(Part 2) Best brain teaser books according to redditors

There are a lot of probability paradoxes that are counter-intuitive. I will list a few that I have written about.

(A shameless plug: I've written an ebook about paradoxes that includes some of these articles)

The missing square paradox

The braess paradox

The suprize quiz paradox

The wild card poker paradox

Simpson's paradox

Arrow's voting paradox

The Wallet Paradox

Allais Paradox

Seigel's paradox of exchange rates

The theiving executive paradox

The friendship paradox

Splitting the pizza math paradox - aka the Alabama paradox

So... I love this stuff, but I am terrible at it. Even knowing the "rules" for making puzzles & riddles, I still cannot make them. My brain just has no ability here, I guess. However, I have a crutch that I use: I buy books of this stuff. Lots & lots of them. Some are even made specifically for D&D. Allow me to link you to some of the things I've bought.

• Shadowman's Twisted Treasury: A Collection of Killer Puzzles. This is actual puzzles, not riddles. If you buy this, you may find puzzle #6 to be obnoxious. Odds of solving it are low in the first place, but if you do, you'll find yourself wondering why a sign was broken apart in such a ridiculous way. Just explaining why/how the puzzle got there in the first place is a problem. However, other puzzles are better. There are simple ones like an ogre counting image which shows a password, if you just pay attention to it. There are difficult but clever ones, like the "as easy as 1-2-3" floor tile puzzle, which is similar to the "Amenuator" floor tile puzzle in Baldur's Gate 2. In the back is some text explaining how you could incorporate it into a D&D/Pathfinder game. It has about 30 puzzles, and gives 3 hints for each. I typically give 1 hint to each player with a character who has an INT score of 13 or more. I give an extra hint for 15+ INT. I give the 3rd hint for 17+ INT. I rate this 7 out of 10.
  
• Riddle Rooms. This is a hybrid. It contains riddles, which then reveal how to deal with a puzzle. Each is presented twice -- first half of the book discusses the puzzles in text form, 2nd half of the book has little 1" maps of the rooms that your players could play on. My favorite is the hall of flame, where jets of fire spout out of the floor -- yet some jets are merely illusions you can walk through, and if you figure out the riddle, you can walk right across the room safely. However, I found that riddle to be too convoluted -- it displays the riddle mirror-imaged, so all the hints you get must be reversed. I thought it too much of a bother, so I set the riddle "right" and allowed the players to proceed safely if they solved it without needing to reverse the directions. I rate this 6 out of 10.
  
• Quest for the Riddle Stone. This is my favorite. I rate it 8 out of 10. However, it's actually just riddles, not puzzles. Each page contains a poem/limerick, along with 3 hints for solving it. About half the riddles are inappropriate for a D&D game, because they reference modern music, automobiles, etc. However, the ones that work are great. Here's one:
  
  I demand top regard, seeking first prize.
  
  I'm gone ere the fall and shunned by the wise.
  
  Whatever you do, I'll claim you do more.
  
  To find me just look where the lions roar.
  
  Anyway, this is going on too long already. I'll attach more links in a reply.

I don't know about free websites, but my wife and I have an earlier edition of this book by Mensa, and it's kept us thinking for hours upon hours. It's worth the cost, and no, I'm not a Mensa member, don't work for Amazon, or in any other way am affiliated with the book. We just enjoy it, that's all.

I have a copy of The Moscow Puzzles. Some of the puzzles are easy and some are really hard! You can buy it for pretty cheap online.

Also, I'm surprised some hasn't said Satan, Cantor, and Infinity yet! It's a fun one, laid out like a story, and mostly deals with mathematical logic as opposed to algebra, geometry, etc.

'The Secret'

> In 1982, Byron Preiss published The Secret, a puzzle book that combined 12 short verses and 12 elaborate fantasy paintings by John Jude Palencar. Readers were expected to pair each painting with a verse in a way that would provide clues to finding one of 12 plexiglass boxes buried in various parks around North America. Each box contained a ceramic key that could be redeemed for a jewel worth $1,000. The book was inspired by the success of Masquerade, written and illustrated by Kit Williams and published in England in August 1979, but The Secret never led to the same level of treasure hunting frenzy.

- WIKI

As of now, only 3 out of 12 treasures have been found. The most recent was discovered in October, 2019. The others were found in Chicago in 1983, and Cleveland in 2004.

You can read more about the hunt in this Vice article.

The 12 Treasures Podcast site has the verses and paintings (puzzles), and a podcast all about the treasure hunt. I haven't personally listened to it, but it seems to be a quality resource.

Further reading at: Atlas Obscura.

Check out the 12Keys subreddit to connect with other Secret hunters/follow the search.

there's a small class of verbal-only games like the word games ghost, superghost, and poltergeist. I know of them from a book called Gladstone's Games to Go, which has a chapter about such games. I recommend checking that out.

I picked this up for a buck at my local Borders going out of business sale. It is basically a bunch of examples of people using fallacious reasoning and then a discussion of why it is fallacious.

Now don't look into variant sudoku puzzles (the black hole that it is). You'll feel like your inventing whole new strategies.

My favorite variant is Kropki Sudoku.

Edit will add some links.

1. Look in the file archive of this group https://www.facebook.com/groups/309473799153072/?ref=bookmarks lots of great original sudoku puzzles are poster there. - Great thing about this website is that it shows the authors website so you get way more sources.
   
