> project, but I haven't seen it yet.
Its only a start, but try http://physics.tamu.edu/~cdude/freecell.html
-- Dave Ring <dwr2560@tam2000.tamu.edu> (July 1995)
Oh no, this topic again!
Check out this URL:
http://physics.tamu.edu/~cdude/freecell.html
That should give you lots of information.
-- Juhani Heino <juhani.heino@hel.fi> (April 1996)
aulis.kellinsalmi@ntc.nokia.com (Aulis Kellinsalmi) wrote:
> Has somebody solved Freecell nr. 11944?
You'll find a list of hard Freecell hands and their solutions here:
<URL: http://www.capecod.net/~wcallan/freecell.htm>
However, game #11944 is not considered one of the hard ones and is not
mentioned. I gave it a couple of tries myself and I'll grant you that it
isn't easy.
-- Mike Naylor (May 1997)
Languages
---------
Welcome to try a WWW labyrinth that requires knowledge
(or good guessing) of European languages:
http://nucleus.hut.fi/~tho/puzzle/
Each node (= WWW page) contains a sample phrase in
some European language, and a list of alternatives
that lead into the subsequent nodes. The nodes are
grouped as levels. If all the answers are correct
one reaches the "Finish" with five moves.
-- Timo Honkela <Timo.Honkela@hut.fi> (June 1996)
Situation puzzles
-----------------
" A man walks slowly, heavily.
He scratches his pants and dies.
WHY? "
If you like those kind of puzzle, you may want to visit my enigma's page
at:
http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/~paquin/indexE.html
Each week, I'll submit a new one and give the answer to the last one.
-- Christian Paquin <paquin@iro.umontreal.ca> (August 1996)
[ Editor: no answer to the sample puzzle was found in the collected
postings. ]
Contests and prizes
-------------------
if you have a favorite puzzle, or made one up on your own,
please submit it for my next contest :
http://www.upx.net/~panthera/pow.html
people who submit puzzles have a slight advantage in the contest!
-- Amy Jan Galitzer <panthera@wam.umd.edu> (August 1996)
We invite all you guys and gals who love puzzles to come and
visit "dujour.com" ... that's "http://www.dujour.com". Riddle
duJour, MondoTrivia and The Labyrinth offer fresh new puzzles,
riddles, trivia, fun and surprises every day. As if the fun wasn't
enough in itself, there are loads of new prizes offered every day for
game winners!
-- Carolin Benjamin <midnight@purplecat.com> (July 1996)
[ Editor: further material on this puzzle, edited separately from other collected postings (batch 05); it may repeat some of the above. ]
[ Editor: problem as stated there: ]
Where on the World Wide Web can I find information about mechanical
puzzles (burrs, wood and wire puzzles, disentanglements) and other
puzzle pages?
[ Editor: problem statement reconstructed from several requests posted
to rec.puzzles in 1995-1998. ]
[ Editor: these addresses date from 1995-1998 and may no longer work. ]
Burr puzzles
See my Burr puzzles page for some information about three-piece burrs
(the site is mostly about six-piece burrs) so follow the background
information link from the first page.
http://www.research.ibm.com/BurrPuzzles
-- J. von Kaenel <jvk@watson.ibm.com>
Wood puzzles
Check out:
http://www.johnrausch.com/PuzzleWorld/index.html
This site has an excellent collection of wood puzzle information. I
ordered the reprint of Stewart Coffin's "Puzzle Craft" and highly
recommend it. It has a lot of information about making them. After
getting this, I really would like to find a copy of Coffin's "The
Puzzling World of Polyhedral Dissections" as a companion book.
-- Andrew Recupero <folkdancer@worldnet.att.net>
Disentanglement puzzles
I'm not sure what you mean by 'manipulative puzzles', but if you are
interested in disentanglement puzzles, try Livewire Puzzles at:
http://www.worldgate.com/livewire
-- Greg <gjm@fn1.freenet.edmonton.ab.ca>
Problem corner
Check out the Southwest Missouri State University Problem Corner at
http://www.math.smsu.edu/math/
-- Leslie F. Reid <lfr942f@cnas.smsu.edu>
[ Editor: the headings "Burr puzzles", "Wood puzzles",
"Disentanglement puzzles" and "Problem corner" are the editor's. ]
[ Editor: further material on this puzzle, edited separately from other collected postings (batch 06); it may repeat some of the above. ]
[ Editor: problem as stated there: ]
What puzzle sites are there on the World Wide Web?
[ Editor: problem statement reconstructed; the answer collects site
announcements posted to rec.puzzles in 1996-1997. The addresses are
as posted and may no longer work. ]
Alphametics (cryptarithms) in JavaScript:
with the advent of HTML and JavaScript it became possible to
computerize some puzzles in a systematic way. I am experimenting with
JavaScript version of alphametics (cryptarithms). It's interesting to
hear whether this computer device is really helping in solving a
puzzle. Visit
http://mars.superlink.net/abogom/st_crypto.html.
If you have an interesting cryptarithm I'd be delighted to present it
in the JavaScript format.
-- Alex Bogomolny <abogom@mars.superlink.net> (March 1996)
Cryptograms:
If you like to solve cryptograms, try this spot!
http://startext.net/interact/crypt.htm
-- Betty Pantazis <boopan@fastlane.net> (March 1996)
Here is a great site for your daily dose of cryptograms and cool
cryptogram solver software:
http://www.public.usit.net/jparsly/
-- Gary Hauser <ghauser@usit.net> (May 1997)
A dividing puzzle:
Some time ago I posted a dividing [Editor: "diving" in the original]
puzzle in this newsgroup, you find it on:
http://www.math.unibas.ch/~hderksen/mathrec.html
I only got one solution yet, namely from Mike Paterson. If you want
to see the solution, look at:
http://www.math.unibas.ch/~hderksen/pics/solution.gif
-- Harm Derksen <hderksen@sci.kun.nl> (August 1996)
[ Editor: further material on this puzzle, edited separately from other collected postings (batch 07); it may repeat some of the above. ]
[ Editor: problem as stated there: ]
What World Wide Web sites offer puzzles, contests and problem
collections?
[ Editor: problem statement reconstructed from the postings. ]
[ Editor: announcements posted to rec.puzzles in 1995-1997, in date
order. The addresses are as posted and many are probably no longer
valid. ]
There's a spelling test, used by an instructor in a course on
copy-editing, at
<URL:http://www.well.com/www/mmcadams/spelling.html>
-- Steven Alexander <stevena@CS.Berkeley.EDU>, April 1995
We've just made a WWW page about some math olympiads our country
(Poland) takes a part. We put there several files with the problems.
If you're looking for the olympiad problems through the net, we invite
you to take a look at our page. The URL address is:
http://hydra.mimuw.edu.pl/~chel/Olimp/olympiads.html
-- Krzysztof Chelminski, Waldemar Pompe
<chelminski@fb0447.mathematik.th-darmstadt.de>, July 1995
Caspian's Prize Cryptic Crossword Contest for August will be posted on
The Puzzle Post Saturday morning, August 12. This is a free contest
for puzzle lovers who would like to win their choice of a board game,
puzzle software, or a reference book.
<URL:http://iquest.com/~pinnacle/index.shtml>
Web= http://iquest.com/~pinnacle/index.shtml (Crosswords, Puzzles, Games)
Ftp= iquest.com/pinnacle/index.txt (Shareware File Archive)
-- Scott Gilley, Pinnacle Solutions <pinnacle@iquest.com>, August 1995
Check out the new puzzle of the week at http://www.puzzles.com
-- Binary Arts <puzzles@puzzles.com>, February 1996
Riddle du Jour -- "http//www.dujour.com" -- seeks new submissions of
great riddle stumpers. Click over to "dujour.com" and then to the
"Riddle du Jour" link. Go to "Submissions" and give us your very best.
[We need both the riddle and the answer and who you are and how to
reach you for your stumper to be considered.] We are a "family - site".
Challenging, intriguing and "head-scratcher" types are what we'd like
to see. Enter your favorite stumper and when we use it, your name is
referenced as the person offering it.
-- Carolin Benjamin <midnight@purplecat.com>, August 1996
You are all invited to review this new Department of Sophisticated:
The Magazine -- "Puzzles with a Purpose," which, as you will see, is
intended to provide more than just quick solutions to neat problems.
Click on over to http://netnow.micron.net/~sophist and go to the Table
of Contents.
-- Paul Niquette <niquette@micron.net>, February 1997
[ Editor: further material on this puzzle, edited separately from other collected postings (batch 08); it may repeat some of the above. ]
[ Editor: problem as stated there: ]
What web sites have puzzles or information about puzzles?
[ Editor: problem statement reconstructed from the postings, a set of
announcements of puzzle-related web pages from 1995-1998. Many of the
addresses are probably no longer valid. ]
Anagrams
--------
[ Editor: in reply to a question about the history of anagramming: ]
There is a little information at the Anagram Web Server:
http://lrdc5.lrdc.pitt.edu/awad-cgibin/anagram
-- T Hale <thale@novell.com>, March 1995
[ Editor: the same server was later at
<URL:http://www.wordsmith.org/awad-cgibin/anagram>. Other anagram
servers reported in July 1995: ]
http://www.infobahn.com/pages/anagram.html
http://www.demon.co.uk/genius/ag.htm
I notice that they limit either the number of words, or the number of
letters in the anagram.
-- Dean Inada <dmi@questrel.com>
International Mathematical Olympiad
-----------------------------------
I have finally got around to putting most of the International
Mathematical Olympiad problems onto my web site:
http://www.kalva.demon.co.uk
However, I have not been able to find 1987, 1988 or 1990. Does anyone
know where I can find the questions for those years?
-- John Scholes <jscholes@kalva.demon.co.uk>, October 1998
Tilings, math puzzles and games
-------------------------------
I have updated my page at:
http://www.eng.ox.ac.uk/people/Harry.Fearnley/kadon.html
Kadon and Pentaplex information
which contains information about two companies which specialise in
tiling related games/puzzles.
Kadon:
They have a number of Penrose Tiling related products, several other
tiling games and puzzles, as well as several other math-oriented puzzles
and abstract games.
Pentaplex:
They are based in Yorkshire, UK, and specialise in Penrose tiling related
things. I have updated their information -- please note that they now
have their own Web pages where you can see many of their products.
I am still trying to encourage them to produce a full set of tiles for
what they call `Pentaplexity' -- this is based on the original set of 4
tiles (based on dissections of the pentagon) that Roger Penrose found,
before he was able to reduce the number to two -- they are very
stellated . . .
-- Harry Fearnley <Harry.Fearnley@eng.ox.ac.uk>, July 1996
Word oddities
-------------
I have just updated my page of word oddities, and I welcome additions
and corrections. It is:
http://members.aol.com/gulfhigh2/words.html
-- Jeff Miller <jeff560@aol.com>, January 1997
Word search puzzles
-------------------
Check out my word search puzzles at:
http://www.NeoSoft.com/~jrpotter/puzzles.html
Print them off and give them a try.
-- John R. Potter <jrpotter@neosoft.com>, August 1995
[ Editor: further material on this puzzle, edited separately from other collected postings (batch 09); it may repeat some of the above. ]
[ Editor: problem as stated there: ]
What puzzle and problem sites have been announced on the World Wide
Web?
[ Editor: problem statement reconstructed; this entry collects
announcements posted to rec.puzzles in 1995-1996. The addresses are
as given at the time and may no longer work. ]
[ Editor: Motivational Problems in Mathematics, posted to sci.math and
rec.puzzles, 1 Oct 1995: ]
To help spread my collection of mathematics problems, I am running a
contest based on them. The problems, draft 6 of "Motivational Problems
in Mathematics", can be found at
http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~zare/prob_all.html . The full rules of the
contest, an introduction to the problems, and related information can
be found on adjacent pages. You may distribute the problems with the
introduction freely.
Those without a bachelor's degree in the natural sciences are eligible
to participate. Although the problems are designed to be
understandable by first-year undergraduates deciding whether to major
in mathematics, the problems or generalizations should be interesting
and challenging for more advanced students and mathematicians.
Currently I'm putting up a first prize of $500. [...] The deadline is
March 1st, 1996.
-- Douglas Zare <zare@cco.caltech.edu>, http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~zare
[ Editor: Southwest Missouri State University Problem Corner, posted
14 Aug 1996: ]
Summer break is over and Southwest Missouri State University's Problem
Corner is back. Check it out at www.math.smsu.edu/~les/POTW.html
-- Reid Leslie F <lfr942f@cnas.smsu.edu>
[ Editor: Find the Philosopher's Stone, posted 6 Oct 1996: ]
I invite the truly intrepid puzzler to find Philosopher's Stone at my
website. There are a number of gold amulets to be won. The address
is: http://www.hutch.com.au/~graemew/index.html
-- Graeme Whittle <graemew@hutch.com.au>
[ Editor: word games, posted 26 Mar 1996: ]
You might enjoy the daily word games, short stories, interactive
fiction, trivia and quizzes at http://www.wigal.com
No prizes. But lots of fun...and maybe fame, if your feedback or
puzzle submission is used.
-- Don Wigal <donwigal@ix.netcom.com>
[ Editor: further material on this puzzle, edited separately from other collected postings (batch 10); it may repeat some of the above. ]
[ Editor: problem as stated there: ]
What puzzle sites on the World Wide Web were announced on rec.puzzles?
[ Editor: problem statement reconstructed from the postings. These are
announcements from 1995-1996; the addresses are given as posted and
most are probably no longer valid. ]
[ Editor: collected from several short announcements; the headings are
the editor's. ]
Puzzle of the Week
Just another unassuming puzzle of the week site for you to visit.
http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~kend/potw/index.html
-- Ken Duisenberg <kend@rose.hp.com>, August 1996
Clifford Pickover's home page
I think some of you will enjoy the new puzzles, animations, virtual
caverns, java, recreational math, and computer graphics on my homepage,
particularly all the new math puzzles....
http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/pickover/home.htm
-- cliff <cliff@watson.ibm.com>, July 1996
The Puzzle Post: Punzzles Contest
We at The Puzzle Post invite everyone interested in fun word puzzles to
drop by our Web site and enter our free Punzzles Contest for prizes.
