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Puzzle Box, Volume 1
Multiplying my age by 6 then subtracting 6 produces the same result as subtracting 7 from my age then multiplying by 7. How old am I?
On my broken calculator with keys + - ÷ x =, the only functional number is 7. How can I get 34 to appear in the readout?
A country mints four denominations of coins, in whole numbers of cents. It takes four of these coins to make 21¢, or 24¢, or 25¢, or 26¢. What are the denominations of the coins?
These and almost 300 other mathematical puzzles appear in this original collection, devised by world-renowned mathematicians, puzzle creators, and devoted puzzle lovers. A unique puzzle project, it unites the efforts of a dozen authors, including software engineer Andrea Gilbert and Bram Cohen, author of the P2P BitTorrent protocol.
Seventeen different types of challenges include 3-D puzzles, chess puzzles, connections, dissections, foldings, geometrical puzzles, logic problems, matchstick puzzles, mazes, moving pieces, number puzzles, put-togethers, strimko, sudoku, visual puzzles, weightings, and word puzzles. The difficulty level of each puzzle is marked by stars, ranging from 2 to 5. Average difficulty level is about 3 stars, promising puzzle enthusiasts many entrancing hours of solving and enjoyment.
On my broken calculator with keys + - ÷ x =, the only functional number is 7. How can I get 34 to appear in the readout?
A country mints four denominations of coins, in whole numbers of cents. It takes four of these coins to make 21¢, or 24¢, or 25¢, or 26¢. What are the denominations of the coins?
These and almost 300 other mathematical puzzles appear in this original collection, devised by world-renowned mathematicians, puzzle creators, and devoted puzzle lovers. A unique puzzle project, it unites the efforts of a dozen authors, including software engineer Andrea Gilbert and Bram Cohen, author of the P2P BitTorrent protocol.
Seventeen different types of challenges include 3-D puzzles, chess puzzles, connections, dissections, foldings, geometrical puzzles, logic problems, matchstick puzzles, mazes, moving pieces, number puzzles, put-togethers, strimko, sudoku, visual puzzles, weightings, and word puzzles. The difficulty level of each puzzle is marked by stars, ranging from 2 to 5. Average difficulty level is about 3 stars, promising puzzle enthusiasts many entrancing hours of solving and enjoyment.
96 pages, Paperback
Published November 16, 2016
13 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 16, 2017
Brightly inviting, Peter and Serhiy Grabarchuk’s Puzzle Box Volume 1 is the sort of book you can leave on a coffee table for guests to pick up and browse, inviting conversation, discussion and fun.
The puzzles are nicely organized with most pages blending easy and hard puzzles, all of different styles—something for everyone on each full-page spread. With bright illustrations it’s easy for the chess-player to flip to the next chess puzzle, while the wordsmith fills in the blanks, the mathematician applies logic to names on a grid, the pattern-matcher folds cubes, and everyone together discusses how to split a shape into identical parts. There are mazes, linkages, odd ones out and more, and every page is a delight. Plus, there’s enough to last all through the year, at which point perhaps you’ll be able to buy volume 2.
Stars indicate levels of difficulty, and answers are given in the back of the book, mostly as clear bright illustrations making them easy to understand. I enjoyed the fact that the answers don’t take up half the book, and I particularly enjoyed the “puzzle types” listing on the back page, allowing more determined browsers to find exactly what they’re looking for.
Puzzle Box is inviting, intriguing, social and fun. Highly recommended.
Disclosure: I was given a copy and it’s much enjoyed, sitting on my coffee table.
The puzzles are nicely organized with most pages blending easy and hard puzzles, all of different styles—something for everyone on each full-page spread. With bright illustrations it’s easy for the chess-player to flip to the next chess puzzle, while the wordsmith fills in the blanks, the mathematician applies logic to names on a grid, the pattern-matcher folds cubes, and everyone together discusses how to split a shape into identical parts. There are mazes, linkages, odd ones out and more, and every page is a delight. Plus, there’s enough to last all through the year, at which point perhaps you’ll be able to buy volume 2.
Stars indicate levels of difficulty, and answers are given in the back of the book, mostly as clear bright illustrations making them easy to understand. I enjoyed the fact that the answers don’t take up half the book, and I particularly enjoyed the “puzzle types” listing on the back page, allowing more determined browsers to find exactly what they’re looking for.
Puzzle Box is inviting, intriguing, social and fun. Highly recommended.
Disclosure: I was given a copy and it’s much enjoyed, sitting on my coffee table.
November 16, 2017
I am familiar with the Garbarchuk puzzles and absolutely love them. I have reviewed them in the past and when I was asked to review this book I jumped at the chance. Of course this book is filled with amazing puzzles that will appeal to everyone. There are 300 puzzles that will keep anyone entertained for quite a while.
I love how you might find a puzzle you zip through and answer within seconds yet another that seems simple can stump you for hours. I find that there some logic puzzles that I’m not really a fan of but I still find myself working them through, usually not successfully, yet still I plug away because I find myself drawn to them.
If you like puzzles you need to check out this book and others from the Garbarchuk’s. These are serious puzzle people.
I received Puzzle Box, Volume 1 from the author for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.
I love how you might find a puzzle you zip through and answer within seconds yet another that seems simple can stump you for hours. I find that there some logic puzzles that I’m not really a fan of but I still find myself working them through, usually not successfully, yet still I plug away because I find myself drawn to them.
If you like puzzles you need to check out this book and others from the Garbarchuk’s. These are serious puzzle people.
I received Puzzle Box, Volume 1 from the author for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.
May 1, 2017
This beautiful-looking, colorful book is filled with 300 puzzles which will undoubtedly thrill people who delight in solving puzzles and will most likely cause many who haven't yet reached this stage of enjoyment to become converted, at least to some extent, to this fun activity.
The book has a brief bio of the thirteen contributors, and identifies which puzzle each contributor contributed; a one-page introduction telling readers that there are seventeen different kinds of puzzles in the book, such as 3D puzzles, logic puzzles, number puzzles; that the book states each puzzle is marked by stars 2 to 5 with the average difficulty being puzzles in level 3. The introduction gives further information about the puzzles, the introduction is short, as it should be, only ¾ of a page long.
An example of a two-star puzzle is a showing of 15 figures that are combined with the goal to divide the shape into five identical parts.
After showing the puzzles from pages 8-72, the book gives the solutions on pages 74-95.
Both the puzzles and solutions are presented in a clear, easy to understand and enjoy fashion.
The book has a brief bio of the thirteen contributors, and identifies which puzzle each contributor contributed; a one-page introduction telling readers that there are seventeen different kinds of puzzles in the book, such as 3D puzzles, logic puzzles, number puzzles; that the book states each puzzle is marked by stars 2 to 5 with the average difficulty being puzzles in level 3. The introduction gives further information about the puzzles, the introduction is short, as it should be, only ¾ of a page long.
An example of a two-star puzzle is a showing of 15 figures that are combined with the goal to divide the shape into five identical parts.
After showing the puzzles from pages 8-72, the book gives the solutions on pages 74-95.
Both the puzzles and solutions are presented in a clear, easy to understand and enjoy fashion.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews