Description
“Humans are the only animals who create and solve puzzles — for thesheer pleasure of it — and there is no obvious genetic reason why we would do this.Marcel Danesi explores the psychology of puzzles and puzzling, with scores ofclassic examples. His pioneering book is both entertaining and enlightening.”– Will Shortz, Crossword Editor, The New York Times ..”.Puzzle fanatics will enjoy the many riddles, illusions, cryptograms and othermind-benders offered for analysis.” — Psychology Today ..”. a bristlingly clear… always intriguing survey of the history andrationale of puzzles…. (A) splendid study….” — Knight RidderNewspapers Preface 1. Why Puzzles? 2. Puzzling Language: Riddles, Anagrams, and Other Verbal Perplexities 3. Puzzling Pictures: Optical Illusions, Mazes, and Other Visual Mind-Bogglers 4. Puzzling Logic: Deductions, Paradoxes, and Other Forms of Mind Play 5. Puzzling Numbers: Magic Squares, Cryptarithms, and Other Mathematical Recreations 6. Puzzling Games: Chess, Checkers, and Other Games 7. The Puzzle of Life Solutions Bibliography and General Reading List Index
