Puzzle Articles

Anagrams - An anagram is a list of letters that can be formed into a word. While in the past, anagrams have been used as codes, today they make delightful puzzles.

Anagrams

Word Games - There are numerous kinds of puzzles and word games. Crosswords, jigsaws, word searches, the list of puzzles goes on and on. Puzzles provide enjoyment to people of all ages. Thousands of people solve daily crossword puzzles published in their local newspapers.

Word Games

Palindromes - There are many challenging word puzzles. Possibly one of the most difficult to create is a palindrome. A palindrome spells the same word backward as forward. For example, take the word:

RACECAR

Spell it backwards, and you have:

RACECAR

Palindromes are extremely rare, but can be found in everyday words. Some of the simpler palindromes are:

MOM
DAD

How to Help People With Disabilities Participate in GamesX - The golden rule is a guide to most situations in life, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." It is not always easy to put ourselves in another person's shoes and try to understand how we would feel if we were them. However, it is important to do in order to be able to adapt activities to allow for our friends or family with disabilities to participate with us. Naturally humans are social beings, regardless of physical limitation, and even many mental disabilities. Because it can be difficult for others to know how to effectively involve those who have disabilities into regular activities, here are some tips to help get started.

How to Help People With Disabilities Participate in Games

Puzzles Will Help the Advanced Child - Do your children excel in school? Have they mastered the skills of their grades? Should they skip a level? If a child is out-performing other children, should they go forward in their schooling faster? These questions may be hard for a parent to answer.

However, according to child development experts, the answer is usually no. Too often parents are so flattered by their child's advanced skill level that they want to move them through school faster. This idea plays more toward the parent’s sense of “raising their child right” than interest in the child’s well-being in the long term. Unfortunately, quicker is not always better.

Puzzles Will Help the Advanced Child

What are Anagrams? - An anagram is a word, a sentence, or a phrase made by transposing or rearranging the letters of another word or phrase.

What is an Anagram

Top Puzzles and Games in 2007 - The holidays are over but what games and puzzles hold the attention of players and capture all generations?

Best Board Games and Puzzles

Try These Scrabble House Rules - Any family with a Scrabble tradition has doubtless developed their own set of house rules, particularly if that household includes children requiring modifications. House rules can make play more interesting and lively, place an emphasis on learning rather than competition, or simply be used to speed the game up. Below, are some common house rules I’ve heard about or used at home. Each rule adds its own twist to the game. I welcome you to try them!

Try These Scrabble House Rules

Advanced Scrabble Techniques - So you think you are ready to take your Scrabble game to the next level? You are considering membership in a Scrabble club, or entering a local tournament? How do you know if you are ready? You may be the family champion, having mastered the basics, but will your reputation hold up in the competitive arena?

Advanced Scrabble Techniques

Children and Scrabble - Scrabble was a tradition in my family. From the time I could barely see the board from my vantage point at the edge of the table, I witnessed the subtle strategies used by my older brother and sisters at play. I dreamed of the day I was old enough to play—how I'd dazzle them all with my victory! But that day was long in coming. If there’s any game that makes kids feel left out, it’s Scrabble. Because it requires reading, spelling, and vocabulary skills, many parents think Scrabble isn’t for the very young. Think again! Parents these days can easily introduce the game to a child as young as four or five years old. With a little time and effort, they can help children even develop advanced skills that many adults don’t know.

Children and Scrabble

What are Acrostics? - An acrostic is a poem in which the first or last letters of each line vertically form a word, phrase, or sentence. An acrostic that involves the sequential letters of the alphabet is said to be an abecedarius or an abecedarian poem.

What are Acrostics

What are Palindromes? - A palindrome is a sequence of characters which is the same forwards as backwards. A palindrome is a word or phrase which reads the same in both directions. A palindrome is a word or phrase that reads the same forwards or backwards, for example, "noon", wow", "bib". A palindrome is when a word or phrase spells the same thing backwards (all letters reversed) as it does forwards.

What Are Palindromes

Tips to Transform your Scrabble Game - This article will give you five proven tips guaranteed to transform your Scrabble game.  Whether you are a novice to the game, or looking to increase your skill in order to compete in clubs or tournaments, a little practice with these techniques will bring instant results!

Tips to Transform Your Scrabble Game

Understanding IQ - IQ or intelligent quotient is supposed to test intelligence irregardless of age or environment la factors, yet numerous studies show that envirnmaental factors can strongly influence IQ. The concept of intelligence has continued to evolve, despite problems with and misuses of IQ testing.  