These are Wacky Wordy type puzzles in which common phrases are clued by
spatial word arrangements such as:
M1LLION = One in a Million
The prizes offered are puzzle books, board games and puzzle software.
http://iquest.com/~pinnacle/contests.shtml
-- Scott Gilley <pinnacle@iquest.com>, December 1995
Net-Scrabble
An online version of the popular game Scrabble, accessible with
Netscape (1.1+) or any forms/tables capable browser.
http://elf.udw.ac.za/scrabble/
-- Hussein Suleman <hsuleman@pixie.udw.ac.za>, December 1995
Maze Server
I'd like to introduce my new web Maze Server which generates unique
mazes each time you visit or reload the page. The mazes are challenging
and interesting, and no two are ever alike. And it is free!
http://www.neta.com/~dodson/maze.html
-- Donald Dodson <dodson@trojan.neta.com>, October 1996
The Elephant Puzzle
An HTML version of the solution to the elephant puzzle can be found at
the URL address http://www.geom.umn.edu/docs/forum/ElPuz/SolElPz.html
at the Geometry Center.
-- Bob Hesse, geometry.puzzles, July 1995
[ Editor: the elephant puzzle itself is not stated in the collected
material. ]
[ Editor: further material on this puzzle, edited separately from other collected postings (batch 11); it may repeat some of the above. ]
[ Editor: problem as stated there: ]
What World Wide Web sites offer puzzles, contests and problem
collections?
[ Editor: problem statement reconstructed from the postings. ]
[ Editor: announcements posted to rec.puzzles in 1995-97; the
addresses date from then. ]
[ Editor: cryptograms. ]
I've just put the finishing touches on a cryptogram game on my web
site, and I'm interested in any feedback or suggestions from
rec.puzzles folks. The game is written in Javascript, which currently
is only runnable from Netscape 2.0 (16 or 32-bit).
The URL is : http://www.netvoyage.net/~tgrupe/crypto0.htm
-- Todd Grupe <tgrupe@netvoyage.net>, March 1996
The URL for the Cypherspace game has changed. It's now at:
http://www.pacificnet.net/~tgrupe/crypto0.htm
(Cypherspace is a JavaScript cryptogram game, featuring 100 different
puzzles, an automatic hint generator, cookie records of your best
solving time, etc. Give it a shot.)
-- Todd E. Grupe <tgrupe@pacificnet.net>, August 1996
If you like a daily Cryptogram, check this site out. Even a contest if
you like.
http://www.mindspring.com/users/fmnshare/today.html
-- Louis Jansen <LouJansen@gnn.com>, April 1996
>Does anyone know of a www page which provides crypto quote puzzles that
>can be downloaded?
Check out my web page. I have links to puzzles, puzzle library
software, and solvers.
Cryptogram Corner: http://www.usit.net/public/jparsly/
-- James A. Parsly <jparsly@usit.net>, August 1996
Every weekday there is a new cryptogram offered at http://www.wigal.com
Click on Puzzles. The answer is given the next day and is always a
notable quotation and its author's name. Reviewers have especially
liked its attractive use of color and "hint" features. There is also a
clever "boss button" which can be used in case you need to turn your
screen quickly into a "strictly business" look.
-- Don Wigal <donwigal@ix.netcom.com>, January 1997
[ Editor: contests. ]
Introducing a brand new puzzle page: Panthera's Puzzle Contest
Where you can win prizes!!
Submit your own puzzles!!
All for free!
http://www.upx.net/~panthera/pow.html
-- Amy Jan Galitzer <panthera@upx.net>, August 1996
I'm sponsoring a new Pog guessing contest on the Web. The theme of
this contest is The Simpsons. If you want to see it, go to:
http://www.radix.net/~jfw/contest.html
-- Jim Ward <jfw@radix.net>, June 1995
[ Editor: the Grey Labyrinth. ]
The current Grey Labyrinth puzzle
( http://www.wx3.com/labyrinth/berry.htm ) is one about the Berry
Number. I haven't seen any discussion of the Berry Number in the FAQ,
and was wondering if this was a puzzle/problem which hasn't been done
to the gills.
-- Kevin J. Lin <kevin@wx3.com>, September 1996
[ Editor: for puzzle products and software see references/products.
Batch 07 also staged a references/web.sites entry; the two should be
merged. ]
[ Editor: further material on this puzzle, edited separately from other collected postings (batch 12); it may repeat some of the above. ]
[ Editor: problem as stated there: ]
What puzzle sites and puzzle-related files were announced on the World
Wide Web and by FTP?
[ Editor: problem statement reconstructed; this batch's announcements
(1995-1997) are to be merged with the web.sites entries from other
batches. ]
Paint by numbers (1995):
My pbnumber program is now available by anonymous ftp
site: ftp.neosoft.com
path: /pub/users/l/lhl/pbnumber.zip
sum: 40697 110 ( cksum 1)
what: Paint by number program for MS-WINDOWS 3.1 with VGA and mouse
Includes sample puzzle and brief readme file.
Enjoy!
-- Lewis Lowe <lhl@starbase.neosoft.com>
Wooden puzzles (1996):
> I have been reading this newsgroup for a while. It appears that 90%
> or more concerns thought problems. I was wondering if there is anyone
> who is interested in wooden puzzles? If there is, I know of one that
> might be of interest and I can post a description of it and where to
> get it. I am actually the inventor of it, so if anyone wants me to
> send them a description, just e-mail me.
Due to the response to this post, I have added a section to my webpage
describing the "Akimbo" puzzle along with an illustration. I will be
adding actual pictures of the puzzle and some of its variations shortly,
but what is there should suffice. And be aware, there are puzzles that
have similar geometries, but they are not functionally the same as mine.
-- Joel M. Therrien <jtherrie@tiac.net>, http://www.tiac.net/users/jtherrie
Curious Kids Toys (1996):
Visit http://www.curiouskids.com to shop for high quality Wildlife
Educational Theme Kits for kids ages 3-12. Themes include Dinosaurs,
Endangered Species, Reptiles & Amphibians, Insects & Spiders, Marine
Life and Zoo Animals. Includes puzzles!
-- Jane Hawthorne <ckids@spyder.net>, Curious Kids Toy Company
Scientific puzzle page (1997):
There's a new puzzle page on the WWW:
http://www.oriels.demon.co.uk/zlatest.html
The latest puzzle involves Archimedes' Principle... or does it?
-- Ken Knowles <postmaster@oriels.demon.co.uk>, Oriel Associates
[ Editor: further material on this puzzle, edited separately from other collected postings (batch 13); it may repeat some of the above. ]
[ Editor: problem as stated there: ]
What World Wide Web sites have puzzles?
[ Editor: question reconstructed from postings of 1995-1997 that pointed
to puzzle pages on the Web. The addresses are as posted then and many
will no longer work. ]
[ Editor: the section headings are the editor's. ]
Crosswords
----------
http://www.phillynews.com
play crossword on the world wide web -- online. it is interactive and
you can even save your game to continue later. need browser supporting
tables.
http://www.phillynews.com/crossword
-- Rajiv Pant <betul@bacchus.eng.temple.edu>, November 1995
I was doing a little research and came across a crossword puzzle
promotion by Grolier's. The URL is
http://www.grolier.com/docs/crossword/Puzzle.html
-- Michelle Yee <myee@eb.com>, November 1995
Daily and weekly puzzles
------------------------
I have set up some daily and weekly puzzles for people's enjoyment at a
web page called the Puzzle Junction. The URL is
http://www.wwa.com/math/puzzles/PuzzleJunction.html
There you will find some digit puzzles, word ladders, anagrams, and a
"preposterous word of the week". Other puzzles to come.
-- Stanley Rabinowitz <stan@MathPro.com>, April 1995
Unsolved mathematical problems
------------------------------
[ Editor: posted to a word-puzzle mailing list in a thread on the 3n + 1
problem. ]
For those who are interested, there is a page of unsolved math problem
links at:
http://www.mathsoft.com/asolve/index.html
which includes pointers to a couple of very interesting papers, one of
which includes a fair amount of history on the problem.
-- Mike Christie <mikec@sterinfo.com>, May 1997
Palindromes
-----------
[ Editor: the following is the text of the Web page "LEOs Palindrome
Collection" by Christoph Enzinger <leo@cosy.sbg.ac.at>, at
http://www.cosy.sbg.ac.at/~leo/palindrom/ ]
Palindromes in: Bulgarian, Croatic, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English
(about 1300), Estonian, Fiji, Finnish (about 1000), French, German (I
suppose, the biggest collection worldwide, about 1200), Greek, Hebrew,
Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese,
Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Venezuelish,
Welsh, Not Palindromes.
Links to other palindrome pages (and some of my sources):
Palindrom - i ni mord, ni lap! :-) - Russian and Englisch palindromes
by Alexey V. Andreyev
http://cerc.wvu.edu/~alexey/pal.html
Le Grande Palindrome of Georges Perec - page by Arshad Tayyeb
http://www2.englib.cornell.edu/~at11/palindrome.html
Palindrome Word Play by Jim Gast
http://www.mcs.net/~jgast/palwords.htm
The List of International Palindromes by Jouko I. Valta
http://stekt.oulu.fi/~jopi/humor/palindromes.html
A Friend In Need Is 'De Ennid Neirfa' Backwards by Richard Vance
http://www.infi.net/~rvance/plndrome.html
Alivaltiosihteerin palindromeja
http://honeybee.helsinki.fi/mmkat/matti/avs.html
Antti Koivumäen palindromikokoelma
http://dc.ee.hit.fi:80/~ako/ak_pal.html
Arskan Palindromisivu
http://www.jyu.fi/~jota/palindromeja.html
Lisää palindromeja (Helin, Juha)
http://www.jyu.fi/~juerhe/pali.html
Palindromeja (Helin, Juha)
http://www.jiop.fi/~juerhe/palindromit.html
The Public Domain Palindrome Page
http://www2.ecst.csuchico.edu/~beej/palindromes.html
Possible Sources, Still Not Found
Thomas Wolff, Die lächende Sphinx
Heinz Seydel, Alles Unsinn, Berlin 1974
Franz Fuehmann, Die dampfenden Hälse der Pferde im Turm von Babel
Martin Gardner, Unsere gespiegelte Welt, 1982
Sprachpflege 13 (1964), Sprachpflege 28 (1979)
Verbatim
Bruno Berneis in Archimedes 10 (1958)
Andre Thomkins, Oh Cet Echo!, Essen 1963
Klaus Peter Dencker, Deutsche Unsinnspoesie, Stuttgart: Reclam 1978
Jean-Pierre Colignon, Guide pratique des jeux litteraires, 1979
Willard R. Espy, The Game of Words, London 1971
William S. Walsh, Handy-Book of Literary Curiosities, Philadelphia 1892
Jules Welling, in Yang 12 (1976) 67
Annemarie Schoene, Englische Wortspiele und Sprachscherze, Bonn 1968
Lloyd E. Smith, Curiosities of the English Language, Little Blue Book
No. 1350
Lloyd E. Smith, Fascinating Pastimes with Words, Little Blue Book
No.1433
Dmitri A. Borgmann, Language on Vacation, 1965
J. Newton Friend, Words: Tricks and Traditions, 1957
Noah J. Jacobs, Naming Day in Eden, 1958
Frank Mittler, The Little Book of Word Tricks, 1958
Serge Fliegers, 1953
Stan Kelly-Bootle, 1981
Ernst Wasserzieher
Georges Perec
Adrian Plass, Tagebuch eines frommen Chaoten / Andromedas Briefe
(in der englischen Originalfassung)
William Irvine, If I had a Hi-Fi, New York: Dell Publishing 1992
David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1987, pp.64-65
David Crystal, The English Language, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1988,
pp.105-121
Father Jerome Carcipino, reports on excavations in the Syrian desert
Tony Augarde, The Oxford Guide to Word Games, chapter 11, titled
"Palindromes"
John Pool, Lid Off a Daffodil, Holt, Rinehart and Wilson, 1982
Jeff Grant, The Palindromicon, Word Ways
Stephen Chism, From A to Zotamorf: The Dictionary of Palindromes, Word
Ways
Hrabanus Maurus, Liber de laudibus sancte crucis, Graz 1973
Pierre Fabri, 1890
Luc Etienne
Greg Huber
Oulipo, Atlas de litterature potentielle, Paris 1981
Battus, "Opperlandse Taal- en Letterkunde", Amsterdam 1981
John Agee, Go hang a salami! I'm a lasagna hog! and other palindromes,
New York : Farrar Straus Giroux, 1991, ISBN 0-37433473-0
John Agee, So many dynamos! and other palindromes, New York, 1994
Simo Frangen & Pasi Heikura (Alivaltiosihteeri, Retki - dikter
(palindrome poems), Tampere Banana press, 1991, ISBN 951-8992-05-3
William Irvine, "Madam I'm Adam and Other Palindromes", New York 1987,
ISBN 0-684-18850-3
Word Ways 16 (1983) 3, 180
They might be giants, "I Palindrome I"
Stan Kelly-Bootle, "The Devil's DP Dictionary", 1981
Jorge Luis Borges
Dona Smith, Wo! Nemo, Toss a Lasso to me Now (and other palindromes),
1993, ISBN 0-590-47710-2
If you know other palindromes, please send them to me!
-- Christoph Enzinger <leo@cosy.sbg.ac.at>
[ Editor: further material on this puzzle, edited separately from other collected postings (batch 14); it may repeat some of the above. ]
[ Editor: problem as stated there: ]
What web sites have puzzles or information about puzzles?
[ Editor: problem statement reconstructed from the postings, a set of
announcements of puzzle-related web, telnet and FTP sites from 1994-1998.
Many of the addresses are probably no longer valid. ]
Math competitions (USAMO, IMO, Putnam)
--------------------------------------
[ Editor: from Kiran Kedlaya's "Math Competitions Archive" page, last
updated 7 Dec 1997. The file links on the page were relative to the
page itself, whose address is not given in the source; only Kedlaya's
home page address is. ]
This archive contains copies of the questions from some recent math
competitions. The older exams appear in a series of books published by
the Mathematical Association of America (http://www.maa.org/); check
there for more information. (The MAA retains copyrights on the USAMO
and Putnam exams, including those appearing here. However, for the time
being, I haven't been told that the recent exams can't appear here. In
any case, these files are for personal use only, and don't say you
weren't warned.)
The files are mostly in LaTeX2e format; for those who find this
inconvenient, I have begun adding PostScript versions.
USA Mathematical Olympiad: The USAMO is an exam taken by 150 U.S. high
school students each April. Students qualify by scoring well on the
American High School Mathematics Examination (AHSME) and the American
Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME). The top six scorers on the
USAMO are invited to represent the United States at the International
Mathematical Olympiad; the U.S. team members and 24 other high scorers
train for the IMO at the Math Olympiad Program (MOP).