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2. The World Puzzle Federation Grand Prix Puzzles go back a few years - the sudoku is a great source for original variants https://gp.worldpuzzle.org/content/sudoku-gp
   
   Example: https://gp.worldpuzzle.org/sites/default/files/Sudoku%20Round1.pdf
   
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3. Gareth Moores website https://www.puzzlemix.com/puzzles.php is a great source for the "Standard" variants.
   
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4. Richards Puzzles on logic masters website is a great series: https://logic-masters.de/Raetselportal/Benutzer/eingestellt.php?name=Richard
   
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5. [Edit] Adding this http://sudokucup.com/content/daily-league (forgot about this website - needs registration)
   
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6. Physical books I highly recommend DJAPE puzzles and Gareths Moors (Mammoth Book of New Sudoku)
   
   - https://www.amazon.ca/Puzzles-Dr-Djape-300-puzzles/dp/1979609950/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=djape&qid=1558058506&s=gateway&sr=8-2
   
   - https://www.amazon.ca/Mammoth-Book-New-Sudoku/dp/0762449365/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=mammoth+book+of+new+sudoku&qid=1558058540&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmrnull
   
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7. Youtube: "Cracking the Cryptic" - Youtube channel which solves a variety of sudoku puzzles (Note: Am Patreon)
   
   \^ They really like Sandwich Sudoku (outside clues), but it looks like they are exploring more variants recently.
   
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   Adding https://krazydad.com/ to the list

I do a lot of Sudoku or color.

Brain Games® Sudoku
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1605531731/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_pJs7Bb9CH1B8Z

I've ordered this book and the green one by the same company over and over again . There are 5 levels, it's spiral-bound, and easy to read/write on. I'll usually put some rerun on the TV in the background. It helps my mind from feeling so mushy.

There's this book. I'm not sure exactly what you're asking, though: you say they don't have to be about thought experiments/paradoxes but if that's the case then what are you looking for?

I'm taking that as well. Haven't found anything on pdf or kindle though. I believe we are using The Puzzling Adventures of Dr. Ecco.

Heh. Reminds me of one of my favorite books.

It's actually from this book. A childhood favorite of mine.

These are a ton of fun to do on paper. I am a huge fan of Tetsuya Nishio's Books and recommend using complementary colored pencils for the positive/negative tiles.

To piggyback on this, if OP is studying an introduction to discrete math course, this book has some really useful example problems, including this odd door problem.

Some pretty good reads on the subject:

Top Secret: A Handbook of Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing https://www.amazon.com/dp/0763629723/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_WF1Dub0WN55RY

The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004IK8PLE/ref=aw_ss_kndl_dp/

Codebreaker: The History of Codes and Ciphers https://www.amazon.com/dp/0802715478/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_OH1Dub103RXB7

And, believe it or not,

Cracking Codes and Cryptograms For Dummies https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005CB22A8/ref=aw_ss_kndl_dp/

You also might check your local newspaper for "Cryptoquote." It's a daily quote that uses a different cipher each day. Great for practice!

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/solving-a-rubix-cube-dean-mitchell/1114036017

(BTW, the color scheme in the center picture matches my memory from the 'flip' period that I saw RUBIX in the box - does this match your memory? Also, what is your memory of the colors of the word RUBIX? I am fairly certain of the first letter being a different color than what is popularly available)




https://www.amazon.ca/How-Solve-Rubix-Cube-Fast-ebook/dp/B007Z0G6W4

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21852683-how-to-solve-a-rubix-cube

As an added bonus I came across this comment on the RuWix website where they stated that it was invented in 1974 (also interesting that they didn't op for Ruwik or Ruwiki..):

"
Shelley Kinsey Adams
My dad died in 1973 but I swear I gave him one of these between 1968 and 1973, can I be that nuts?"

There were a few other interesting things, such as links that had Rubix written in the link, but when you click on them the domain had been changed to a Rubik address. I didn't include these since they're also explained by typos being corrected, however, for those of us that have the memories...

Not to blow my own horn, but if an e-book would work for you, you might enjoy Spot The Alien. It's a series of logic puzzles set in a small town being invaded by aliens.

I also highly recommend Raymond Smullyan's Alice in Puzzle-land, which is a classic.

Satan, Cantor, and Infinity

I can’t recommend this book enough for developing logical thinking skills while also enjoying yourself with good puzzles and a nice book.

Kawaii: http://imgur.com/NVuASwx

Book: 50 Math, Logic and Word Puzzles - Volume 3 (50 Puzzles) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D2ZCI64/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_ZjhOwbG8KW1P5

It's amazing how many items are 3.99 or 3.03 on Amazon lol

Your inability to follow your own logic beggars belief.

In amongst all your reading, i hope this is useful for you.

Abstract & Logical Reasoning for Dummies: by AbstractReasoning.net https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HDVDY02/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_gd0xCb847VSWT

http://www.amazon.com/Unplug-Play-Games-That-Charging-ebook/dp/B00IH5I3U4

For regular Tic Tac Toe, machine learning is overkill IMO mostly because it's relatively small and it's completely solved. You might want to refer to this book or this xkcd (available as vector images for X/player 1 and for O/player 2) for a "complete" strategy. The interesting problem here is actually implementing the adequate tree search without using a million if-else statements.

But if you really want it, there are heuristics on using minimax for solving Tic Tac Toe, which is a strategy used in some AI problems.