Understanding IQ

History of Puzzles - Cardboard puzzles were first introduced in the late 1800's, and were primarily used for children's puzzles. The idea caught on and, until about 1820, jigsaw puzzles remained educational tools. Decades later the popularity of puzzles soared and in the early 1900's, both wooden and cardboard jigsaw puzzles were available. Pastime puzzles were so successful that Parker Brothers stopped making games and devoted its entire factory to puzzle production in 1909.

History of Puzzles

History of Chess - Chess, the game of kings, has its origins appropriately shrouded in mystery.  

The chess board and it's pieces are indicative of medieval life. The six different chess pieces on the board represent a cross section of medieval life with its many ceremonies, grandeur, and wars.  The castle piece on a chess board is the home, or the refuge, just as it was a home in medieval times.  The pawns on the chess board represent serfs, or laborers. The is a bishop in the game of chess, who represents the church.   The king is the tallest piece on the board, and is as well defended on the chessboard as in medieval life.  The king is the most important, but not the most powerful piece in chess.  
History of Chess

Keep Sharp With Puzzles - Many ask what activities they can do to keep their mind sharp. Online games and puzzles are perfect activities to sweep the cobwebs out of your brain. You need to keep your brain cells humming. You can work on creativity with visual art puzzles. You can work on logical thought process through number and letter puzzles. Classic crossword puzzles and a competitive game of scrabble are great places to start.

Keep Sharp With Puzzles

Logical Reasoning - Logical reasoning is an important skill in many areas of life besides criminal cases. Effective logical reasoning plays a key role in engineering when designing machinery, systems, and logistical procedures. Logical reasoning is also present in event planning, finance, and many areas of science. Logic plays a role in nearly every situation through your different choices. The manner in which you proceed through each item affects the entire product.

Logical Reasoning Puzzles

Lateral Thinking Puzzles - Lateral thinking is a way of attacking problems from other angles, as opposed to the more traditional linear and logical ways. Debono uses chess as an example of where logic normally suffices, if the pieces are a given. Lateral thinking, however, acknowledges that in real life we mostly just assume the pieces are given, when really we need to change those pieces or look beyond them for the most useful solutions.

Lateral Thinking Puzzles

All About Mensa - Mensa was founded in 1946, in England. The Mensa Society was formed specifically for intelligent individuals. The aim of Mensa was to create a non-political society free from all forms of racial or religious distinctions, that focussed on exceptional intelligence. All are welcomed into Mensa regardless of background, religion, socioeconomic condition, race, or age.

All About Mensa

Excercise Your Mind - Who says self-improvement has to be hard? Here are 10 quick and easy ways to improve your most important asset - your brain.

Excercise Your Mind

The History of Crosswords - The first book of crosswords was published in 1924. It became a best-seller and crosswords replaced mah-jongg as the most popular American game. Crossword puzzle design and solving is an excellent way to sharpen focus. Regardless of whether design and or solve numerous crossword puzzles, you will learn one more way to enhance memory and creative expression. Some even say that crossword puzzles help keep Alzheimer's at bay.

The History of Crossword Puzzles

Sudoku Puzzles Are Challenging - But They're Not Only For Math Majors - Sudoku puzzles have reached legendary popularity over the past few years. If you play regularly, then you have a pretty good idea what makes this puzzle game so special. If you have never played before there is only one question to ask. Where have you been? Open your eyes and grab a pencil, because it is time to join the rest of civilization.

Challenging Sudoku Puzzles

Puzzle Games - Family vacations can be one of the best ways to make memories that will last you and your kids a lifetime. But no matter how long you are staying at your chosen destination, when travelling with children the longest part of the trip can be your journey there. Long rides in a car or airplane can seem endless for young kids who can not wait to get to their vacation destination. It can also seem endless for parents who have to listen to choruses of the infamous line, "Are we there yet?" However, by keeping in mind a few kid friendly travel tips, parents can make the travel time fly by for their kids and themselves.

For kids, going away on a family vacation can be the highlight of their summer. No wonder they can be restless when the moment finally arrives and they are on their way to the beach, theme park, or other destination. It is a given that children will be excited about getting to their vacation spot but parents can make the trip seem shorter by preparing a variety of games and activities to keep their children occupied and keep their minds off of the journey.