1997 USAMO problems in LaTeX.
1996 USAMO problems in LaTeX or ZIPped PostScript.
1995 USAMO problems in LaTeX or ZIPped PostScript.
1994 USAMO problems in LaTeX or ZIPped PostScript.
1993 USAMO problems in LaTeX or ZIPped PostScript.
1992 USAMO problems in LaTeX or ZIPped PostScript.
1991 USAMO problems in LaTeX or ZIPped PostScript. (Caution: the
LaTeX file requires PicTeX to compile correctly. PicTeX is
available, among other places, from the CTAN archive: a list of CTAN
mirrors worldwide is at
http://www.stat.lsa.umich.edu/tex/doc/ctan.html)
1990 USAMO problems in LaTeX or ZIPped PostScript.
1989 USAMO problems in LaTeX or ZIPped PostScript.
International Mathematical Olympiad: The IMO is the premier math
competition for high school students. Up to six students from each
participating country are selected for the competition, held each July
in a different location. (The selection procedure varies by country.
In the United States, selection is based on the USAMO.)
1997 IMO problems.
1996 IMO problems.
1995 IMO problems.
1994 IMO problems.
1993 IMO problems.
1992 IMO problems.
1991 IMO problems.
William Lowell Putnam Mathematics Competition: a North American math
contest for college students. Each year on the first Saturday in
December, over 2000 students spend 6 hours (in two sittings) trying to
solve 12 problems. Individual and team winners (and their schools, in
the latter case) get some money and a few minutes of fame.
The 1997 Putnam competition took place on December 6; problems,
solutions, results and statistics are now available below.
1997 problems, solutions, list of winners and score breakdowns.
1996 problems, solutions and list of winners.
1995 problems, solutions, list of winners and score breakdowns.
1994 problems, solutions.
1993 problems and solutions. (Thanks to Wei-Hwa Huang for locating
my post-mortem notes.)
1992 problems. (I have post-mortem notes from this exam as well,
but I haven't managed to dig them up yet.)
1991 problems.
1990 problems.
1987, 1988, and 1990 problems and solutions from the MIT USENET
archive:
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/puzzles/archive/competition/part4
David Rusin has the 1989 problems and solutions and some additional
materials: http://www.math.niu.edu/~rusin/problems-math/
-- Kiran S. Kedlaya <kkedlaya@math.princeton.edu>,
http://www.math.princeton.edu/~kkedlaya/
Recreational mathematics
------------------------
Are you interested to Recreational Mathematics and related fields?
If so, see this my new WWW address:
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/9174/material.html
I think you will find a lot of interesting items.
-- Mario Velucchi <velucchi@cli.di.unipi.it>, September 1996
Illustrated puzzles: The Grey Labyrinth
---------------------------------------
[ Editor: in a thread complaining that puzzles needing pictures are
hard to post to a newsgroup: ]
If anyone has any puzzles which lend themselves particularly well to
graphical representation, send them to the Grey Labyrinth
(labyrinth@wx3.com). The Grey Labyrinth posts new puzzles every couple
of weeks, usually illustrated with a rendered image:
http://www.wx3.com/labyrinth/
-- Kevin Lin <kevin@wx3.com>, August 1996
Word games: Boggle on-line
--------------------------
Let me alert you to a wonderful internet resource: A site where many
like-minded folks gather daily (& nightly) to play boggle, mostly,
though anagrams and jumbles are also available. I've been spending way
too much time there myself. Simply telnet to the following address:
telnet pitsparc.cs.sunysb.edu 7196
and take it from there; it's pretty self-explanatory. Enjoy!
-- Joshua Kosman ("Trazom") <kosmanj@sfgate.com>, November 1995, to
the NPL mailing list
Word games: Tribune Media Services
----------------------------------
I have been hired to create word games / puzzles for Tribune Media
Services' on-line newspapers (They do Jumble and other things). I have
two new word games which you can play for FREE through the Chicago
Tribune On-Line and the Houston Chronicle On-Line at:
http://www.tms.tribune.com/chron_puzzles/
or
http://www.tms.tribune.com/tribune_puzzles/
They are free since the Tribune is charging for advertising throughout
the whole newspaper site. I would love to have people's feedback and I
need to have as many people play so that I keep my job!
Good luck!
-- D. Lawrence Hoyt <dlhoyt@ix.netcom.com>, September 1996
Cryptograms
-----------
Come over and have fun with crypts ranging from simple subs to keys and
maybe more. New ones added Daily
http://www.greenearth.com/crypt/index.htm
-- Greg <ghbpets@fishnet.net>, February 1996
Palindromes
-----------
Check out my palindrome page:
http://www.netspace.org/~derf/palindrome.html
-- Neil "Fred" Picciotto <derf@brown.edu>, November 1995, to the NPL
mailing list
There are other Panama variations, and other palindromes, at The
Foole's palindrome page:
http://www.cs.brown.edu/people/nfp/palindrome.html
-- Henri Picciotto ("Hot") <hot@SOE.Berkeley.Edu>, May 1996, to the
NPL mailing list
[ Editor: the Panama variation he was answering is in
language/english/sentences/palindromes. ]
Word lists and crossword construction
-------------------------------------
[ Editor: in reply to a request for a list of English words (with
plurals, tenses, etc.) and for a program that constructs crossword
grids: ]
Try ftping to sable.ox.ac.uk/pub/wordlists for wordlists.
There's a crossword puzzle archive at gatekeeper.dec.com in
archive/.3/msdos-misc/crossword-archive/; there may or may not be
something you can use there.
-- dandan@falcon.cc.ukans.edu, October 1994
Mental speed: the Braintainment Center
--------------------------------------
I haven't posted here before, but if there are some of you out there
that like some other varieties of intellectual challenge, try the
Braintainment Center at http://world.brain.com (I am not affiliated
with them!!)
They have a great little product called Thinkfast, that is something
like weightlifting for the mind. You can compete to see who has the
quickest mind in the world (about 20 people have reached Brainmaster).
If you don't like competition, you can use Thinkfast as a great mental
tuneup. They maintain a "Brain Board" to discuss various topics related
to intelligence and brain development.
The main reason for this post, however, is to invite people to take a
little quiz that I've posted on the Board...the URL is
http://world.brain.com/index.cgi/UN/bbintro.html
Have fun!
-- Bill McGaugh <bmcgaugh@pe.net>, August 1996
Graphic art puzzle: The Manx
----------------------------
Savage studios just introduced, via the Net, The Manx, a new graphic art
puzzle by designer Jason Savage. You can see this new work by visiting
the studio at http://www.awod.com/gallery/wgd/savage/
-- Glenn Dennis <gdennis@awod.com>, The Zoe Foundation, February 1995
Another puzzle site (maybe)
---------------------------
http://alpha.acast.nova.edu
-- Jeff Loeb <jeffloeb@delphi.com>, August 1995
Prize games: Play4Prizes
------------------------
[ Editor: a commercial announcement posted to rec.puzzles and several
other groups, September 1996 and May 1997. ]
Come have fun, play our games, surf our sponsors' Web Sites and win
CASH PRIZES on the Web's newest game-show.
We've actually given away over $2500 in CASH prizes.
This week our GRAND PRIZE is $250.
Are you tired of winning prizes you really don't need? Want more
flexibility in choosing your hard-earned winnings? Looking for an
entertainment site that places its users' preferences at the top of the
list? Say hello to Real Dollars, Play4Prizes' revolutionary prize
mechanism that offers you an easy-to-use system for obtaining and
collecting prizes.
Here's how it works:
Solve any of our games and be entered into our Weekly Prize Drawing.
You'll get a new entry into the drawing for each game you solve,
increasing your chances of winning.
Check the prize page at http://www.play4prizes.com/prize.html to see
what the prizes are and if you are a winner.
If you are a winner go to any merchant anywhere and redeem your Real
Dollars for whatever prizes you want!
It's that simple collecting prizes. Now you can win what you want. No
more winning prizes you don't need, already have, or picking from a
small prize pool. And you can win the grand prize just by playing ONE
game. Real Dollars are redeemable at millions of locations worldwide
for all kinds of products and services!
We've just added lots of new prizes at Play4Prizes, the Internet
game-show. Come check out these new prizes at
http://www.play4prizes.com/prize.html/2
This week you could win:
$250 CASH
5 Prizes of up to 50 Lottery Tickets for a MILLION DOLLAR Lottery.
5 Prizes of the new book Apocalypse Wow by James Finn Garner.
5 Prizes of $25 CASH
-- The Play4Prizes Team <www@Play4Prizes.com>, http://www.Play4Prizes.com/
[ Editor: further material on this puzzle, edited separately from other collected postings (batch 16); it may repeat some of the above. ]
[ Editor: problem as stated there: ]
What World Wide Web sites have puzzles?
[ Editor: question reconstructed from postings and pages of 1995-1997
that pointed to puzzle pages on the Web. The addresses are as posted
then and many will no longer work. ]
[ Editor: these addresses date from 1995-1997 and may no longer work.
The section headings are the editor's. ]
Puzzle archives, contests and links
-----------------------------------
[ Editor: from Michael Winckler's "Puzzles & Riddles" page at the IWR,
University of Heidelberg (last updated 2 April 1996). The page's own
links were relative; only its outside links have full addresses. ]
The Puzzle of the Week (English version) is the puzzle published in
this week's issue of FreizeitWoche (German Version). The first one to
send me the solution to the PotW will be given credit in the MARP.
Visit this summer's puzzle contest! Puzzle Contest Summer '96
(Puzzles, Rules & Standings)
Other things you can find on this server: MARP (Mike's Archive for
Riddles and Puzzles); Puzzle Contest Summer '95 and Winter '95/'96
(Puzzles, Rules & Results); a local copy of the rec.puzzles archive.
Puzzle links around the world:
http://www.wam.umd.edu/%7Epanthera/pow.html
Amy Jan Galitzer puts one new puzzle on the net every week, the
"Puzzle of the Week".
http://forum.swarthmore.edu/~sarah/HTMLthreads/geopuzzles.html
At Swarthmore exists a forum for geometry puzzles, collected since
1992. Most of the classic geometry puzzles can be found there.
http://vms.www.uwplatt.edu/%7Eanderson/riddle/riddle.html
Another riddle of the week, this time by Aaron Anderson, The Cyber
Wanderer.
http://www.interlog.com/~fugitive/maestro/puzzle.html
Maestro's PotW: Now look at this! Another 'Puzzle of the week'.
No prizes, but a list of people who solved it right. Isn't fame
as good as a prize?! [Editor: "prices" and "price" in the
original, here and below.]
Links to contest pages:
http://www.new3.com/riddle/
Riddle du Jour is just what the title says ... and with prizes by
sponsors to give away each and every day!
http://www.pacificrim.net/~anthonyp/.www.html
Anthony's puzzle page is a page with a kind of number puzzle on it.
Try to reach the top score to win $500 cash.
http://www.thecase.com/
The Case: Not exactly a puzzle, but a criminal case every week is
published by 'The Case'. Older cases are available and a mailing
list to get the cases by email instead of WWW (safer and faster) is
maintained. The cases are tough, but most of them are concise and
unique. The people at 'The Case' claim to have a professional
author writing the cases for them.
-- Michael Winckler <Michael.Winckler@IWR.Uni-Heidelberg.De>
Mini-mysteries
--------------
[ Editor: the title page of a 1997 site about mini-mystery books
(Hy Conrad, Lawrence Treat, Ken Weber, The Case), with sections "What
this site is about", "Mini-Mystery Genre", "Genre Mini-History", "Book
Reviews", "Book List" and "Related Sites"; comments to
ppoirier@total.net. The copy collected does not give the site's
address. ]
Word puzzles: the National Puzzlers' League
-------------------------------------------
[ Editor: from the NPL members' mailing list, 1995. ]
The minisample is available on Xemu's home page. The URL is:
http://www.research.att.com/orgs/ssr/people/guy/npl/minisample.html
It might be nice to have more NPL-related materials on the web. My
own page has some C code I wrote that helps me play with dictionaries
in UNIX, and QED just sent me some code he uses on his PC, which I
should make available soon. If there's interest in a list of NPL
member home pages, I'd be happy to maintain it.
-- Sandy Kutin ("Btnirn") <kutin@math.uchicago.edu>
(http://www.math.uchicago.edu/~kutin/) (July 1995)
A new hypertext edition of our minisample is now available for browsing
at URL:
http://www.teleport.com/~ejbagai
Check it out with the WWW browser of your choice and let me know what
you think. I'd like to publicize this URL to others in Netland who
enjoy word puzzles, and I'd appreciate getting your help and feedback
first.
-- Xemu <guy@research.att.com> (September 1995)
Puzzle collections and games
----------------------------
amUous Mind Puzzles Vol 9 is available! After only a year between
editions, the latest version of amUous Mind Puzzles is out.
Here's what people are already saying:
"Way cool! What are they?"
Some Passerby
"Uh, challenging ... They give me a headache."
J. Falkenbach
"Can you give a second to think about it?"
J. M. in Dayton
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible."
W. Disney
OK, OK, so I made the first one up. So check 'em out for yourself and
see what _you_ think.
Since the official site at WUArchive is rather busy at the moment (it's
always busy), I've made them available from an alternate site at
http://www.netcentral.net/~dmcmeans/mp/amp.html
ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/doc/misc/mind-puzzles/amp.html
-- David S McMeans <mindpuzl@wuarchive.wustl.edu> (June 1995)
If you think you're smart, download the games at
http://www.mindspring.com/~decgraph/home.html
That will set you straight
-- Decision Graphics <decgraph@dylan.mindspring.com> (November 1995,
"How's your spatial intellect?")
There is a new web site that focuses on using puzzles and humor to
enhance creativity and increase brain flexibility. Check out
http://enchantedmind.com home of Enchanted Mind.
-- focus@enchantedmind.com (April 1997)
Compete for cash and chat while you play.
http://www.cosmoasis.com/
-- Tim Nagel <tnagel@ix.netcom.com> (April 1997, "Conundrum?")
Crossword software
------------------
Morello PuzzleTrack 2.1 is the easy way to create crosswords and word
search puzzles.
Wizards are available to do most of the work for you, intuitive visual
editing and foolproof automatic layout allow you to complete a puzzle
in minutes.
Print your puzzles out separately, or embed them in your favourite WP
or DTP package, using OLE for seamless in place editing.
To add variety, you can choose from dozens of style variations, invent
your own colour schemes, and even design irregular shaped puzzles
using the design tool.
Shareware version for Win95 only is available from:
http://morello.wildnet.co.uk/puzzle.html
-- Tom Duncan <morello@mag-net.co.uk> (May 1997)
Mathematics reference
---------------------
I have recently installed a major upgrade of my comprehensive on-line
encyclopedia of mathematics at
http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~eww/math/math.html
-- Eric Weisstein <weisstein@venus1.gps.caltech.edu> (June 1996)
[ Editor: further material on this puzzle, edited separately from other collected postings (batch 17); it may repeat some of the above. ]
[ Editor: problem as stated there: ]
What World Wide Web and FTP sites offer puzzles, riddles, contest
problems and puzzle products?
