![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Puzzles
![]() ![]() ![]() Crosswords, anagrams, jigsaws, or trivia: Whatever your taste in puzzles, you can satisfy it on the Web. Click and drag jigsaw puzzle parts around your browser. Solve a riddle by clicking on elements of a graphic. Some sites let you play on-line, others provide puzzles that you download as shareware or freeware. A few let you order on-line after trying samples, and many provide a combination of these opportunities. We look forward to even greater challenges from the imaginative minds of the puzzle makers.
![]()
Your assignment, if you choose to accept it, is to look at a 3-D stereogram and navigate among several pages, each containing a hidden puzzle. Then move through associated pages until you solve the site's ultimate riddle. At the 3D riDDle, you can play on-line or download the entire riddle to play off-line. Note that the game is designed for Netscape; results may vary with other browsers. We're convinced that the Australian university designers coldly and mercilessly created an addiction to subvert the rest of the world!
Match wits with the on-line sphinx at Riddle du Jour, which offers a new riddle each day, some very challenging. If you're the first to solve a riddle, brainteaser, or other puzzle, you're inducted into The Sphinx Hall of Fame. The site's maintainers are considering giving away prizes. Check it out.
WebPuzzle offers jigsaw puzzles you solve on-line. Once you select puzzles from among six photographic and line-drawing images, you'll see two images: the completed puzzle and another with the pieces in the wrong places. Clicking on a piece causes the remaining squares to move. Getting all the pieces in the correct order is considerably more challenging than it appears! But unless you have high-speed access, begin with one of the simpler line drawings. Repainting the image after each move takes time, so first hone your skills on less graphically complex images.
![]()
If you're into jigsaw puzzles or strategy games, the Web Puzzler is officially a cool place to start, having once been designated Cool Site of the Day. Try your hand at a couple of dozen on-line games here. The types of games appear to change frequently.
The Sphinx is for those who enjoy the mental exercise of word games, math games, and more. Solutions aren't posted until at least five people win. If you're one of them, your name is immortalized next to the challenge. The site's developer encourages contributions of puzzles. Take a deep breath and put on your thinking cap.
The rec.puzzles archive is a good jumping-off point for text-based puzzles in 24 categories, ranging from analysis to geometry and riddles to trivia. It doesn't offer much visual pizzazz, but you're guaranteed a good mental workout. These puzzles will expand your knowledge while you're having plenty of fun.
The Puzzle Post is dedicated to crossword, Scrabble, and other word puzzles and games. You'll find on-line puzzles to solve, opportunities to purchase related books and software, trivia files, information about board games, links to related sites, and even contests to win software and other prizes. You'll also find downloadable shareware puzzles and puzzle-creation software, FAQs, and more.
The A.J. Automation Fractal Puzzle site offers a series of puzzle parts to download and send to your color DeskJet or any Hewlett-Packard black-and-white printer. You print the images, cut them into pieces, then assemble everything into impressive cubes. It's more fun than it sounds.
The home page of syndicate.com proclaims its credo: "Educational stimulation & fun--that's the way it should be!" These folks award prizes to winners of their word and vocabulary puzzle contests. You can also purchase the sponsor's software to help high school and college students write better essays and term papers and prepare for PSAT and SAT exams.
The Island Puzzler offers a variety of puzzles that change at least monthly, including card games, mental puzzles, and a clever interactive, on-line word game. If you like them, jump to the associated bookstore page to order more of the same.
A delightfully offbeat fellow in Japan named Hamano provides crossword puzzles and games for your on-line pleasure. Winners are honored on-line. And though it's not for the faint of heart, you'll see downloadable software here you can use to create your own on-line crossword.
Each week, period.com Puzzles adds a problem to exercise your logic skills. Some are easy, some are considerably more difficult. The graphics are tastefully chosen and rendered, but puzzles that lend themselves to interactive on-line solutions would improve the site considerably. You can solve the puzzles off-line with pencil and paper as easily as on-line, making this site the rough equivalent of a modest booklet of printed puzzles. The benefits of life on-line are not taken advantage of here.
Ben Cheng, a NASA engineer and editor of the problems column of Matematika, offers weekly mathematical and scientific logic challenges definitely targeted at the scientists, mathematicians, and science or math pro wanna-bes among us. Puzzles in the Problem corner appear subsequently in Matematika.
At Puzzle 4x4 Image, you encounter tiles in four rows of four columns that you maneuver on-line to form the intended pattern and win the game. Unfortunately, when we visited this site the game was somewhat buggy, and we found many broken links. Still, if jigsaw puzzles are your thing, you may want to take a quick peek to check the date at the head of the screen. If it's still months old, move on.
![]()
Copyright (c) 1995 Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company is prohibited. Internet Life and the Internet Life logo are trademarks of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. |
![]() QUICK CLICK! 3D riDDle Riddle du Jour WebPuzzle Web Puzzler The Sphinx rec.puzzles archive The Puzzle Post The A.J. Automation Fractal Puzzle syndicate.com The Island Puzzler Hamano period.com Puzzles Problem corner Puzzle 4x4 Image The Joy of Coffee Cyber Cafe The Trojan Room Coffee Machine |