Puzzle Games

Sudoku A Worldwide Phenomenon - If you have heard of Sudoku, then chances are you have been living in a bunker for the last year or so.

Sudoku is a new craze that is taking the puzzle world by storm. It's gone from a little known topic, to having over a million searches a month on the web... that's as much as Paris Hilton.

For those of you who don't know what Sudoku is, it's essentially a game of numbers.

Sudoku Phenomenon

Mind Control in Games - In all games that we play, mind control is the most important factor between failure and victory.

A chess player looses a winning game because he lost his nerves at one point and was not able to focus on the game anymore, then he suddenly makes a fatal error and the game is over.

Mind Control in Games

Eliminate Sudoku Frustration - Every person who has ever done the Sudoku puzzle over time has at some point become frustrated. You get to a situation where you just can't see any headway. There seems to be no clues as where to go next. And I know from personal experience that staring blankly at the puzzle waiting for a solution to hit you between the eyes just never happens. There are two keys to getting past the frustration.

The first key is to understand the thinking of the Sudoku creator or puzzle writer (or what ever you want to call him). He wants you to get frustrated. That is his goal. Depending on what level of Sudoku you are attacking he will use a different number and variety of tricks and roadblocks to make it difficult to find the final solution. When your level of frustration rises, so does his level of satisfaction. Conversely when you get to a roadblock or dead-end and you know that this is part of his plan, then it is easier to stay calm and find the solution.

Soduku Frustration

History of Sudoku - Most people are under the wrong impression that sudoku is of Japanese origin when the only thing Japanese about sudoku is the word sudoku.Sudoku is, for all intents and purposes, a brand name; it is not the generic name of the game.

The History of Soduku

Challenging Minds with Games - Do you have a favorite thinking game? As a child growing up, I used to love to play games that were puzzles, something to challenge me not physically but challenge my mind. We used to do simple things like create objects out of clouds or find out what would happen when too much water was added to the mud pie. Nevertheless, it seems that many children in our society today are rather uninterested in those types of games. They now just do what the Game Boy tells them to.

Challenging Minds with Games

Crossword Puzzles for Active Minds - Use it or lose it, most definitely applies to our brains. How many of us actually remember all we were taught at school. I know some would say that much of what we learned was pointless. I guess I don't really need to know how many millions of miles away the sun and the moon are.

Crossword Puzzles for Active Minds

Thinking Games - Classic thinking games are a great way to tune up your brain. You can use these mind games to help you increase your brain power and to get you out of your thinking "ruts." Play them enough, and they'll habituate you to using creative problem solving as a normal part of thinking about things.

Thinking Games

Logic Puzzles - Have you ever read the mysteries of Sherlock Holmes? He could solve any case with ease by deducing the answer from the clues. He examined the individual clues of the case and then pieced them together to find the culprit. He could even figure out how the perpetrator completed his criminal act. His case solving skills were based largely around logical reasoning.

Logic Puzzles

Improve Your Skills with Puzzles - Pattern recognition, spatial relationships, and logical thinking are all necessary skills as students learn to read, do math, and develop problem-solving strategies. Having a big collection of puzzles and games on hand can make developing these skills fun.

Many children's magazines contain creative, age-appropriate games that reinforce the content of the text, but that's only one source. You can also enlist parents to contribute crossword puzzles and other games they find from newspapers and magazines.

Improve Your Skills with Puzzles

The Value of Jigsaw Puzzles - Jigsaw puzzles have a lot of educational value for children of all ages. This is because to do a jigsaw requires a child to use several different aspects of the thinking process. A baby learns to recognize objects by their shape and not necessarily what position the object is in. A chair is a chair whether it is upright, lying down, or upside down-it doesn't matter.

Jigsaw Puzzle Value

Tricks to Winning at Sudoku - Sudoku is one of the hottest trends in games and entertainment. The interest in this Japanese number crossword puzzle is absolutely at a fever pitch. The rules are simple - fill in the squares so that all numbers are represented only once per row. Simple rules, difficult to follow.

Tricks to Winning at Sudoku

Hot Game Trends - Sudoku is one of the hottest trends in games and entertainment. The interest in this Japanese number crossword puzzle is absolutely at a fever pitch. The rules are simple - fill in the squares so that all numbers are represented only once per row. Simple rules, difficult to follow. What makes Sudoku almost addicting is the consistent challenge of finding the right match.

Hot Game Trends

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