[ Editor: problem statement reconstructed from the postings. ]
[ Editor: announcements and pointers posted to rec.puzzles and
sci.math in 1994-1996, in date order. The addresses are as posted
and many are probably no longer valid. ]
In article <376o35$jqv@nippur.irb.hr>, mjurisic@public.srce.hr
(Miroslav Jurisic) writes:
|> Well, I'd like to see some high-school competition problems posted
|> round here, and some solutions if possible.
A lot of them have been already posted. See the archives of
rec.puzzles, being kept on several sites, for example.
Another source is International Amateurs Mathematical Society (IAMS)
archive at princeton.edu (128.112.128.1) in /pub/iams/ directory
I have posted the All-Soviet-Union math. competition problems, and
they are stored on ftp.technion.ac.il (132.68.7.8) in
/pub/info/RusMath.doc and ftp.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il (132.76.80.17) in
pub/voldemar/RusMath.doc
-- Vladimir A. Pertsel <voldemar@wisdom.weizmann.ac.il>, October 1994
There is a riddle in
http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~simran/riddles/riddles.html
See if you can solve it :-)
-- Simran <simran@cse.unsw.edu.au>, September 1995
Check out this page for some good Riddles if you have one of your own
you can Email them to the add on that page and they will be uploaded.
Thank you. http://homepage.interaccess.com/~comonnow/index.html
-- comonnow@interaccess.com, October 1995
hi everyone. i just wanted to announce the introduction of the Puzzle
of the Week to the WWW. located at :
http://www.wam.umd.edu/~panthera/pow
thanks!
-- Amy Jan Galitzer <panthera@wam.umd.edu>, October 1995
the seattle based puzzletts now has a WWW site. they have such great
service. i'm ordering a horseshoe puzzle and 5x5 rubik's cube from
them. anyways, they now have a web site and give it a week until you
can order direct from their site (they have to get the credit card
authorization encryption stuff up there). go check it out. of
course, you can already guess what the url is.
http://www.puzzletts.com/
-- Brian Odom <bodom@peach.ucs.indiana.edu>, December 1995
Hi! My name is Matthew and on my WWW page you will find the first
part of my Great and Awestriking Puzzled series. The first one will be
easy, but you will progress. Take a look! It's at
http://www.iconz.co.nz/~tuckers/mattwww.htm
You'll love it (i hope)
-- Matthew <tuckers@iconz.co.nz>, June 1996
>A couple of months ago someone posted the plans for two excellent
>burrs. Burrs are typically wooden puzzles that require sliding moves
>to be assembled or disassembled. One was an order 5 burr (five moves
>to get the last piece in) and the other was an amazing order 9! [...]
>Does anyone have the plans for this or any other challenging burrs?
You could try http://www.research.ibm.com/BurrPuzzles/index.html which
gives not only references to books about burrs but also a Java builder
and solver of burrs and a number of plans.
-- Rob Hegge <R.F.Hegge@mp.tudelft.nl>, August 1996
[ Editor: further material on this puzzle, edited separately from other collected postings (batch 18); it may repeat some of the above. ]
[ Editor: problem as stated there: ]
What World Wide Web and FTP sites have puzzles?
[ Editor: question reconstructed from postings of 1995-1996 that pointed
to puzzle pages; the addresses are as posted then and many will no
longer work. ]
>I remember having access to a very useful WWW site that had links to several
>archives filled with puzzles AND answers. Unfortunately, that site has
>somehow disappeared from my list. Does anyone know of such a site?
>
>Ralph Niewmierzycki uniewm@sparta.sjsu.edu
I don't know about WWW sites, but I found an ftp site, just last night, that
had _lots_ of puzzle games (at least for windows). Try ftp.pht.com .
Use a big buffer window, if you want to browse the directories...
-- David Beal <kepler@holly.ACNS.ColoState.EDU>, February 1995
Try the following:
http://alpha.acast.nova.edu/puzzles.html
-- Gregory C. Causey <gcc@lal.eeap.cwru.edu>, March 1995
Point your browser at http://www.infi.net/~xedge/puzzles.html to visit a page
dedicated to puzzles. Puzzles updated Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
Download PCrypto, a worksheet for solving cryptograms.
EMail us and let us know your suggestions for improvements!
-- Robert M. Felton, P.E. <xedge@infi.net>, Expert Edge, Inc., April 1995
Many thanks to Stein Kulseth who finally mailed me the correct answer to
the satellites-puzzle in my homepage (he also contributed it). And you won't
believe it: This puzzle really CAN be solved (nobody did so far).
A note on my puzzle page (The Sphinx): Some puzzles seem to be
incredibly difficult to solve... at least I got very few solutions for
some of the puzzles (e.g. The Strange Tower or The Risky Dice Game). So,
I will simply add the solution-links to these puzzles soon, although I have
not yet received FIVE solutions... can't say, what "soon" means...
probably within the next month. So: hurry up if you would like to
solve these puzzles (and be listed :-))
Note: this does not apply for the Satellites-puzzle as there have been NO
correct solutions so far!!!
Anyway: In case any of you have not found this page yet, here is the URL:
http://stud1.tuwien.ac.at/~e9226344/Themes/Puzzles/puzzle_e.html
-- Marcus-Christopher Ludl <e9226344@stud1.tuwien.ac.at>, July 1995
If you're interested in puzzles of any kind (logic puzzles,
mathematical puzzles, word puzzles, cryptograms, ciphers,
etc) visit a brand new Web Page: Valentyn's House O' Puzzles.
Each puzzle is given a difficulty rating and a Hall Of Fame
keeps track of those who've correctly solved the greatest
number and the most difficult puzzles. Puzzle answers as
well as new puzzles can be submitted straight from the page!
The address is:
http://www.cris.com/~flourish/index.html
Choose option 3, Valentyn's House O' Puzzles.
-- Jeffrey Turner <Flourish@cris.com>, July 1995 (posted to rec.puzzles
and geometry.puzzles)
Valentyn's House O' Puzzles now has six puzzles of varying
difficulty online.
http://www.cris.com/~flourish/index.html
Visit the Hall of Fame -- Fftw of Sydney University is in
the lead, having correctly solved five of six puzzles for
a total score of 27. Gary Wang of Dekalb, IL isn't far
behind. Come join the fun or learn how to submit your
own puzzles for online competition!
-- FeJuggler <an332705@anon.penet.fi>, July 1995
Visit Valentyn's Houses O' Puzzles on the WorldWideWeb!
Logic puzzles, math puzzles, codes and English puzzles,
12 puzzles are online now and more are on the way. No
one to date has solved all 12!
Each puzzle is rated according to difficulty/average solve time.
Score high enough and be immortalized in the Hall of Fame.
The address is:
http://www.cris.com/~flourish/index.html
Choose option 3, Valentyn's House O' Puzzles.
-- DallasCouple <an332705@anon.penet.fi>, August 1995
I have set up a page with a few of my favourite puzzles in mathematics and
logic (more will added when I get the time). The page's address is:
http://net.cs.utexas.edu/users/henryp/puzzles/puzzle.html
Let me know what you think, and if you have a page I should link it to...let
me know as I'll be glad to add some others' pages to the site.
-- Henry Pierluissi <henryp@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu>, August 1995
You may want to check out our WWW site:
http://199.95.1.3/~janus/puzzle/ppage.htm
for some home-made computer based puzzles.
-- KHopper@TIAC.net, August 1995
Visit http://www.riddler.com and http://alpha.acast.nova.edu
Those 2 should keep you busy for awhile. ;)
-- Jeff Loeb <jeffloeb@delphi.com>, September 1995
What is the only number, apart from 1, which divides exactly into each
of these numbers...
163231 152057 135749
See our web page for the answer-
http://www.sunmarkinc.com/products/puzzles/
-- Mark DiLuciano <markdil@ix.netcom.com>, December 1995
Hi! This is a meager page to begin with,... but :
Check out the 'Puzzle Of The Ages' page at
http://www.io.org/~nsundar/riddle.html
It'll grow ... I promise... but try the current problem!
-- Naru Sundar <nsundar@io.org>, December 1995
If you like computer games that require more thought than hand eye
coordination, then give Motion Madness a try.
http://www.infi.net/~rolandc
-- Roland Curit <rolandc@norfolk.infi.net>, November 1996
[ Editor: further material on this puzzle, edited separately from other collected postings (batch 19); it may repeat some of the above. ]
[ Editor: problem as stated there: ]
What World Wide Web sites have puzzles?
[ Editor: question reconstructed from postings of 1994-1997 that
pointed to puzzle pages on the Web. The addresses are as posted then
and many will no longer work. ]
[ Editor: the section headings are the editor's. ]
General puzzle sites
--------------------
We have created an exciting puzzle site on the Web:
T H E U L T I M A T E P U Z Z L E S I T E
We present puzzles in four categories with different levels of difficulty:
- Various Basic Puzzles
- Mathematical Puzzles
- Brain-Teasers
- Complex Problems
In addition, we recommend to do the QUIZ.
Here's the URL:
http://www.win.tue.nl/win/cs/ooti/students/robvg/puzzle/index.html
-- Rob van Gassel, Jurgen Heijmans, and Edwin van Veldhoven
<edwinv@win.tue.nl> (August 1996)
Palindromes
-----------
Check out the Palindrome Page:
http://www.infinet.com/~rbatina/other/dumbinfo.html
-- Robert J Batina <rbatina@infinet.com> (February 1995)
Chess
-----
I've written a web Chess Position Viewer for anyone interested at
http://www.mindspring.com/~jaredmarkw/chess/board.htm
that could make it unnecessary to draw crude boards and pieces with
ASCII characters in messages. It allows you to write, send and VIEW
boards in messages in a concise form many are already familiar with,
e.g. 8/8/2Qp2K1/4k3/4N3/6p1/2R5/8 (Mate in 2). All that is required is
that you type or paste in a string and press the Display key. I think
I have explained it all on my site, including my choice of notation.
-- Jared Weinberger <JaredMarkW@mindspring.com> (December 1997)
Rubik's Cube and similar puzzles
--------------------------------
I know of three sources of online information about the cube. In
ascending order of worthiness, they are:
1) My own solution write-up for the 3x3x3 cube
http://sdg.ncsa.uiuc.edu/~mag/Misc/CubeSoln.html
2) The rec.puzzles archive entry about the cube
3) The (archives of the) Cube-Lovers mailing list (based at MIT)
I would expect the archives of the Cube-Lovers list to contain a wealth of
information, including information about books and online sources of
information. I have read very little of it myself, though.
At (1) I have pointers leading to items (2) and (3).
-- Tom Magliery <mag@ncsa.uiuc.edu> (August 1995)
Probably because I have a web page with a solution for Rubik's 3x3x3 cube
[1], I often get email requests wondering where 3x3x3 and larger cubes can
be obtained. I have finally gotten around to accumulating a few possible
sources on a web page:
http://sdg.ncsa.uiuc.edu/~mag/Misc/CubeSources.html
I welcome additions, corrections, and suggestions.
[1] http://sdg.ncsa.uiuc.edu/~mag/Misc/CubeSoln.html
-- Tom Magliery <mag@ncsa.uiuc.edu> (November 1995)
Visit my web page :) http://qlink.queensu.ca/~4mj2/rubiks.html. No
equations, I promise...
-- Mark Jeays <4mj2@qlink.queensu.ca> (April 1996)
I made a simple web page on how to solve any puzzle similar to
Rubik's Cube. It's at http://users.vnet.net/alanh/rubikpuzzles.html. I
would appreciate any feedback on technical accuracy. Also, pointers to
relevant graphics or Java applets would be nice.
-- Alan Hensel <alanh@vnet.net> (January 1997)
> I was hoping once they produced the Rubik's Revenge they would take it
> a step further with a 5x5x5 or even larger cube. Does anything like
> this exist?
A 5x5x5 cube was indeed manufactured. You can try ordering one on-line
from Puzzletts, home page http://www.puzzletts.com/
They probably have a few of them but I can't guarantee it.
-- Glenn Rhoads <rhoads@sceloporus.rutgers.edu> (February 1996)
I've just written up a WWW page for the Square 1 puzzle that
drove everyone bonkers when it first came out. The URL is
http://www.cfar.umd.edu/~arensb/Square1/
For those who don't remember, Square 1 is sorta like Rubik's
cube, but more fiendish, since edges don't have to remain edges, and
corners don't have to remain corners. You can have two edges wind up
next to each other, or two corners. This can lead to some interesting
(read: infuriating) shapes.
Anyway, this is a public invitation to take a look at this
WWW page. Hopefully you'll find it useful in solving the bloody
thing. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know.
-- Andrew Arensburger <arensb@cfar.umd.edu> (October 1994)
[ Editor: further material on this puzzle, edited separately from other collected postings (batch 20); it may repeat some of the above. ]
[ Editor: problem as stated there: ]
What web sites, FTP sites and other on-line resources about puzzles
are there?
[ Editor: pointers posted to rec.puzzles and alt.anagrams, 1994-1996;
the section headings are the editor's. ]
ANAGRAMS BY MAIL OR WEB
rbatina@infinet.com (Robert Batina) writes:
>Some guy used to have a script set up so that if you sent him mail,
>with the subject being something like:
>
>anagram robbatina
>
>It would automatically spit out all the anagrams back to you via
>e-mail... what happened to this guy? It seems to be gone... and does
>anyone here know of a page on the web that would do this?
The email address is wsmith@lrdc5.lrdc.pitt.edu. Try the web site,
too: http://cerberos.cwru.edu:8001/cgi-bin/anagram.
-- Todd Hale <thale@novell.com>, February 1995
Is this URL still valid? I have been unable to connect?
-- Per Jacobsen <perjac@login.dknet.dk>
NET.PUZZLER
Checkout net.puzzler monthly puzzle magazine
http://www.virtual-ny.com/net.puzzler/
Download the program & 5 sample puzzles for FREE!!!
NO CREDIT CARD REQUIRED!!!
They look like simple word search but they can be altered to be easy
or really difficult. Read about menu before loading the first puzzle.
Have fun!!!
checkout the interactive puzzle program.
installs in win. 3.1 or 95.
download takes 10 to 12 min. at 28.8
http://www.virtual-ny.com/net.puzzler/
have fun.
-- Ron Victor <NET.PUZZ@IX.NETCOM.COM>, February and March 1996
WOODEN PUZZLE BOXES
Visit http://www.puzzletts.com/
Look under "take-apart" puzzles. They're very expensive, but I bought
one a while ago and it was very well made and gorgeous to boot, so they
might very well be worth the price.
