The Grey Labyrinth is a collection of puzzles, riddles, mind games, paradoxes and other intellectually challenging diversions. Related topics: puzzle games, logic puzzles, lateral thinking puzzles, philosophy, mind benders, brain teasers, word problems, conundrums, 3d puzzles, spatial reasoning, intelligence tests, mathematical diversions, paradoxes, physics problems, reasoning, math, science.

esme · ^^^^-- is female! Get the pronouns right

Can someone recommend me puzzles from GL, mystery hunt, etc. that are reasonably solvable by a single solver off-line? (So I can take the print-outs on my vacation.)
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Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur.

groza528 · No Place Like Home

What type of puzzles do you like best?
For logic puzzles, mathgrant.blogspot.com has a great selection with some very clever logic involved indeed. He's good about making sure you don't have to resort to trial and error.
For THP puzzles I typically enjoy Mark Halpin's Labor Day Extravaganzas at http://www.markhalpin.com/puzzles/puzzles.html; he quite elegantly fits some pretty tricky constraints, especially with his crosswords.

esme · ^^^^-- is female! Get the pronouns right

Thank you for your helpful reply that totally responds to my immediate needs!

My favourite puzzle types tend to be word puzzles with pattern recognition and/or some variation of a well-known puzzle type. (From recent hunts, I loved the crossword on a Klein bottle and on the topological complex, the crosswords that had to be woven together, puzzles that give only first and last letter of each word, ...)

I tend to dislike "busywork" if there isnt some twist, so, for example, I generally dont like wordsearch puzzles, but I loved the "obligatory wordsearch" in this years MIT mystery hunt.

I dislike puzzles with pop music, celebrities or sports because I suck at trivial pursuit pink and orange wedges.

However, I have a reasonably eclectic taste including logic puzzles (as long as they do not involve stupid casework), and one of my all-time favourites does not contain any words at all, just some lines:
http://puzzle.cisra.com.au/2009/A-2-Meet-Your-Match.pdf
_________________
Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur.

Zag · Tired of his old title

LordKinbote · Daedalian Member

Elethiomel · Daedalian Member

The center left one looks like basketball to me.

Top left could be volleyball.

Elethiomel · Daedalian Member

Bottom left looks like cricket or baseball. The ball bounces before it is hit so I think that implies the former?

gftt* · Guest

Bottom right is bowling (a gutter ball, to be precise).

Elethiomel · Daedalian Member

Thok · Oh, foe, the cursed teeth!

Center right looks like table tennis to me. (The part on the left doesn't quite work for tennis, but could be the serve for table tennis.)

gftt* · Guest

Quailman · His Postmajesty

Did anyone mention Volleyball for the upper left yet? The ball is thrown up for a serve from left to right. It is then dug, set and spiked successfully for a point or side out, depending on the rules.

Thok · Oh, foe, the cursed teeth!

Quailman · His Postmajesty

Under some rules only the serving team can score a point. If the other team "scores", they get the serve.

Quailman · His Postmajesty

Volleyball, Golf, Basketball, Soccer, Cricket, Bowling.

Now what?

L'lanmal · Daedalian Member

Some more puzzles to solve offline, from my existing list of favorites:

2. “The Gods Must Be Lazy” – Joe McCrea (Logain), 4th GL Puzzle
Competition, 2007. Reposted here: http://www.greylabyrinth.com/puzzle/218

3. A traditional hustle, brought to my attention as “The Poker Game” –
Kevin J. Lin (Minotaur), Referenced http://www.greylabyrinth.com/puzzle/puzzle010
and http://www.greylabyrinth.com/puzzle/puzzle024 , 1997, but I reformulate it here:

The hustler throws down his poker hand in disgust as you take the
pot. “You won because you are lucky,” he says, “but you’ll never best
me in a game of pure skill. Here are the rules: we play from a face-
up deck and choose the cards we want. First I pick five, then you can
pick from the remainder. Then as usual, we can each draw up to 3
cards from the remaining deck in turn, or 4 to an ace. You can’t pick
from my discards either. If you end up at least tying my hand, you’ll
win.” After you agree to the wager, the hustler picks the four aces
and the 10 of spades, then chuckles to himself and moves to collect
the pot.

“Not so fast,” you say, as you counter this hand with . . . what?
(According to the Minotaur, this hustle is described in at least two
poker books with four aces and a ten thought to be unbeatable.)

4. ObHuntPuzzle: “Reflections on a Milky Steed Who’s Quite Amphibious
Indeed” –Ian Tullis, 2009 MIT Mystery Hunt, 2009. Link:
http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/09/puzzles/reflections_on_a_milky_steed_whos_quite_amphibious_indeed/PUZZLE/
. The puzzle is a poem.

L'lanmal · Daedalian Member

In each of those games, the unit of gameplay has a different name (Hole, Frame, Possession, Point, etc.) With a title like "Meet your match" perhaps this has something to do with it.