Puzzles

I haven't thought about this in years but I love a jigsaw puzzle.

On my iPhone I do the jigsaw puzzles. It passes time while I'm at the doctors office or just waiting in a long line.

My mom enjoys puzzles. She did a 2000 piece puzzle showing The Basilica in Rome. We glued it and had it framed for her.

It’s beautiful.

Ernst, do you mean jigsaw puzzles, or other kinds?

I have a 1000 piece indoor Christmas scene puzzle. I have only finished about a quarter of it. So much of it is shades of brown that makes it so time consuming. I will eventually finish it, but it's frustrating with the slow pace. I am sure there are many others more proficient at it than me.

I've always loved jigsaw puzzles. I'd always get one for Christmas, and we would spend the day putting it together. Or a few days if it was really complicated. My favorite kind were really popular in the mid-eighties: mystery puzzles. They came with a short story -sometimes about espionage, usually about a murder. Then, in order to solve the mystery you put the puzzle together. The photo on the puzzle box had nothing to do with the actual puzzle, so you were completely on your own. Once assembled, the picture would contain clues to the solution. In one of my favorites, a composer is killed with a bomb that came in a box of flowers. The image in the puzzle contained a charred musical manuscript. It was immediately noticeable that the music wasn't notated correctly (number of beats per measure). When you looked carefully, the rhythm of the notes spelled out the name of the murderer in Morse Code. I think these fell out of fashion at some point, as I haven't seen one in years. I dug one out for a game night with friends from work and it was a big hit.

Here’s a game I enjoyed playing. It only requires a piece of paper and can be played by two, maybe more people.

Each person chooses a secret five letter word. Write it on the top of your paper, but keep it hidden. Then write the alphabet underneath your secret word. You then take turns asking the other person a different five letter word. You each respond by saying how many letters in your secret word, are also in the word just mentioned. It’s usually a good idea to keep track of the words you use.

After a few rounds, you should be able to cross-off a number of the letters of the alphabet that you wrote below your secret word. Eventually, you are left with few enough letters remaining, that you can guess your opponent’s word. The first person to guess the other’s secret word, wins. (You cannot use a word where any character repeats, like “Books”.

For example, you might guess:

“Peach”, and hear back “2”. When it’s your turn again, you guess ”Bench”, and hear back, “1”. so, this tells you that either “P” or ”A” are in your opponent’s word, and not “B” or “N”. Though, it’s possible that both “P” or ”A” are in your opponent’s word, and also one of “B” or “N” as well. So, I’ll guess ”Beans”, and hear back 0.

So, cross off all the letters from Beans on your alphabet. This also means that “P” is in your opponent’s word, and either “C” or “H”. And so forth.

My secret word, here, btw, was “crypt”.

I like cryptograms, acrostics, and cryptic (UK style) crosswords..

I like to solve puzzles for some geocaches and escape rooms.

I like crossword puzzles and those "logic problems" where they give you a list of clues and then a question, and you have to work your way through the clues to deduce the answer.

I also picked up a book of all different kinds of puzzles and brain teasers that is designed for senior citizens to keep their brains strong. It's really fun! They are free at libraries.

My niece loves mazes, so I bought her a book of mazes.

Oh yeah, love the logic problems with the grids. And sudoku. Trying futoshiki but they can be hard.

Crosswords and Sudoku for me (the latter of which I mostly play on planes).

R6 Never heard of the mystery puzzles. Will have to look them up.

They are not puzzles, but I liked the Encyclopedia Brown books as a kid.

Sudoku, cryptic crossword, sum puzzles

I haven't done any jigsaw puzzles in years but I really like puzzle games like the Myst series.

Logic puzzles and Cross Sums -- I loved jigsaw puzzles but they had to be over 1000 pieces so they were very challenging. Now I don't have the room to devote to it. OP, you're very fortunate you have a space to dedicate to puzzles!

[quote]I really like all types of puzzles and have a puzzle table in one of the spare rooms in my house.

Yeah, it's nice you don't take that extra room and rent it out to a poor person to help the housing shortage.