-- Tom Maciukenas <tomm@dvorak.amd.com>, June 1996
THE RINGPIECE PUZZLE
Man's greatest idea is obviously the RINGPIECE puzzle which you can get
from http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~stevef/puzzlingthings
(sorry for the ridiculous hyperbole, but I reserve the right to flog my
page in away way that seems fit. Come and visit :)
-- Steve Fleming <stevef@labyrinth.net.au>, June 1996
PUZZLENET (CROSSWORDS AND SCRABBLE CONTEST)
Thank you for pointing out the errors in our posting. Without your
reply, we would not have known about the problem.
We're newcomers to the Internet (so much to learn), and would have
replied sooner, but just learned how to do it.
After we found your response, we have addressed and fixed the
following:
1) Our correct web page address is:
http://puzzlenet.com/puzzlenet/puzzlenet.html
2) The letter value inconsistencies in the web page entitled "How
Puzzles Are Scored" have been corrected. We originally checked the
gopher, FTP and autoresponder and they were fine. When our web pages
were composed by our provider, the wrong letter value tables were
scanned in for the sample puzzles we included. As of 3:45 PM EST,
10/28/94, this problem has been corrected.
3) We've sent private e-mail to the authors of the original replies.
4) One of the replies asked about the unavailability of rules until you
enter the contest. The most important rule is that the Merriam-Webster
10th edition is the official dictionary.
5) Another question asked about publishing contest results. It has
always been our intention to do this and results will be available to
all.
6) It was also stated that it was hard to get in touch with us. We did
not know that our header would appear the way it does, which currently
shows the address of our provider and not ours. We are working to get
this changed so it shows an address at puzzlenet.com.
7) As far as getting in touch with us, please direct all inquiries to:
questions@puzzlenet.com
8) We welcome your feedback at any time so we can improve our contest.
we feel that we have a contest that can be fun and enjoyable for all
who participate and regret any startup problems that occurred.
-- Larry Jacobs <lj@idi.net>, October 1994
AMUOUS MIND PUZZLES
Announcing amUous Mind Puzzles
Volume 6
The latest edition of amUous Mind Puzzles is out! What is amUous Mind
Puzzles? Word puzzles like amUous and
P
,----, MIND ,---. ,---.
| CO | -------- eiln PU | P |
`----' matter | --- | ---
`---' `---'
A group of dedicated puzzle enthusiasts collaborate to produce every
two months an 8.5x11 inch page chock full of tantalizing teasers. And
we offer them free to anyone interested. They come in two formats -
PostScript and gif.
You may obtain the puzzles via anonymous ftp from
wuarchive.wustl.edu(128.252.135.4):/doc/misc/mind-puzzles
See the readme file in that directory for more information, or drop me
a note.
-- David S McMeans <mcmeans@eli.wpafb.af.mil>, January 1994
Announcing
amUous Mind Puzzles
Volume 7
amUous Mind Puzzles is a collection of word puzzles like:
P
,----, MIND ,---. ,---.
| CO | -------- eiln PU | P |
`----' matter | --- | ---
`---' `---'
Every two months or so I assemble an 8.5x11 inch page chock full of
tantalizing teasers, and offer them free to anyone interested. They
come in two formats - PostScript and GIF.
You get your very own copy via anonymous ftp to
wuarchive.wustl.edu(128.252.135.4):/doc/misc/mind-puzzles
or via gopher
Type=1
Name=amUous Mind Puzzles
Path=1/GameRec/Games/amUous
Host=aphrodite.sjsu.edu
Port=70
The readme.txt file in the mind-puzzles directory has more information.
-- David S McMeans <mcmeans@dtedi.wpafb.af.mil>, April 1994
[ Editor: the section headings are the editor's. ]
Prize games for children: Kidscom
---------------------------------
[ Editor: an announcement cross-posted to rec.puzzles and many other
groups, March 1996. ]
Join Kidscom (you must be from age 1-16), you will be able to play
games, and win real prizes for it! You CAN NOT LOSE because you NEVER
HAVE ANY OBLIGATION for anything!
To join, go to:
gopher://seorf.ohiou.edu:2001/hGET/seorf.stuff/Sci/xx053/hide/free.html
Have fun, and don't forget, you will have NO reason to dislike this
system!
-- Andrew Cantino <xx053@seorf.ohiou.edu>
gopher://seorf.ohiou.edu:2001/hGET/seorf.stuff/Sci/xx053/Homepage.html
Puzzling Things: the RINGPIECE puzzle
-------------------------------------
[ Editor: posted April 1996 under the subject "A classic NEW puzzle
RINGPIECE (rings!.exe self extr. for DOS)". ]
Greetings all.. A new puzzle for you to try; made up of three linked
rings.. as far as I know only ever solved 3 times... Also new PUZZLES
homepage, http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~stevef/puzzlingthings
-- Steve Fleming <stevef@labyrinth.net.au>
The Soma Cube Page
------------------
[ Editor: posted December 1997. ]
For all Soma Addicts out there in cyberspace, I have updated the "Soma
Cube Page." It now contains new figures, as well as an interesting new
challenge for making the 3x3x3 cube - this cube solution must consider
gravity, yes, I said gravity. Check it out and see what new challenges
await!
http://lonestar.texas.net/~jenicek/somacube/somacube.html
-- Jay Jenicek <jenicek@texas.net>
[ Editor: further pointers, 1994-1998; the addresses are as posted then
and many will no longer work. ]
The rec.puzzles FAQ
-------------------
[ Editor: in reply to a newcomer asking for the group's FAQ and the
puzzle archive, August 1994. ]
I'll be posting the FAQ presently, calling it the "regular monthly
posting". It's been less than a month since the last "regular monthly
posting", but I'm about to disappear for two weeks (getting married).
The FAQ answers all of the above questions and more.
The FAQ is also available on the web. Below is the URL for Tom Fine's
collection of Usenet FAQs. Some of the FAQs there are automatically
HTML-ified versions of the FAQs from rtfm.mit.edu; other FAQ
maintainers (myself included) keep their own HTML versions, which
supersede his HTML-ified versions. You'll find it all at:
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu:80/hypertext/faq/usenet/top.html
-- Tom Magliery <mag@cs.uiuc.edu> (August 1994)
Anagram programs
----------------
Here are the addresses for FTP of two good anagram programs for UNIX
OS:
ftp.cyberspace.com /pub/unix/games/anagram.Z
ftp.cyberspace.com /pub/unix/games/anagram2.shar.Z
You will have to uncompress the files using uncompress <file> and
follow the directions. They both include man files and must be
compiled after being extracted from shell archive. For instant
gratification, I recommend the second version, as it is much faster.
The interface varies, so get them both just to compare.
-- Andy Davidoff <dert@concrete.resnet.upenn.edu> (alt.anagrams,
February 1995)
3D interlocking puzzles
-----------------------
If you like 3D Interlocking Puzzles, then come and visit our new site,
showing great shareware for DOS/Win. Our site is at
http://www.interlock.com.au
-- Jayne Emanuel, Interlock Software, PO Box 413, Kensington, NSW 2033,
Australia <jaydon@zip.com.au> (October 1996)
Treasure hunts
--------------
Just to let you know that I have given my Treasure Hunt Web Page a much
needed update - I've still got a lot more to add to the page, but in
the meantime you might like to have a go at my new 'Web Hunt.'
The page can be found at: http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/sallyh/treasure.htm
-- Sally Hickling <sallyhickling@zetnet.co.uk> (April 1997, mailed to
treasure@questrel.com)
Chess
-----
[ Editor: a follow-up to Jared Weinberger's Chess Position Viewer,
above, mailed to Chris Cole in January 1998. ]
I redid my Chess Board Viewer as a Java applet at the same URL:
http://www.mindspring.com/~game/
I think it will be much less problematical and faster, as it will run
identically in any browser, whereas the behavior of the different
browsers regarding Javascript was unreliable at best.
-- Jared Weinberger <jared@brainyday.com> (January 1998)
[ Editor: "the same URL" as he wrote; the address given in December
1997 was http://www.mindspring.com/~jaredmarkw/chess/board.htm. ]
[ Editor: further material on this puzzle, edited separately from other collected postings (batch 23); it may repeat some of the above. ]
[ Editor: problem as stated there: ]
What World Wide Web sites have puzzles?
[ Editor: question reconstructed from postings of 1995-1997 that pointed
to puzzle pages on the Web. The addresses are as posted then and many
will no longer work. ]
Electronics brainteasers
------------------------
I just started a WWW page that will be devoted to electronics oriented
puzzles and brain teasers. I have plans on updating and expanding it on
a regular basis. Check it out: http://erie.net/~eit/puzzles.html
-- Jason Kroh, Instructor, Erie Institute of Technology <EIT@erie.net>
(May 1996)
Draughts/checkers
-----------------
[ Editor: posted as "New Draughts/Checkers Page. Play against Human
World Champion! + 8 Draughts programs etc." ]
Welcome!
"Agafonov's Draughts/Checkers Club"
WWW-Page by VLADIMIR AGAFONOV,
Twice World Champion by Correspondence,
International Grandmaster,
the Guinness Book Laureate with 162 boards' simultaneous game to his
credit,
the Honoured Master of Sport,
the Honoured Trainer of Russia,
a Many-Time Champion of the USSR, Russia, Moscow (1957-1996!),
Author of strong computer Draughts program ADC.
Play _Any_ Draughts/Checkers games to win out over Agafonov!
- Draughts/Checkers in Russia
- Best Agafonov Games
- Win out over Agafonov!
- Computer Draughts Program:
8 computer games for you -
International,
Russian ("Shashki"),
Checkers,
Brazil,
Italian,
Canadian,
80-Squares Draughts,
"Poddavki" (old Russian game "who win - lose!").
- Current Draughts' Puzzle by Agafonov
- and plenty of other...
Try it!!!
->
http://www.space.ru/english/draughts/page
E-mail: draughts@space.ru
-- Sergei Bobrovsky, programmer <draughts@space.ru> (August 1996)
Programming problems (Programmer of the Month)
----------------------------------------------
[ Editor: posted in a May 1996 thread on the game Chomp. ]
Chomp and other problems? Check out:
*** http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/corin/POTM.PAGES/ for the USofA
*** http://www.strath.ac.uk/Students/WebSoc/POTM/ for Europe
-- Andre' <awilhelm@hvsca01.ns-nl.att.com>
Word-find puzzles
-----------------
For all you Word-Find puzzle lovers out there, I've got a few Word-Finds
available on the Web (in GIF format). All the files are in
http://www.interlog.com/~gudas/wordfind/. Type the URL just mentioned
and THEN the name of the Word-Find you'd like to see.
ff2.gif
zelda.gif
mario.gif
canada.gif
summerfun.gif
winter.gif
internet.gif
For example, to see canada.gif, type
http://www.interlog.com/~gudas/wordfind/canada.gif.
Hope you like them!
-- Adrian ("Brainfreeze") <gudas@interlog.com> (August 1996)
[ Editor: pointers posted or mailed in 1996-1998; the addresses are as
given then and many will no longer work. The section headings are the
editor's. ]
Tower of Hanoi
--------------
[ Editor: from a mailing to the maintainers of Tower of Hanoi pages,
February 1998. ]
I have
- added more Tower of Hanoi links to my list
at http://www.pangea.ca/kolar/javascript/Hanoi/HTonWebE.html
(let me know please about any discrepancies in proper identification
of your pages)
- found another iterative algorithm, see
http://www.pangea.ca/kolar/javascript/Hanoi/algo.html
- and wrote a new TH puzzle demo, see
http://www.pangea.ca/kolar/javascript/Hanoi/HanoiA4.html .
All these can be reached from my TH index at
http://www.pangea.ca/kolar/javascript/Hanoi/index.html .
Will be glad if it will be of any use.
-- Mirek Kolar <kolar@pangea.ca> http://www.pangea.ca/~kolar/
The Grey Labyrinth: Links
-------------------------
[ Editor: the links page of the Grey Labyrinth (http://www.wx3.com/),
copyright 1996 Kevin J. Lin, converted from HTML. ]
Puzzle Servers
Riddle du Jour http://www.new3.com/riddle/
Welcome to Riddler http://www.riddler.com/
Dr. Matrix' Mind Games http://www.netcreations.com/drmatrix/mindgame.htm
Mind Games http://gold.acns.fsu.edu/~jnk5842/mind.html
Exercise Your Brain http://www.math.tau.ac.il/~puzne/gif/brain.html
Math based puzzles, ranging from easy to difficult.
rec.puzzles news:rec.puzzles
Not actually a server, but *the* newsgroup for puzzle enthusiasts.
Texts
Library of Babel
http://jubal.westnet.com/hyperdiscordia/library_of_babel.html
The text of Borges's classic story.
People
Jorge Luis Borges
http://www.microserve.com/~thequail/libyrinth/borges.html
An unofficial, but well-designed site with information on the author
who was a partial inspiration for this one.
Douglas Hofstadter http://www.psych.indiana.edu/cogsci/hofstadter.html
Daniel C. Dennett's Home Page http://www.tufts.edu/~ddennett/
Clifford A. Pickover's Home Page
http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/PICKOVER/HOME.HTM
Alan Turing http://www.wadham.ox.ac.uk/~ahodges/Turing.html
Site dedicated Alan Turing, a remarkable man whose life is almost as
intriguing as his work. Well researched and engaging.
Link Collections
Godel, Escher, Bach http://www.ling.lsa.umich.edu/jlawler/geb.html
A collection of links to sites relating to the book of the same
name.
The Libyinrth http://www.microserve.com/~thequail/libyrinth/index.html
No, it's not a typo version of this site; the Libyrinth is a well
designed work in progress dedicated to 20th century authors,
particularly those who have a "bend your mind" style, such as
Joyce, Eco, and Borges.
Humor
Brain Teasers http://www.cosc.brocku.ca/~bross/humour/braintease.html
An hilarious collection of supposed "Brain Teasers." After trying
some of the problems of the Grey Labyrinth, this is a good place to
unwind.
Optical Illusions
Bob Ausbourn's Optical Illusions http://www.lainet.com/~ausbourn/
A good collection of optical illusions.
Optical Illusions http://ziris.syr.edu/dj/xOptical/optical.html
A small collection of some simple illusions.
Other
Psychology Mind Games http://asylum.apocalypse.org/pub/u/bill/psych/
A few interesting experiments illustrating mental processes.
