Want to keep your brain active and in trim? Challenge your mind with The Penguin Book of Puzzles . . . From the riddles of the ancients to puzzles that perplex the greatest minds of today, The Penguin Book of Puzzles is a glorious compendium of conundrums from throughout history. These challenges will require all the reader's wits to solve, but range from the easy to the brain-bending and are suitable for novice and veteran puzzlers alike. There is something here to suit every taste, including crosswords, mathematical challenges, word games and logic conundrums, but also some intriguing types of puzzles that have been unearthed from centuries gone by. Hours of fun await you in this timeless and entertaining miscellany of puzzlement. ____________ A Sumerian Riddle (circa 18th Century) There is a house. The blind enter it and then come out seeing. What is that house? ____________ A Charade I have wings, yet never fly - I have sails, yet never go - I cant keep still, if I try, Yet forever stand just so. ____________

"Of immense interest to those who enjoy recreational maths and puzzles . . . even the most hardened puzzler will find something new." -- Mathematical Gazette Puzzles are as old as history itself, following an arc like that of technology: centuries of slow progress, followed by rapid expansion in the 1800s, and an explosion of activity in the twentieth century. This collection by bestselling author David Wells, a Cambridge math scholar and teacher, follows that pattern. Its first part is devoted to puzzles from ancient Egypt and Babylon and subsequent sources, featuring those devised by Lewis Carroll, Eduard Lucas, Sam Loyd, and other master puzzlers of the Victorian era. The second part demonstrates the tremendous variety of twentieth-century puzzles. More than 560 puzzles are included, from the "mind sharpeners" of a medieval monk to the eighteenth-century Ladies' Diary, the Hindu Bhakshali manuscript, and riddles and popular rhymes. None requires any mathematics beyond the most elementary algebra and geometry -- and few require even that. Complete answers appear at the end.

Provides information on numbers and what makes particular ones noteworthy

The Penguin Book of Card Games is the authoritative up-to-date compendium, describing an abundance of games to be played both for fun and by serious players. Auctions, trumpless hands, cross-ruffing and lurching: card players have a language all of their own. From games of high skill (Bridge) to games of high chance (Newmarket) to trick-taking (Whist) and banking (Pontoon), David Parlett, seasoned specialist in card games, takes us masterfully through the countless games to choose from. Not content to merely show us games with the conventional fifty-two card pack, Parlett covers many games played with other types of cards - are you brave enough to play with Tarot? With a 'working description' of each game, with the rules, variations and origins of each, as well as an appendix of games invented by the author himself, The Penguin Book of Card Games will delight, entertain and inform both the novice and the seasoned player.

Collection of miscellaneous facts and anecdotes from mathematicians.

"In celebration of the sixty-fifth anniversary of Penguin Classics, Ben Tausig brings together sixty-five puzzles (and ten bonus ones!) about the series’ beloved books, authors, and characters. Constructed by the top crossword creators in the business- including many New York Times regulars-these original puzzles feature themes spanning everything from Greek mythology to F. Scott Fitzgerald to movie adaptations of Jane Austen. A mix of straightforward clues, amusing puns, and surprising twists will entertain and challenge casual puzzle solvers of all ages."--

Thomas the Tank Engine, James, and everyone's favorite Thomas & Friends characters are featured in five different puzzles in this oversized padded book. Each full-color puzzle has twelve sturdy board pieces that fit right inside the pages of the book—so they’re fun to put together and easy to keep together! Plus, the padded cover makes the Thomas & Friends Puzzle Book the perfect gift!