The Puzzler
One Man's Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, from Crosswords to Jigsaws to the Meaning of Life
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
The New York Times bestselling author of The Year of Living Biblically goes on a rollicking journey to understand the enduring power of puzzles: why we love them, what they do to our brains, and how they can improve our world.
“Even though I’ve never attempted the New York Times crossword puzzle or solved the Rubik’s Cube, I couldn’t put down The Puzzler.”—Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before
Look for the author’s new podcast, The Puzzler, based on this book!
What makes puzzles—jigsaws, mazes, riddles, sudokus—so satisfying? Be it the formation of new cerebral pathways, their close link to insight and humor, or their community-building properties, they’re among the fundamental elements that make us human. Convinced that puzzles have made him a better person, A.J. Jacobs—four-time New York Times bestselling author, master of immersion journalism, and nightly crossworder—set out to determine their myriad benefits. And maybe, in the process, solve the puzzle of our very existence. Well, almost.
In The Puzzler, Jacobs meets the most zealous devotees, enters (sometimes with his family in tow) any puzzle competition that will have him, unpacks the history of the most popular puzzles, and aims to solve the most impossible head-scratchers, from a mutant Rubik’s Cube, to the hardest corn maze in America, to the most sadistic jigsaw. Chock-full of unforgettable adventures and original examples from around the world—including new work by Greg Pliska, one of America’s top puzzle-makers, and a hidden, super-challenging but solvable puzzle—The Puzzler will open readers’ eyes to the power of flexible thinking and concentration. Whether you’re puzzle obsessed or puzzle hesitant, you’ll walk away with real problem-solving strategies and pathways toward becoming a better thinker and decision maker—for these are certainly puzzling times.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Puzzles are not a waste of time. Doing puzzles can make us better thinkers, more creative, more incisive, more persistent," argues journalist and avid puzzler Jacobs (The Know-It-All) in this riveting cultural analysis. Showcasing his knack for immersive detail with fascinating takes on crosswords, jigsaws, and secret codes, he makes a convincing case that, beyond helping "stav off dementia" (which, he writes, there's "mild evidence" for), puzzles can make people more evolved humans by requiring them to adopt "a mindset of ceaseless curiosity about everything in the world." For centuries, he writes, anagrams have fueled humans' obsessions with hidden meanings—Galileo loved them so much that he hid his discoveries in anagrammatic poems. And visual puzzles, such as Where's Waldo, encourage people to question their first impressions and examine their surroundings more closely. Jacobs enriches his narrative with interviews with puzzle designers and devotees, along with accounts of his attending several puzzle tournaments—among them a jigsaw championship in Spain where he proudly placed "second to last." The inclusion of tools to crack the code to all sorts of puzzles, and a section of original work by famed puzzler Greg Pliska, only add to the infectious charm. A rallying cry for "word nerds" everywhere, this is a delight.