That is a much better use for it

I like to do them on my own. A very soothing and calming way to spend some time.

Yes, R18, it is calming and soothing.

Occasionally, crossword puzzles.

Japanese puzzle boxes. I had some simple ones as a kid. Now I see there are some that are really mind blowingly complex.

I used to love jigsaw puzzles, but haven't done one for a long time, though. Same with crossword puzzles. My big time-waster now is computer mahjong. I have a set of mahjong tiles, as well, and occasionally my partner and I play it. And, speaking of my partner, he has two GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) puzzle books and works on them occasionally. Many of those puzzles make my brain hurt, but he has an analytical way of thinking and solves most of them.

Of course you like puzzles. Do you like knitting and bingo as well Ernst?

I am obsessed with jigsaw puzzles. I listen to msnbc and puzzle.

I do like puzzles but haven’t done one in years. I’ll do them when I’m retired and/or old and have nothing else to do.

R24 Will you marry me?

I bought a wooden puzzle two years ago. It’s a mish mash of shapes interconnected as one piece. They revolve and contort on an inner string. It appeared simple enough to begin with. It’s stayed a fucking mish mash after I threw it on the floor and left it.

R27, OP You rich folk are so lucky to have rooms devoted to puzzles! I barely have space for all my shoes. I envy you.

What are you talking about R28?

How many puzzle rooms does Candy Spelling have in her mansion, while daughter Tori has children sharing bedrooms and has been practically thrown out and living on the street from creditors?

best to have it on the coffee table so that guests have something to fiddle with while chitchatting and having a drink.

Stealth elderfrau thread.

I really like jigsaw puzzles. I typically will get puzzles that are 1000+ pieces for the challenge. When I got married my husband didn’t understand the puzzle craze, now he will suggest we go work on a puzzle (maybe because it sometimes ends in a blowjob, I haven’t asked him). He also is the one that decided I should frame some of the better looking puzzles and hang them. All of our spare rooms are decorated with framed puzzles now, we pick out new ones sometimes that would fit the themes!

In the car (when I’m not driving) and on the airplane I really enjoy sudoku. I don’t get into crosswords too much, but I really haven’t tried to be honest.

I got my first puzzle from a social worker and now I donate all of my complete puzzles to my local foster care agency. A lot of kids out there are just looking for something to do and puzzles are stimulating to the brain and keep kids out of trouble!

Solve this word puzzle, R17 and R28:

OG KCUF FLESRUOY

Do any of you hang out on Sporcle.com? If you don't know it, it's a (free) website devoted entirely to work games, trivia, and puzzles. You can choose from categories (sports, entertainment, history, literature, science, etc.), search for topics or types of game, or play whatever is featured or trending. Most games are timed, though usually crosswords have a "play untimed" feature. You can also challenge others to beat your personal score on a game. I love doing their Sunday crosswords, daily word ladders, and history trivia.

Oh! Players can post comments about the games. It's usually low-key, but every now and then a flame war erupts and I think I'm back here at good old DataLounge!

I'm not who you are referencing R34, but it takes a very simple mind to spell words backwards.

I do genealogical research, and stitching a long-dead family together can be quite a puzzle. There are many rules that are sometimes broken. Rules like, historically, men marry women after the age of 15 at a minimum. The woman assumes the man’s last name. Children follow a marriage, usually. Divorce is uncommon, but early deaths mean many second or more marriages. People die before 100, usually, etc. Then you have to find sources online or in books.

The things that make it hard are that men often name their children after themselves, so sometimes, you can’t determine to which person the information applies.

One tricky thing I once found was that the maiden name of a 4th great grandmother was listed incorrectly on her death certificate. Usually, contemporaneous records are the most reliable, but not in this case.

Another tricky one was when a man married two women in succession who had the same first name. Also, wife #2 was a cousin whose maiden name was the same as her married name. That was confusing.

I once found that the burial crypt in a church held the remains of a member of the Sons of Liberty, and a participant in the Boston Tea Party. His gravesite had been lost, according to a book sold in the gift shop of that very church. I emailed the author of that book with the documentation, so he could correct it for the second edition.

