No comments about The New York Times Daily Crossword Omnibus, Volume 10 (NY Times).

No comments about New York Times Toughest Crosswords V 2 (NY Times).

No comments about A Poison That Leaves No Trace: With Mystery Jigsaw Puzzle (Bepuzzled Classics).

No comments about New York Post Cubicle Sudoku: The Official Utterly Addictive Number-Placing Puzzle.

1 comments about The Kids' Fun-Filled Search & Find Fascinating Fact Book.

1. This is a great teacher resource in all subject areas and an activity which kids love to do- search and find puzzles. It's cartoon format really grabs their attention. The two page spreads are really packed with the whole gamot of things related to the title page.

2 comments about Nathan Levy's Stories With Holes/Volume Two (Stories with Holes).

1. We used to beg my elementary school teacher to read these to us as a treat. These are so much fun!



2. Nathan Levy has brought together some wonderful stories for children of all ages as well as adults to learn to think differently. It is wonderfully put together for everyone of all ages to enjoy. Read it to children as an activity to promote higher problem solving skills!

No comments about Will Shortz Presents Sun, Surf, and Sudoku: 100 Wordless Crossword Puzzles (Will Shortz Presents).

1 comments about Surprising Science Puzzles.

1. For a few dollars, students can now get even with their science teachers. All they have to do is challenge the professor with some of the subtle puzzles in this fine little book.

2 comments about Mathematical Magic.

1. You'll never tire of thumbing through this book from time to time and trying some of the author's "magic" on yourself and/or your friends. It's the kind of book you'd buy as a gift for your child or grand-child--after you've read it for yourself first, of course! It's a "keepsake" sort of volume that will never grow tiresome.



2. All but the most rigid of personalities loves to see magic performed, so if it can be used to teach something, the combination is an effective learning tool. In this book, Simon demonstrates several magic tricks and also describes the mathematical principles that make them work. In my opinion, some of the tricks would be excellent tools for teaching later elementary school students some basic and at times sophisticated mathematics.
   The chapter topics are:
   
   *) Magic with numbers - most of these tricks are based on the properties of the decimal number system and basic algebra.
   *) Magic with shapes - there tricks are based on simple topological properties of objects such as ropes and rubber bands.
   *) Calendar magic - these tricks require the use of a Gregorian calendar and are based on the number of days in a week, basic properties of the decimal number system and basic algebra.
   *) Mental magic - the tricks in this chapter are based on the memorization of specific rules and how those rules can be used so that you appear as a human calculator.
   *) Magic squares - this is a fitting chapter, as magic squares are a long-running staple of recreational mathematics, which is what this book is about.
   *) Magic with ordinary objects- the tricks here involve objects like matchsticks and coins. No sleight of hand or objects up the sleeve here.
   *) Magic with cards - these are the magic tricks that have always been my favorites. When I was younger, my brother was deeply into card tricks and when he learned a new one, he would show me and challenge me to figure it out. I must confess that I was often stumped, although in many cases I was able to figure out how the trick worked.
   
   These are tricks that require knowledge of mathematics to understand them, which can be of benefit to educators. To many people, mathematics, like advanced technology, is equivalent to magic. By expressing mathematics in a form that is more understandable, magic can provide another effective learning tool.

2 comments about Impossible Su Doku.

1. Most sudoku books have a lot of very easy and boring puzzles in them. This book is uniformly strong. It's not impossible at all. I never had much trouble solving any of the puzzles, but they are all pretty challenging. A typical puzzle in this book required me to take one guess, and be ready to erase everything after the guess, if necessary, and go back and follow the other route. This book is exactly what it claims to be, if you change the word "impossible" to "interesting". It's a lot better than most other sudoku books out there because they are just too damn easy.



2. Seems like all the books claim to be impossible and I bought the "Mensa" book for my wife and she just laughed at it. With this book, you don't have to skip to the back to get to the good ones. From puzzle one we were happy and the only let down is knowing that when you finish this book, you may be out of luck on finding one to compare. As others have mentioned at first you might need to make one guess to solve the puzzles.