-- Kevin J. Lin
Logic puzzles: Zoma's Land O'Logic
----------------------------------
My wife loves doing logic puzzles. She recently decided that she would
like to try writing her own for other people to do. She is placing her
puzzles on the web at:
http://lc.gulfnet.com/user_pages/dstern/logic.htm
Please check out her first effort, "Who bought the cucumbers?" and
leave her feedback at my email address below. Depending on the
feedback, more puzzles are expected in the near future.
-- David S. Stern <dstern@lc.gulfnet.com> (June 1996)
Tic-tac-toe
-----------
You wanted a hard puzzle? Go to the tic tac toe puzzle by clicking on
the following: http://www.netcom.com/~smacaw/tictac/starttic.html
There is only one way to beat it at tic tac toe. Very hard puzzle.
-- "John Doe" (June 1996)
Literary quotations: the Word Wizard
------------------------------------
Please consult the word wizard (http://www.wordwizard.com) for usage,
quotations, word definitions, neologisms, classic insults, diaries,
slang street, public scribe and all our other usual (and free)
services.
For our third competition, Lasting Pleasure, starting on Monday
September 2, we are asking you to attribute the last sentences (or
sometimes whole paragraphs) of 46 famous novels.
To do well in this competition you will need a good knowledge of both
British and American literature (with a few Europeans - in translation
- thrown in for good measure).
Some of the answers are very easy, some are quite difficult, but we
promise that every one comes from a genuine classic.
The player who makes the pleasure last to the not so bitter end, by
obtaining the highest score after 46 days, will receive an Oxford
Dictionary of Quotations CD-ROM.
-- Miles <miles@iway.fr> (September 1996)
[ Editor: further announcements of puzzle pages, 1995-1996. The
addresses are as posted then. ]
Crosswords
----------
Monthly Cryptic Crossword Puzzle available at
http://www.interlinx.qc.ca/~dfisher/cross.html
-- Dave Fisher <dfisher@interlinx.qc.ca> (August 1996)
Word puzzles
------------
We have just started up a new web site called the Word Puzzler's
Corner.
http://www.niagara.com/~wrdpuzlr
We have just started, and there is very little there. We have a
puzzle archive, crosswords that we have created, but very soon we will
be adding word fit and word find type puzzles as well. We will be
creating roughly 25 puzzles of each type when we really get going.
We need your help to classify our puzzles into easy, average and hard,
then we will be making puzzles fitting into those classes. Also with
any other ideas you may have for this site.
We also have a nice set of links to the various word puzzle related
sources on the net, so if you know of one that we don't have, please
mail us and we will add it. If you find that something isn't working,
then we must be working on it at that time, sorry.
Thank you, and hope you find something you like.
-- Mitchell Smith <wrdpuzlr@niagara.com> (September 1995)
Set
---
With great pleasure and not too much fanfare, Judd and I proudly
announce the Set Home Page, dedicated (as it will tell you) to the
entertaining and highly addictive game of Set.
<URL:http://sdg.ncsa.uiuc.edu/~mag/Set/>
Current features include:
* Rules of Set
* Vote for your favorite Set card
* Other games you can play with Set cards
* The "Find Marsha" contest
The future is wide open. We welcome all additions and comments!
-- Tom Magliery <mag@ncsa.uiuc.edu> (June 1995)
[ Editor: the puzzle in the postscript of this announcement is
probability/set.card.guess. ]
Nim
---
[ Editor: a saved copy of a web page "Klondinski's Nim Engine", which
ran a Java applet (Nim.class); the page's address was not kept with
it. ]
Nim is a simple game played with coins. It is thought to be Chinese
in origin. An arbitrary number of coins are arranged into rows and two
players alternate in removing one or more coins from any row. Whoever
takes the last coin wins.
Enter your move by clicking on a coin. That coin and all those to the
right and in the same row will be removed. The computer will then
make its move. Check the status bar for messages. Reload page at any
time to start a new game.
Contests and prizes
-------------------
Wizards of the Coast in partnership with Hotwired has just launched the
second online Webrunner contest, Webrunner II: The Forbidden Code.
Check it out at:
http://www.wizards.com/Netrunner/Webrunner_II/
In WR2, you assume the role of a deputy security chief at Encoder,
Inc., a cryptography corporation targeted for acquisition by the
corporate behemoth Futokora. Keeping the company safe from a hostile
takeover means tracking down and stopping a treacherous Encoder
insider. As you weave your way through the game, you've got to solve a
bunch of puzzles in order to win. A new puzzle starts each week.
WR2 was launched to celebrate the release of Proteus, the first
expansion set for Netrunner. The contest runs through September 27.
The grand prize will be awarded by WIRED magazine. Some of the prizes
include DeBabelizer Graphics Processing Toolbox software package,
Netrunner starter packs, and display box of Proteus booster packs.
see you there....
-- Veronika Schwartz <veronika@arbuthnot.com> (August 1996)
[ Editor: further pointers posted to rec.puzzles, 1995-1997; the
addresses are as posted then and many will no longer work. The
section headings are the editor's. ]
Interactive puzzles: The Island Puzzler
---------------------------------------
Please come visit our new and growing Island Puzzler web site, as seen
in USA Today. It is a world of fun devoted to puzzles, riddles, magic
and even has INTERACTIVE WEB PUZZLES!!!
http://adware.com/mall/puzzler/welcome.html
We look forward to confounding you with fun puzzles from all around the
world :)
-- Adware, Inc. <poster@adware.com> (commercial posting to rec.puzzles
and rec.puzzles.crosswords, January 1995)
The Monty Hall problem
----------------------
I've written a page presenting the Monty Hall problem and its solution.
I welcome any comments from any of you here; and hope that this might
be a resource to direct newbies to when they ask about it...
http://www.nmt.edu/~kmellis/monty.html
-- Keith M Ellis <kmellis@nmt.edu> (April 1995)
Mazes
-----
If you're into mazes, check out:
http://www.accessone.com/~elliott/maze/
The Amazing World of Michael Mcaffery. These are simply the most
incredible mazes ever produced.
Don't forget to print out your free maze and good luck!
-- John Elliott <elliott@accessone.com> (February 1996)
Maths chess and chess puzzles
-----------------------------
If you are interested try:
http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1904/
-- Mario Velucchi <velucchi@cli.di.unipi.it> (rec.puzzles,
rec.games.chess and sci.math, May 1996)
Online games: Bill's Web Game Area
----------------------------------
I setup a web page called Bill's Web Game Area.
The site is for online games or puzzles. One of the puzzles up now is
a block puzzle. The game has seven rows and seven columns. Each row
has a different sequence of color blocks. With seven different color
sequence per row.
Objective is to find the sequence of colors that will allow you to
have one color per column for each of the seven columns. You do this
by selecting a "O" next to the row and a different sequence of color
blocks displays.
Only one sequence of blocks will be correct.
Also a picture game is partially up. It allows you to change the top,
middle and bottom of a picture. So you can try different combinations.
If you stop by please leave me some comments on the game area and let
me know if you solved the line em up game.
The page idea came from trying to create some on line games. It uses
frames and Netscape is recommended.
More games or puzzles are planned but I need your feed back.
http://users.ids.net/~ripnet/gamearea.htm
Not sure if this method was used before but it allows anyone to create
games or puzzles at their page by just producing GIFs or JPGs.
-- William Pommenville <william.pommenville@gambitbbs.com> (August
1996)
Wooden puzzles
--------------
Bill@halcyon.com wrote:
>I would like to buy books on wooden puzzles. I am also interested in
>buying wooden puzzles themselves.
Try here:
http://www.interlock.com.au/
This is from the "Links" section of my web site. There are also links
to some other sites there that may have what you want.
-- Mike Naylor <mike.naylor@mail.serve.com> (September 1996)
"Marilyn is Wrong!"
-------------------
I just discovered an entertaining web page called "Marilyn is Wrong!"
I haven't seen it mentioned here before, but maybe I missed it.
http://www.wiskit.com/marilyn/marilyn.html
-- Mike Naylor (May 1997)
Prime numbers
-------------
For prime number information, a good place to start is Chris
Caldwell's "Prime Page" at <http://www.utm.edu/research/primes/>.
-- Fred W. Helenius <fredh@ix.netcom.com> (April 1997; see
arithmetic/largest.non.mersenne.prime)
For all of you who have just recently returned from vacations, good
news. We've made a page about Mathematical Olympiads in Poland. The
URL is
http://hydra.mimuw.edu.pl/~chel/Olimp/olympiads.html
It contains a brief information and over 100 olympiad problems. For
all of you who have visited our page in summer, good news, too! We
added some problems sets and corrected some errors (hope we didn't add
any). If you like our page and enjoy solving olympiad problems, we
encourage you to make an olympiad page of your country!
-- Krzysztof Chelminski, Waldemar Pompe
<chelminski@fb0447.mathematik.th-darmstadt.de>, September 1995
[ Editor: from the word-game-programmers mailing list, June 1999, in a
thread on a Palm Pilot word game whose Swedish rules name a
dictionary. ]
The swedish dictionary mentioned in the swedish rules are searchable
on-line at http://g3.spraakdata.gu.se/saob/saob4.html. And you can buy
a CD version. Not as good as a wordlist, but in pinch...
-- Urban Nilsson <urban@oops.se>, OOPS ab
I don't know how much interest there really is in Swedish dictionaries
here, but I want to point out that that link goes to SAOB which isn't
the same as SAOL. SAOL is a rather small book, with new editions
approximately every 12 years. SAOB is a multivolume ambitious project
that has been going on for over 100 years, is currently working on
volume 32 which is at the end of the letter S, and will be ready ~2020
according to the current plans. (And then it's time to start all over
again I guess...)
-- Per Starback <starback@ling.uu.se>
The Sphinx (June 1995)
----------------------
e9226344@stud1.tuwien.ac.at (Marcus-Christopher Ludl) wrote:
>Just have a look at the page and tell me what you think...
> http://stud1.tuwien.ac.at/~e9226344/Pages/puzzle_e.html
Please keep on working on your puzzle page.
-- Willemijn and Maarten <kamphuis@lava.ivg.com>
Two days ago I announced the creation of "The Sphinx" on this
newsgroup... I got many positive replies and would like to thank all of
you who took a look at this page so far!
However: Should you want to assign a bookmark for this page (in your
browser): PLEASE assign the bookmark on the actual homepage for the
moment:
http://stud1.tuwien.ac.at/~e9226344/
I'm currently re-organizing my directory structure and this might
result in your bookmarks becoming invalid (the only page that will NOT
move is the index in the above directory).
You can reach the Sphinx by the links "Theme Park" and "Sphinx" in my
homepage!
Sorry for the inconveniences
-- Marcus-Christopher Ludl <e9226344@stud1.tuwien.ac.at> (June 1995)
Contest: The Rift
-----------------
Want to win an Indigo2 IMPACT, the newest, most advanced desktop
workstation from Silicon Graphics?
Silicon Graphics and vivid studios invite you to play "The Rift", the
first 3D interactive gaming experience on the net. The Rift takes
players on a hunt across the World Wide Web, as they solve challenging
puzzles, navigate through VRML worlds, and compete for great prizes,
including an Indigo2 IMPACT system worth US$36,000.
The Rift opens Tuesday, August 15. For full details and registration
info, visit http://www.sgi.com/Contests/TheRift/.
-- vivid studios <info@vivid.com> (August 1995)
The number 37 (and the dowry problem)
-------------------------------------
[ Editor: in reply to the dowry thread quoted in decision/dowry, where
the winning probability is 1/e, about 37 percent: ]
In article <40o5b7$o37@darkstar.isi.edu>, brian@darkstar.isi.edu (Brian
Tung) wrote:
> Problem 1 has a well-known classical solution. Select a[0] to be any
> positive number less than 1/e, where e=2.71828... Then, select the
> first a[j] such that a[j] > 1/e. This maximizes your chance of
> winning, equal to 1/e. (That number just crops up everywhere,
> doesn't it?)
See the following URL (and don't be afraid to do a little rounding):
http://sdg.ncsa.uiuc.edu/~mag/Misc/37.html
-- Tom Magliery <mag@ncsa.uiuc.edu> (August 1995)
Word lists
----------
martin@cheam.demon.co.uk (Martin Veasey) wrote:
> Has anyone got any recommendations for a good, unformatted dictionary
> that can be ftp'd for use (with "grep" or similar) for brute force
> searches for word puzzles. As big as possible, please, consistent
> with it being English/American!
i've got a few (and pointers to much more) at
http://sdg.ncsa.uiuc.edu/~mag/Misc/Wordlists.html
-- Tom Magliery <mag@ncsa.uiuc.edu> (November 1995)
Lateral Thinking Forum
----------------------
A new forum on lateral thinking and lateral thinking puzzles has been
started at the Book Cafe at Book Stacks.
Please take a look. We would welcome your contributions.
http://www.books.com/scripts/cafe.exe?sid~aEion0l81rDLvv4
-- Paul Sloane <psloane@mathsoft.co.uk> (September 1996)
Lateral puzzle links from the rec-puzzles.org wiki
--------------------------------------------------
Lateral Puzzles Forum: http://www.lateralpuzzles.com
Destination Innovation: http://destination-innovation.com
Lateral puzzle solutions: http://brainyplanet.com/index.php/Lateral%20Solution
-- wiki user "paul", rec-puzzles.org wiki pages LateralPuzzlesForum,
DestinationInnovation and LateralProblems (January 2006)
[ Editor: each wiki page held only its link; the titles above are the
page names. lateralpuzzles.com and destination-innovation.com are
Paul Sloane's sites, so "paul" is probably the Paul Sloane of the
entry above. ]
Ask Dr. Math
------------
***********************************************
* Ask Dr. Math *
* *
* Have a math question? *
* No problem's too big or too small *
* Want to talk to someone who loves math? *
* Let's do some math together! *
* *
* Write to: *
* dr.math@forum.swarthmore.edu *
***********************************************
If you are a student in elementary, middle, or high school, write to
us! We can't wait to get some really good problems from you. All of
the Ask Dr. Math letters are answered by members of "The Swat Team,"
math students and professors here at Swarthmore College. Ask Dr. Math
is a project of the GEOMETRY FORUM, an NSF-funded program housed at
Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, USA.
-- Stephen Weimar <steve@forum.swarthmore.edu>, Geometry Forum
(http://forum.swarthmore.edu/), November 1994
Cryptology: NSA's OPENDOOR index
--------------------------------
[ Editor: the introduction page of OPENDOOR on the National Security
Agency's web site (http://www.nsa.gov:8080/), undated, converted from
HTML. ]
OPENDOOR -- BIBLIOGRAPHIC INDEX
OPENDOOR is a Bibliographic Index which references NSA's declassified
document releases to NARA, and as such it will continue to grow.
