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This page gathers all puzzles presented at
Puzzles.COM, which are either created by Martin Gardner or made after
some of his puzzle ideas. |
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Find the Center |
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by
Martin Gardner |
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See how several bows inside a circle make you stuck in the illusion about
where the true center of this circle is. Can you get out of it with the
help of your eyes only? |
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Red, White, and Blue Balls |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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It's known there is one heavier ball in each of the three pairs. Now the
object is using a balance scale in just two weighings to determine the
light and the heavy balls in each pair... |
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Fish's Weight |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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This classic puzzle gem easy shows that sometimes it can be not very easy
to understand how much a simple half of a whole is. |
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Heavy Weight |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Two weighings are required to identify the heavier thing among the four
identical ones. Two weighings are required for the nine things as well.
But how on it in the latter case?.. |
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Big Cross-Out Swindle |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Cross out something in a line of letters to get another something. Of
course, you will be provided with both "something" - the point is to get
them right. |
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Key Word |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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When the four arrows on the four keys are replaced with some respective
letters on them, a very familiar word can be typed with those keys. What
word it could be? |
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What Animal? |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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A set of five different letters can be arranged in such a way that to
produce the name of an animal. Now the first question that might appear
what familiar animal should it be? |
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Fill-in-Words |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Complete six three-letter words with the missing middle letters in them so
that except these words a new six-letter word which would be a name of a
sea animal could appear. |
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Shortest Connection |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Suppose you have to build a railroad network between four cities placed in
the corners of a perfect square. What pattern must you choose to minimize
it? |
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Six Numbers |
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by
Martin Gardner |
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Solving this puzzle you can circle with a feeling that you're one step
before your goal or... one step behind. Is there any kind of joke to get
exactly on it? |
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Up to 100 |
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by
Henry E. Dudeney and
Martin Gardner |
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Digits 1 through 9 stand in a row in ascending order. Just insert a number
of pluses and minuses between them and get 100. And what about the
descending order? |
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Darts Count |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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How many darts will you need to toss and which rings with numbers will you
need to target in order to score exactly 100? Before scoring this number
you can try to score the 50 first. |
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Cube Dates |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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It is said that two cubes with twelve digits on their faces are enough to
produce any date of year from them. Can you discover how the digits should
be placed on the cubes? |
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Crazy Cut |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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The only cut has to be done to divide this strange figure into two
identical parts. The question is where it should go through? |
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Crazy Cut Suite |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Four shapes. It is said each of them can be divided into two identical
pieces. The goal is to find the proper positions for the dividing cuts.
How complicated the dissection challenges can be? |
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The Triamond |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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A trapezoid which is formed by joining three equilateral triangles is
called a triamond. The triamond can be cut into four congruent parts. But
it is said there are two different ways to do that. Check it! |
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Six Cubes |
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by
Martin Gardner |
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Is there any successful way to arrange six identical cubes into some shape
so that every cube in the shape will get in touch with others? |
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Cube Angle |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Two lines are drawn on the two
sides of a cube. They are drawn form the same corner and the question is
which angle do these lines form? How to figure that out? |
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Square Intersection |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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This geometrical problem is about an elegant and neat way how to figure
out the exact area of the overlapping of two squares. Don't you want to
discover this way by yourself? |
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Rectangle Around |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Figure out the diagonal of a
rectangle when it is inscribed in the quadrant of a circle. How long, do
you think, it will take you to get the right answer to this geometrical
question? |
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Rays Through the Squares |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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The three rays that come through the three squares create the three angles. A
proof is required to be found that the sum of two angles equals the third
one. |
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Hexagon Inside the Cube |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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It is quite easy to get the cross sections in form of a square or a
regular triangle from a cube. Is it so easy to get the cross section of a
regular hexagon from the same cube? |
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Outside the Hole |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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A disk of certain diameter is removed from a piece of paper creating a
circle hole in it. The goal is to calculate the area which still remained
around the hole. |
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The Earth Belt |
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by
Martin Gardner |
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Imagine a steel belt is stretched tightly around a big planet. What things
can be possibly slipped under the belt, if a meter of steel added to the
belt raises it off the sphere's surface by the same distance all the way
around? |
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A Bottle and a Cork |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Is it difficult to figure out the exact costs of two things when you know
their total cost and a difference only? Don't let the figures mislead you
while counting. |
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The Mutilated Chessboard |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Another classic puzzle gem that should bring you an "aha!" no matter, if
you solve it by yourself or go right to the solution page. Enjoy the
beauty of the logical proof! |
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Colored Names & Hair |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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The last names of Merle White, Leslie Black and Jean Brown don't match the
colors of their hair. From a little conversation between them can you
determine the color of Leslie Black's hair? |
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Bugs' Traffic |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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The four bugs standing in the corners of a square start to crawl one
toward each other. Here comes the question: How far does each bug travel
before they all meet? |
