The Puzzler

A fun romp through the world of puzzles. The writer, my ex-step-brother-in-law, gives too short shrift to mathematical puzzles and too much to his family and personal experiences.

A. J. Jacobs looks at puzzles of all sorts in his latest Challenge Yourself book. After aiming for bodily perfection (Drop Dead Healthy), attempting to follow the Bible as literally as possible (The Year of Living Biblically), trying to become to smartest person in the world (The Know-It-All), and pursuing a goal of improving himself (My Life as an Experiment), Jacobs focuses on trying to solve the most baffling puzzles ever. He forms a team (with his family!) and represents America in the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship. He tries to do a Rubik's Cube that's so difficult no one has solved it. He goes to the National Puzzler's League convention and tries to do anagrams with the big boys. He is embarrassingly slow at making his way through a huge maze in rural Vermont. Crossword puzzles. Sudoku. Chess. And more. Jacobs tries them all.

Super fun.

I read this book on audio and will definitely need to go back and read on a physical format. Puzzle examples don’t lend well to audio, however the author did a great job keeping the audio engaging.

I enjoyed the perspective that Jacobs shared. It was highly thought provoking, offering different perspectives of solving puzzles. I tend to gravitate towards puzzles and love working on them so the content matter was engaging for me. It was interesting to hear about puzzles not being just logic based but also requiring creativity and ingenuity!

I love puzzles, but not as much as A.J. Jacobs. Jacobs is primarily a writer and has spent his time in this book delving through all things puzzles: the history of them, how they are beloved, why puzzles, and how Jacobs intertwines his life and challenges himself at tackling the craziest and toughest puzzles ever known. “The Puzzler” ranges all over, from classics like sudoku and crosswords to riddles to mazes all the way to even the most controversial or craziest puzzles. Jacobs not only details them but actually takes part, such as creating the American team in the World Jigsaw Championship, walking through the most challenging corn maze, and even creating his own puzzles and seeing how they work. I love puzzles, so naturally if you do you'll love this book. Even if you don't I think you'll find something to enjoy, whether it's Jacobs' personality and humor, the stories he tells, or even the puzzles themselves. Like “Seven Games” by Oliver Roeder, a fantastic book on games I read last Fall, I want to read even more books about the puzzle and game phenomenon and why humans love them so much and can't seem to stop playing them.