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Biography & Autobiography. Games. Self-Improvement. Nonfiction. HTML: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. 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�??The Puzzler will open listeners�?? 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. *Includes a downloadable PDF of puzzles, answers, ill… (more)
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Jacobs has written a
Now in “The Puzzler,” he writes about all the major forms of puzzles, from crosswords and sudokus to jigsaws and Rubik's cubes. More than that, he seeks to obtain and solve the hardest of them. He participates in an international jigsaw puzzle contest. He tackles nearly impossible mazes and purchases a puzzle that, even if a person knew what he was doing and worked at it nonstop, would take billions of years to solve.
Yet it is the author's immersion in these puzzles that makes his book so fascinating. His sense of humor also helps. He interviews puzzle creators and the best puzzle solvers. He even interviews the great chess champion Garry Kasparov about chess puzzles.
One need not be either obsessive or compulsive, or even enjoy puzzles, to find pleasure in this book.
I enjoyed learning about some of the constructors of puzzles,
This is a must read for any puzzle lover!