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Cube Cuts |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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It is said a cube can be easily cut into 27 smaller cubes with six straight cuts. Can
this number of necessary cuts be reduced by arranging the pieces after
each cut? |
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In 'n' Out |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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How to guess whether a certain region is inside a closed curve or outside
it when a part of the curve is not visible? Is there any clear and simple
method to do this? |
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How Old is the Rose-Red City? |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Read through five lines expressed in verse and try to come up with an
exact age of the Rose-Red city. Be careful and accurate while calculating
in order to avoid any mistake. |
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Next Symbol |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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It seems a sequence of five odd symbols can be proceeded. Will you need
the sixth sense to figure out the sixth symbol? |
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The Two Spirals |
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by
Martin Gardner |
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Two almost similar spirals... One of them consists of a single piece of
rope, while the other is formed with two separate pieces of rope. The
question is which is which? |
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Name the Month |
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by
Martin Gardner |
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It is said this set of strange symbols stands for a month. What should
be the possible approach to break this "code" down and thus, decipher
what month it can be? Will it be a forthright approach or more
complicated? |
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The Rule |
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by
Martin Gardner |
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It is known there is a rule connecting different patterns in each given
row of their array. The challenge is to figure out what is the rule and
then properly applying it complete the last row of them. |
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Counting the Squares |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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There are several squares of different sizes hidden in a simple shape. You
goal is just to identify the exact number of them, not overlooking even a
little single square. |
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The Twiddled Bolts |
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by
Martin Gardner |
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When two identical bolts are placed together so that their helical grooves intermesh, what it is supposed to happen when the bolts are moved around each other in the clockwise direction? |
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Strip to Cube |
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by
Martin Gardner |
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A strip of six squares is not among those hexominoes that can be folded
into a one-unit cube. But it's said the seventh square added to the strip
may help. |
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Square to Cube |
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by
Martin Gardner |
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Cut out some shape from a perfect square, then apply to it some folding
and get... a perfect cube. It's not squaring the circle, but could it be
cubing the square? |
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Unattacked Cells |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Do you believe five chess queens placed on a 5x5 board create a unique
pattern when a maximum number of unattacked vacant cells is left? |
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The Knight's Tour |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Make a knight's tour on a small chess board visiting every cell only once
and then returning to the initial cell. You may start from any cell of the
board. |
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Three Queens |
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by
Martin Gardner |
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Is it possible to place three chess queens on a single non-standard board
so that all vacant cells are attacked? How many ways to do this can you
find? |
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The Knight's Tour 2 |
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by
Martin Gardner |
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A chess knight wants to travel around a 6x6 board making the longest
possible tour without self-crossings of his route. Can you help him to do
it? |
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The Four Queens |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Development of the chess queen theme. This time it's in the little shift
that no queen can attack another - simply let 'em live in peace on a small
chessboard. |
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The 7 Knights Problem |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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It is easy to place 7 chess knights on a 3x3 board. But it becomes a
little bit different when there is a rule to move the knight after you
place it on the board, don't you say? |
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Pentomino Problem |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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The 6x10 rectangle arranged from twelve pentominoes is a base for a 2-in-1
puzzle. First is the dissection challenge. Second is the put-together
problem. Can you solve them both? |
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No More Squares |
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by
Martin Gardner |
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More than two dozens of squares are hidden in a simple 4x4 match square
grid. But less than a dozen matches is required to be removed to destroy
all them for good. |
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Four Stacks |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Tumping over two coins every time rearrange a row of eight coins into four
stacks of two coins each. It can be done in four jumps - just keep
jumping. |
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Coin Distances |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Two distances are associated with three coins. Could you find a certain
position of the coins so that the distances are equal? Is there any way
how the moving coins can distract you from the mission? |
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Crazy Lines |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Sometimes a perspective brought into a picture may bring there a kind of
illusion as well. Make sure the picture will not mislead you while finding
out the truth. |
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Compass in a Watch |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Have you ever known that your watch can be used as quite a good and
reliable compass? There is an easy way how to convert your working
indicator of time into a working indicator of direction. |
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Fold to Turn |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Why does a bill behave so strange to be upright all the way? Maybe it
simply doesn't like to be folded and unfolded? |
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Magic Triangle |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Make a triangle of six pieces. Now simply rearrange the pieces within the
triangle and you get... a rectangular hole in it. How did this happen? |
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Count Trick |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Believe it or not, they say everyone who calculates not too bad makes... a
mistake while sum up these eight numbers. Make sure about it! |
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Three Dice |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Enjoy one mathematical trick based on a fact that the sum of the numbers
on the opposite sides of a die is always seven. |
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Mirror Drawing |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Do you wanna feel like a little child for a moment? Then try to draw a
line, but only in a slightly different..."mirror" way. |
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Falling Box |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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How to make a box of matches fall on one end and stand. Does it really
need some portion of thinking "out of the box"?! |
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Catch or Pass |
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after
Martin Gardner |
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Do you want to see if your friend can catch the postcard when you let it
fall down? |
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Last Updated: September 21, 2011 |
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