NSA's initial INTERNET offering is an index of 4,923 entries containing
approximately 1.3 million pages of previously classified documents from
the pre-World War I period through the end of World War II, which have
recently been released to the National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA). The collection will be made available to the
public at the NARA Annex in College Park, Maryland.
For the present, the INTERNET viewer may scroll through this index to
determine the location of the entry in which he/she is interested. To
help the researcher become familiar with the format of the index, this
is the way the NSA entries read:
Item Number Box Number Accession Number Date Title
----------- ---------- ---------------- ---- -----
NR1 CBBA11 103A 19431209 GERMAN PRACTICE TRAFFIC ...
We understand that while NARA will assign its own identification tags
to each file in the collection, they plan to retain the NSA Box Number
and Accession Number for cross reference. Researchers should be aware
of two things: first, the index is not arranged in date order, and
second, each entry may contain either a single page or many pages.
[Links: Begin Searching the Index Now (narafindaid.html); Return to
Declassification Home Page (index.html); Return to the National
Security Agency Home Page]
Physics: the Usenet Relativity FAQ
----------------------------------
[ Editor: the index page of the Usenet Relativity FAQ, version date 17
May 1998, converted from HTML; it answers several physics puzzles
(the barn and the pole, the twin paradox, Bell's spaceship paradox,
the superluminal scissors, Olbers' paradox). The file names of the
linked articles are given in brackets. ]
Usenet Relativity FAQ
This is the web version of the Usenet Relativity FAQ (Frequently Asked
Questions). Its purpose is to provide good answers to questions which
have been discussed often in sci.physics.relativity and related usenet
newsgroups. The articles in this FAQ are based on those discussions
and on information from good reference sources. That does not mean
that they are always perfect and complete. If you have corrections,
updates or additional points to make please send E-mail to me, the
editor, Philip Gibbs at relfaq@weburbia.com. You can also raise the
subject in the newsgroups if you really think you have something new to
say. If you want to write up an article following a discussion about a
subject not yet covered here then feel free to send it to me, but
please do not use this address to ask new questions. Ask them in the
appropriate newsgroup instead.
If you are new to this newsgroup, please read "Welcome! to
sci.physics.relativity" [relativity-welcome.txt] and "An Introduction
to the Physics Newsgroups" [newsgroups.html]. They will help you find
the right newsgroup for your questions and will give you other crucial
advice about appropriate netiquette for these groups. Above all you
should check carefully to see if your questions are answered in this
FAQ before posting.
This FAQ was originally part of the Physics FAQ [faq.html] which was
created by Scott I. Chase in 1992. The web version was created,
maintained and enlarged by Michael Weiss. The present editor is Philip
Gibbs. Others who have written for the FAQ are credited at the top of
the items they submitted while many more who have made smaller
contributions have been thanked privately.
This FAQ is currently available at these web sites:
USA:
http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/relativity.html
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~physics/sci.physics/faq/relativity.html
http://www.weburbia.com/physics/relativity.html
UK:
http://hepweb.rl.ac.uk/ppUK/PhysFAQ/relativity.html
http://www.weburbia.demon.co.uk/physics/relativity.html
Netherlands:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~johanw/PhysFAQ/relativity.html
Germany:
http://www.desy.de/user/projects/Physics/relativity.html
Australia:
http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/physoc/physics_faq/relativity.html
Taiwan:
http://www.phy.ncku.edu.tw/mirrors/physicsfaq/relativity.html
Thanks go to John Baez, Alan Cairns, Dave Edsall, Chung-rui Kao, Matthew
Parry, Jon Butterworth, Harald Falkenberg, Johan Wevers and the various
organisations for hosting us! If any other non-commercial sites would
like to mirror this FAQ in countries not listed above, please contact
pg@pobox.com.
The full Physics and Relativity FAQ in HTML form can be downloaded as a
single large archive file by FTP from ftp://ftp.weburbia.com/. You can
install it on your local disk and view it from there with a suitable
web browser.
This document is copyright. Please read the copyright notice
[copyright.html] for copyright details and archival information.
Index of Subjects
Administrivia and Reference
- An Introduction to the Physics Newsgroups [newsgroups.html]
- The Care and Feeding of Kill Files [killfiles.html]
- Useful Physics Resources on the Web [web_resources.html]
- Notation and Abbreviations used in the FAQ and newsgroups
[notation.html]
- A Physics Booklist [booklist.html]
Speed of Light
- New: Why is c the symbol for the speed of light? [c.html]
- Is the speed of light constant? [speed_of_light.html]
- New: How is the speed of light measured? [measure_c.html]
- New: Why is the speed of light so high? [fast_light.html]
- Is there an equivalent of the sonic boom for light?
[cherenkov.html]
- Is it possible to go faster than light? [FTL.html]
- I am going at the speed of light and I turn on my headlights...?
[headlights.html]
Special Relativity
- How do You Add Velocities in Special Relativity? [velocity.html]
- New: Does a Clock's Acceleration Affect its Timing Rate?
[clock.html]
- Can Special Relativity Handle Acceleration? [acceleration.html]
- Updated: What are the Equations for the Relativistic Rocket?
[rocket.html]
- The Barn and the Pole [barn_pole.html]
- The Twin Paradox [twin_paradox.html]
- The Superluminal Scissors [scissors.html]
- Updated: Can You See the Lorentz-Fitzgerald Contraction?
[penrose.html]
- The Rigid Rotating Disk in Relativity [rigid_disk.html]
- Relativity in Chemistry: The Color of Gold [gold_color.html]
- Bell's Spaceship Paradox [spaceship_puzzle.html]
- Apparent Superluminal Velocity of Galaxies [superluminal.html]
- Updated: Does mass change with velocity? [mass.html]
- Does light have mass? [light_mass.html]
- New: What is the experimental basis of special relativity?
[experiments.html]
General Relativity and Cosmology
- New: What Causes Gravity? [gravity.html]
- Is pi Constant in Relativity? [pi.html]
- What is Gravitational Radiation? [grav_radiation.html]
- Updated: Does Gravity Travel at the Speed of Light?
[grav_speed.html]
- Is Energy Conserved in General Relativity? [energy_gr.html]
- Olbers' Paradox [olber.html]
- What is Dark Matter? [dark_matter.html]
- Do Atoms Get Bigger as the Universe Expands?
[expanding_universe.html]
- What Causes the Hubble Redshift? [hubble.html]
- New: Where is the centre of the universe? [centre.html]
- Mercury's Orbital Precession [mercury_orbit.html]
- Time Travel - Fact or Fiction? [time_travel.html]
Black Holes
- What is a black hole, really? [black_holes.html]
- How does the gravity get out of the black hole?
[black_gravity.html]
- What happens to you if you fall into a black hole? [fall_in.html]
- If you go too fast do you become a black hole? [black_fast.html]
- What is Hawking Radiation? [hawking.html]
- The Black Hole Information Loss Problem [info_loss.html]
- Is the Big Bang a Black Hole? [universe.html]
If you do not find your question answered here you may find it in one
of these related FAQs.
- Physics FAQ [faq.html]
- sci.astro FAQ
http://astrosun.tn.cornell.edu/students/lazio/sci.astro.html
- Space FAQ http://www.faqs.org/faqs/space/
- Jason Hinson's Relativity and FTL Travel FAQ
http://www.physics.purdue.edu/~hinson/ftl/html/FTL_intro.html
- Ted Bunn's Black Holes FAQ http://physics7.berkeley.edu/BHfaq.html
- Ned Wright's Cosmology FAQ
http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/cosmology_faq.html
- Douglas Scott's Cosmic Microwave Background FAQ
http://www.astro.ubc.ca/people/scott/faq_basic.html
- Sten Odenwald's Ask The Astronomer
http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/astro/qanda.html
- John Simonetti's Astronomy and Physics FAQ
http://www.phys.vt.edu/~astrophy/faq/
- Chris Hillman's Relativity on the WWW
http://math.washington.edu/~hillman/relativity.html
- Wayne Throop's Relativity http://sheol.org/throopw/#rel
- Scientific American's Ask The Experts (Astronomy)
http://www.sciam.com/askexpert/astronomy/index.html
-- Philip Gibbs, editor, Usenet Relativity FAQ (17 May 1998)
[ Editor: further announcements of 1995-1997 (batch 29); the headings
are the editor's and the addresses are as posted then. ]
AEnigmatica: multimedia crosswords, rebuses, quizzes
----------------------------------------------------
http://www.aenigmatica.it/english
A gymnasium for your brain
AEnigmatica is the meeting place on the Internet for everyone who loves
games, culture, humor: drop by to see us often, you'll always find some
new mental stimulation! We are the first site with multimedia
crosswords, rebuses, picture games, quizzes, etc. Explore our WEB
server: it's the best way to train your brain!
-- Enrico Gasperini <enrico.gasperini@inferentia.it> (May 1996)
Contests and prizes
-------------------
found easy competition at http://www.klippo.se
-- Alfred Gerum <alfred.gerum@mailbox.swipnet.se> (January 1996)
Tower of Hanoi: Multipeg Towers of Hanoi (Java)
-----------------------------------------------
Just'd like to let you know that I have recently completed an on-line
game on Multipeg Towers of Hanoi. It is more enjoyable and more
challenging than the classic Towers of Hanoi puzzle.
GAME URL: http://www.cs.latrobe.edu.au/cgi-bin/lu/javahanoi.cgi
You need a Java-enabled browser, to play the game. Enjoy playing!
-- Xue-Miao (Samuel) Lu <lu@latcs1.cs.latrobe.edu.au> (June 1997)
Spatial puzzles: ImIsion
------------------------
[ Editor: the full announcement, November 1995 ("Image + Vision =
ImIsion - Spatial intellect puzzles/FREE"). ]
The ImIsion Series consists of ImIsion 369, puzzles based on derivative
shapes of the 30/60/90 triangle, and ImIsion 449, puzzles based on the
tangram. Each game include 4 puzzles. Each level of ImIsion puzzles
includes 51 puzzles at a cost of $4.00 per level. ImIsion includes
various software tools and strategies to assist in construction
techniques. The software is free, located at:
http://www.mindspring.com/~decgraph/home.html
Software tools make ImIsion unique. The tools are included to
eliminate the trial-and-error guessing inherent in other tangram
related puzzles. They include lockable vertical and horizontal
measuring rulers (that move in proportion to the puzzle and puzzle
pieces), puzzle pieces that contain information relating them to each
other and to each puzzle itself, and an outline. Other tangram related
games give the player multiple pieces and few tools, ImIsion provides
multiple tools and few pieces. The ImIsion design eliminates
trial-and-error thinking while utilizing and passively developing the
player's spatial reasoning and analytical thinking skills.
The Imision Series is designed to inconspicuously develop the intellect
through engagement. Imision attempts to eliminate trial-and-error
reasoning of similar puzzle games (by providing software tools) and
replace it with planning, imaging and goal setting (see the literature
Discourse on ImIsion located at the DG Website). The tools value stems
from their ability to change as the user improves in creative ability.
Through use of ImIsion strategies, ImIsion engages and develops the
analytical and creative senses (i.e. spatial reasoning, lateral
thinking, critical thinking, aesthetic perception, imagination,
imaging, foresight, sense of proportion). The user may begin at any
level then, using the tools, may tailor the ImIsion environment to best
suit his/her needs. ImIsion offers successive levels of difficulty for
those who become addicted (Level 2 - Solids, Level 3 - Abstracts,
etc.). Additional ImIsion files may be obtained for free at the
Decision Graphics Website address below.
The ImIsion Series Retail and Shareware versions are now in release
with version 3.0 for Windows and Macintosh. Aside from running faster
the ImIsion Series is improved in the ways listed below. In addition,
Decision Graphics is offering the retail version of ImIsion at a
special price sent to you in the retail box suitable for gift giving.
For more information read "giftoffr.wri" included in the Windows
shareware version or "Gift Offer" included in the Macintosh shareware
version.
The ImIsion v3.0 shareware version can be obtained for FREE at the
Decision Graphics website:
http://www.mindspring.com/~decgraph/home.html
-- Decision Graphics <decgraph@dylan.mindspring.com>
[ Editor: the list of improvements referred to above is not in the
posting. ]
Palindromes: Arshad's Palindrome Page
-------------------------------------
[ Editor: the text of the Web page, converted from HTML; link targets
are given in parentheses. ]
Arshad's Palindrome Page
Under Heavy Construction
If you want to add a palindrome to my database, type it in here.
Punctuate and capitalize as you want it to appear. The palindrome will
be automatically checked before it is entered. The maximum length is
1000 characters. If you have a (good) palindrome longer than this,
please email me! (at11@cornell.edu)
[ Editor: an entry form, checking at
http://www2.englib.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/palcheck ]
Or just jump to my list of recently added palindromes
(http://www2.englib.cornell.edu/~at11/new_pals).
Other Palindrome Resources:
* The Longest Palindrome (French) - 1247 word long palindrome by
Georges Perec (palindrome.html). Text only version
(palindrome.txt).
* NEW! Leo's Palindrome Page in Austria
(http://www.cosy.sbg.ac.at/~leo/palindrom/) - this has over 1000
english and over 1000 German Palindromes, and more are coming!
* Download my current file of 480 palindromes (pals). - This is a
compilation of most of the unique palindromes I collected by
visiting other palindrome sites, so should be pretty comprehensive.
* Palindromes (http://www.infi.net/~rvance/plndrome.html) - An
excellent palindrome site. You can enter your own palindromes,
palindrome art, word-palindromes, etc.
* The Palindrome Page
(http://www2.ecst.csuchico.edu/~beej/palindromes.html) - Another
palindrome page at the Univ. of Ohio.
* A large gopher palindrome site
(gopher://wiretap.spies.com:70/00/Library/Article/Language/palindro.txt),
part of the Guides to Various Languages page
(gopher://wiretap.spies.com:70/11/Library/Article/Language/).
If you have further language interests, try my resources page
(resources.html#language).
-- Arshad Tayyeb <at11@cornell.edu>
[ Editor: the relative links are relative to the page's address, which
is not in the saved copy; the Perec page is
http://www2.englib.cornell.edu/~at11/palindrome.html (as listed in
"LEOs Palindrome Collection", elsewhere in this entry). ]
Word puzzles: The Puzzle Post (PUNZZLES and cryptic crosswords)
---------------------------------------------------------------
We invite you to try our interesting PUNZZLES, which are word puzzles
clued via spatial and positional arrangement. We are offering a
selection of fine puzzle software, books, and board games to the
winner of the challenging PUNZZLES contest. They may be found at:
http://iquest.com/~pinnacle/books/punzzle1.shtml
Also, Caspian and The Puzzle Post are pleased to announce the addition
of a new "guest cryptic crossword writer" page. We have opened with
cryptic crosswords from two guest writers:
Pat Jordan; and
Philph, an English crossword setter.