Anyway, there is a lot of application of logic, and field work involving libraries, town halls, churches, and cemeteries. And there are a lot of opportunities to learn something.

R37, my partner is deep into genealogy, and finds that a lot of it is like detective work. His big complaint is what he calls the "liar, liar, pants on fire" types, ancestors who attempt to cover up what they considered "scandalous" behavior at the time, especially births that occurred outside of marriage, and because of their cover-ups make it difficult for researchers to get the true story.

R37 and R38 Have you tried to get information on ancestors outside of the United States and if so were you successful?

I am amazed by this true story, explained below. The Zodiac Killer sent the police a cipher...

[quote] At first no one could break the ciphers. When the ciphers first came to police attention, Navy cryptographers were asked to attempt to break the code, but with no reported success, including the FBI, but finally a high school teacher in California sat down with his wife over the weekend and broke the code. Working at their kitchen table Donald G. and Bettye J. Harden unlock the secrets of the cyphers. They did it deciding that this guy was so egotistical that the first letter is going to be "I". So he plugged in the "I" all the way through. Next he realizes that the word "kill" is going to be in the code so he looks for double symbols coming after the letter "I". So he then plugs in "L" throughout the code. From there and in short order the code comes apart. The code reveals not the killer's name but his motive for killing...

I wonder what happened to these people?

Yes, R38, it’s like a soap opera, as I have learned personal information about people born as early as 1840.

R39, I am currently paying a pro to research my Grandpa from Germany, as I can’t read German. They seem to keep very detailed records there, I have seen. My grandpa had another grandson there who fought in WWI! I’m not ancient, too. I wish my Mom was still alive to learn all this. In the 1980s, she wrote letters there searching for her half sister, but had no luck.

R39 I just noticed your message about ancestors outside of North America. My partner says that there are many sources for European genealogy. He uses Family Search, Ancestry.com, and he's dug up archives for many European areas. I tell him he'd make a good private detective, because he's relentless and committed.

Also, R39, Newspapers.com is valuable. There's a huge collection of information on that site. My partner even found the original coverage of the entire Lizzie Borden trial as it progressed from day to day.

I love a good jigsaw puzzle. We always have one going in our kitchenette at work. They have a strange way of getting people to chat and bond. Sometimes I'm very impressed at how impressive the thing looks when it's finished, although I'd never frame one. I think they're also good for your brain.

My favorites are the ones from the 1920's and earlier. They are not interlocking and the picture is pasted to a piece of wood and then cut out. When doing them if you even bump the table the pieces all spread because there is nothing to hold it together. I had one that was over a thousand pieces and took up an entire card table and then some. It took my friend and me almost 2 weeks to complete. They are by far the most challenging puzzles. I especially like them because they sell for a lot of money. I sold this one about 6 years ago for almost $800.

Thank you R42 and R43. I was adopted by an American family when I was about 2 1/2. My first and last name was legally changed. From what I was told the name on my passport was my birth name.

If you have the cash, the New England Genealogical and Historical Society will do some of your research for you.

They found some letters from ~1810 that explained a lot. The letters were found in a Baltimore flea market, and then were donated to Stamford University in California. It’s odd, because the letters were originally sent to and from Newport RI, and Boston, MA. I’m in Boston where there is a wealth of resources, but I could never have found these letters except through the NEGH Society.

Newspapers.com is great for death notices, in particular. I once found through them that my entire family was sued in the late 19th century. A church wanted to sell their Brooklyn cemetery for housing, and relocate all the bodies. My family didn’t want to agree with that, so they were sued. The suite listed every relative of the long dead family in that cemetery.

There's a brand of jigsaw puzzle that's for the very well off: Stave puzzles. The damn things cost hundreds of dollars but they must really be something. If I had money to throw around I'd get one.

R9 - "I like crossword puzzles and those "logic problems" where they give you a list of clues and then a question, and you have to work your way through the clues to deduce the answer. "

Welcome to the LSAT!

There is a bit of a science to those limited-time school exams.