Please visit The Puzzle Post to find these fine puzzles, as well as
Caspian's regular weekly cryptic crossword puzzle, and an archive of
other non-cryptics. Click on "Cryptics" on the main menu at URL
http://iquest.com/~pinnacle/index.shtml.
Happy Puzzling!
-- Scott Gilley <pinnacle@iquest.com> (October 1995)
Chess retrograde analysis: The Retro Corner
-------------------------------------------
My (still incomplete) W3 page for retros, called "The Retro Corner" is
located at
http://cosmos.imag.fr/CONCUR/phs/Retros/RetroCorner.html
You can advertize it in the puzzle FAQs and W3 pages. Also, any kind
of advice will be welcome !
-- Philippe Schnoebelen <Philippe.Schnoebelen@imag.fr> (March 1995, mail
to Chris Cole)
Mazes: Java Diamond Maze
------------------------
[ Editor: the text of the Web page "Java Diamond Maze" by Russell
Sasamori (One Gram Software), dated 1/2/96 in its source. ]
Diamond Maze
This program draws rotationally symmetrical mazes shaped like a
diamond. Click on 'Small', 'Medium', or 'Large'. A
partially-constructed maze will appear. Continue to click on the same
button until the maze reaches the desired complexity or fills up
completely. Every maze has one and only one solution. Click on
'Clear' to start a new maze. Return to One Gram Software Homepage
(/~puzzle/welcome.htm).
[ Editor: a Java applet, DiaMaze.class, follows on the page; "Sorry,
you must use a Java-enabled Web Browser to view the maze." ]
[ Editor: further pointers posted in 1995. The addresses are as posted
then and many will no longer work. ]
The Beale ciphers
-----------------
There is a WWW-Page about the Beale Ciphers at
http://www.ruhr.de/home/zaphod/beale.html
It would be great if you could have a look and maybe send me some
comments...
-- Patrick Halke <patrick@zaphod.ruhr.de>, August 1995
Words within words
------------------
In article <46hb11$5ul@earth.superlink.net>, waltswan@mars.superlink.net
(waltswan) wrote:
> I am looking for a program that finds all words contained within another.
>
> Example: Please help me.
>
> 1) Shame 2) Palm 3) sheep ....
http://sdg.ncsa.uiuc.edu/~mag/cgi-bin/findwords/findwords.html
-- Tom Magliery <mag@ncsa.uiuc.edu>, October 1995
Puzzles playable in a web browser
---------------------------------
Some of you may be interested in this. Blueberry Design's Web site,
http://www.blueberry.co.uk/
includes a number of puzzles (Rubik's cube and so on) that can be played
from within your web browser. There's no fee to access these (or any
other part of the site) so we're not out to get your money.
Hope some of you find them fun. More information can be found at the
site (obviously) or in the announcement in
comp.infosystems.www.announce.
-- Blueberry WebMaster <WebMaster@blueberry.co.uk>, October 1995
Anagram software: Wordplay
--------------------------
In article <3kat90$bgq@hprcl192.mayfield.hp.com>,
Jan Allbright <jallbrig@mayfield.hp.com> wrote:
>Marianne Barrier (lastname.firstname@epamail.epa.gov) wrote:
>: Does anyone know of a software that can make anagrams like this?
>: It seems like it would be fairly simple to program. . .
>
>Try WORDPLAY....
> available at FTP sites all over the world....
The Wordplay 7.20 program is available at marvin.cs.uah.edu,
pub/wordplay, and now is available on the WWW. Check out my home page:
http://cs.uah.edu/~criswell
Click "Wordplay Anagram Program", then you should be able to download
whichever version you want by clicking the filename.
-- Evans A Criswell <criswell@cs.uah.edu> (author of Wordplay),
March 1995
[ Editor: further announcements and pages, 1994-1997; the addresses
date from then and many are probably no longer valid. ]
Interactive word puzzle by Andrew Plotkin
-----------------------------------------
I have made one of my old puzzles accessible to the Internet via
WorldWideWeb. It's not very describable -- partially word puzzles,
partially other stuff. Feel free to try it.
The URL is
http://orac.andrew.cmu.edu:5823/pra5
You'll need a Web client which supports fill-out forms, such as NCSA
Mosaic 2.0 or higher. Display of graphic images is *not* necessary.
I tested the server as well as I could, but it may still have some
bugs. Please report any problems. Or anything else.
-- Andrew C. Plotkin <ap1i+@andrew.cmu.edu>, February 1994
Daniel Ritter's puzzle page
---------------------------
Check out my puzzle-page at
http://sunserver1.rz.uni-duesseldorf.de/~ritterd
-- Daniel Ritter <ritterd@uni-duesseldorf.de>, May 1995
Think & Derive: a Mensa puzzle column
-------------------------------------
Think & Derive is my monthly puzzle column for Central New Jersey
Mensa's _Forvm_. To view the latest column and numerous back issues
link over to <http://www.webcom.com/~clong/mensa/forvm_columns.html>.
There is also a form on this page to submit answers to me directly from
your browser.
-- Chris Long <clong@cnj.digex.net>, July 1995,
http://www.webcom.com/~clong
Motion Madness (logic and puzzle game for Windows)
--------------------------------------------------
I have written a puzzle/game using Visual Basic 3.0 for Windows. I
would appreciate anyone that would like to try it out and give me their
comments. It's a logic and puzzle game called Motion Madness. It
should be right up this newsgroup's alley. My Web page can be found at
http://www.infi.net/~rolandc/.
-- Roland Curit <rolandc@norfolk.infi.net>, February 1996
[ Editor: his later announcement (November 1996) is also in this
entry. ]
Math problem directory (olympiads and other contests)
------------------------------------------------------
[ Editor: Kiran Kedlaya's "Math Problem Directory" page, last updated
14 August 1997, converted from HTML; each link is given after its
text. Links relative to the page are given as file names only. ]
This directory attempts to catalog sources of information about
mathematical problem-solving on the WWW. We limit our attention to
long-answer problems of the type found on Olympiad-type contests or in
problem sections of math journals (so no short-answer contests, and no
research problems).
CONTESTS
International Mathematical Olympiad
The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is an international
competition for pre-college students held every July. Up to six
participants from each country, selected using national olympiad-type
exams (see below), attempt to solve 6 problems in 2 sessions of 4.5
hours. The top scorers are honored with gold, silver and bronze
medals.
The following list catalogs just some of the vast amount of IMO
information available on the WWW.
- The following IMOs have their own home pages:
1997 IMO (Mar del Plata, Argentina): http://www.oma.org.ar/imo/
1996 IMO (Mumbai, India): http://math.iisc.ernet.in/~imo/imo.html
1995 IMO (Toronto, Canada): http://camel.cecm.sfu.ca/IMO/IMO.html
- The Canadian Mathematical Society
(http://www.camel.math.ca/Olympiads/) has information about several
recent IMOs and other national olympiads.
- Kiran Kedlaya (that's me) has the IMO problems from 1991 to 1997 in
LaTeX format: http://www.math.princeton.edu/~kkedlaya/competitions.html
- Naomasa Maruyama (http://www.fujitsu.co.jp/math_olympiad/) has
information about the IMOs from 1994 onward.
- Tom Verhoeff (http://www.win.tue.nl/win/ioi/imo) (who also
maintains the IOI home page mentioned below) keeps a comprehensive
directory of Olympiad information on the WWW.
- Hans Vernaeve (http://studwww.rug.ac.be/~hvernaev/olympiad.html)
has collected problem files from various Olympiad sites. I'm not
all that keen on this practice, but it does preserve access to
files from some sites which have become defunct.
National Math Olympiads
Most nations that participate in the International Mathematical
Olympiad have some sort of IMO-style exam of their own as a qualifier
for the IMO. The links below lead to olympiad resources for the
indicated countries or groups. (I have explicitly marked pages not in
English.)
- Asian Pacific (in English/French; unofficial):
http://camel.math.ca/CMS/Olympiads/Competitions/apmo.html
- Australia (no problems): http://www.amt.canberra.edu.au/AMTAMOC.html
- Belgium (in English/Dutch): http://www.kulak.ac.be/vwo/uk/vwowwwuk.html
- Canada (in English/French): http://camel.math.ca/CMS/Olympiads/body.html
- Colombia (in Spanish): http://fuantitan.uanarino.edu.co/olimpia/index.htm
- Estonia (in Estonian): http://www.math.ut.ee/olympiaadid/index.html
- Germany (in German): http://neptun.math.uni-rostock.de/WWW/mo.html
- Iberoamerican (in Spanish): http://www.oei.es/oim
- Ireland: http://www.ul.ie/~maths/imo.htm
- Italy (in Italian): http://olimpiadi.sns.it/olimpiadi
- Japan (carries several recent IMO's in many languages):
http://www.fujitsu.co.jp/math_olympiad
- Mexico (unofficial): http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/5908
- Netherlands (in English/Dutch; problems in Dutch only):
http://www.win.tue.nl/nwo/nwo-e.html
- Norway: http://www.math.uio.no/~abelk/index.html
- Peru (in English/Spanish): http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/7174/
- Poland: http://hydra.mimuw.edu.pl/~chel/Olimp/olympiads.html
- Singapore: http://www.math.nus.sg/~matchua/simo.html (also an
unofficial site, http://home1.pacific.net.sg/~slwee/simo/; neither
has problems)
- Slovenia: http://www.fmf.uni-lj.si/~mathcomp/
- South Africa: http://leibniz.mth.uct.ac.za/~ian/imo.html
- Spain (in Spanish): http://sylow.algebr.uv.es/ramon/olimpiada/
- Sweden: http://www.math.chalmers.se/~sam/skolornas/
- USA: http://www.unl.edu/amc (for problems, see the unofficial site,
http://www.math.princeton.edu/~kkedlaya/competitions.html)
Other Contests
- The 15th Korean Undergraduate Math Competition (korean-ug15.txt),
from the USENET group sci.math.
- The home page of the Mandelbrot competition: http://www.mandelbrot.org
- Regarding the Putnam exam (a North American undergraduate contest),
see my contests archive:
http://www.math.princeton.edu/~kkedlaya/competitions.html
- Samanyolu College (http://www.bi.net.tr/~osk/imc/imc.html) hosts an
international contest for high school students, to be held in
Ankara, Turkey.
- Douglas Zare (http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~zare/) is running an
undergraduate math competition over the Internet.
- Thanks to Andreas Blass (via Bill Correll), I have several years of
the University of Michigan Undergraduate Mathematics Competition
(UMUMC) in Plain TeX:
?th UMUMC (unknown year) (umichx.tex)
12th UMUMC (1995) (umich12.tex)
13th UMUMC (1996) (umich13.tex)
14th UMUMC (1997) with results (umich97)
OTHER PROBLEM SOURCES
Publications
- Crux Mathematicorum: http://camel.cecm.sfu.ca/CMS/CRUX/
- Kömal: http://www.math.elte.hu/komal/index.e.html
Miscellaneous
- A comprehensive directory of math problem sources is kept by
MathPro Press (http://www.mathpro.com/math/). They also publish a
number of problem books.
- Vladimir Pertsel has compiled the problems of the All-Soviet-Union
Olympiad for the years 1961-1986:
http://mail.sagantec.co.il/people/voldemar/RusMath.html
- Naoki Sato (http://www.math.yale.edu/users/sato/comp.html) has a
math competitions page covering, among other things, the Canadian
Mathematical Olympiad and the Asian Pacific Mathematical Olympiad.
RELATED SUBJECTS
I don't actively maintain this directory for related subjects, but
here are a few links I have found useful or interesting.
Programming Contests
- The definitive catalog of programming problems on the WWW is the
tasks archive of Daniel Marx: http://www.inf.bme.hu/contests/tasks
- The ACM international collegiate programming competition:
http://www.acm.org/contest/ (I was there in 1995 and 1996.)
- The Duke Internet Programming Contest
(http://www.cs.duke.edu/~ola/ipc.html), based on the ACM contest but
held over the Internet.
- A home page for the International Olympiad in Informatics:
http://www.win.tue.nl/win/ioi/ Also contains information on other
science Olympiads, including the IMO.
Physics Contests
- The Boston Area Undergraduate Physics Competition
(http://hutrough.harvard.edu/penanen/competition/) was held April
26, 1997 at Harvard, Princeton, Berkeley and Caltech. (Exercise:
come up with appropriate readings of the acronym "BAUPC" for each
school.)
- Tom Verhoeff (http://www.win.tue.nl/win/ioi/ipho) has a few links
concerning the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO).
- Tore Skaug maintains a 1994 International Physics Olympiad home
page: http://www.pvv.unit.no/~toresk/IPhO94/IPhO94.html
-- Kiran S. Kedlaya <kkedlaya@math.princeton.edu>,
http://www.math.princeton.edu/~kkedlaya/
Cryptology: the OPENDOOR index listing
--------------------------------------
[ Editor: the listing page ("Database Listing", OPENDOOR INDEX) that the
OPENDOOR introduction above links to as "Begin Searching the Index
Now", from the National Security Agency's web site
(http://www.nsa.gov:8080/), undated, converted from HTML. Its header
follows. ]
We've received queries from customers on "high interest" items. The
following are those items:
MEXICAN CODES AND CIPHERS CIRCA 1916: Box # ZEMA 59 Accession # 8086A
ACTIVITIES OF THE RADIO INTELLIGENCE SECTION
DURING THE MEUSE-ARGONNE CAMPAIGN: Box # CBDJ14 Accession # 4409A
THE ZIMMERMAN TELEGRAM: Box # CBLI66 Accession # 4263
JAPANESE SUSPICIONS THAT OTHER
COUNTRIES WERE READING THEIR CODES
IN 1940: Box # CBLI54 Accession # 1224A
THE CODETALKERS: Box # CBMI52 Accession # 34744A
A sample listing is provided below for a better understanding of each
column:
Item # Box # Accn# Date Title
NR1 CBBA11 103A 19431209 GERMAN PRACTICE TRAFFIC ...
[ Editor: the index itself follows on the page: 4,923 entries, NR 1
(CBBA11 102A 19400000 3 LETTER CODE, TYPED COPY OF CAPTURED DOCUMENT)
to NR 4923 (ZEMA99 45438A 19420000 CODES AND CIPHERS: ARGENTINA AR-29
ENCODE AND DECODE.), each giving item number, box, accession number,
date (YYYYMMDD, zeros where unknown) and title. The full listing is
the entry cryptology/opendoor.index. ]