2 comments about The Ultimate Book of Su Doku 2.

1. Love this format; perforated pages, large squares, several levels of difficulty. I've gone through one of these and ordered another. Also, like the red covered version. During family get-togethers each member of the family will take a page to work as we sit around visiting and watching TV.



2. Great book. Large puzzles. Easy to tear out and work without taking the whole book. Fun.

2 comments about Will Shortz Presents Easy to Hard Sudoku Volume 2.

1. This puzzle book was for my husband and he has thoroughly enjoyed working them. He opened the book and started the puzzles the day they arrived, great book.



2. Will Shortz does a great job on his Sudoku books. Volume 2, however, is smaller sizewise and harder to work with than Volume 1. That is my only problem with it.

2 comments about Mazes and Labyrinths.

1. This book on mazes and labyrinths by Matthews is one of a kind. It is one of the ONLY books that gives you such broad yet detailed information on such a fascinating subject. The book includes everything ranging from Egyption labyrinths to Hedge mazes.



2. This was the first book I bought on labyrinths many years ago. Now I have over a dozen on the subject. I still refer back to this book for it's images. It is a good value for it's cost. I highly recommend it as a reference book.

5 comments about Martial Arts Sudoku Level 9: Black Belt Sudoku (Martial Arts Sudoku).

1. I enjoy the toughest Sudokus, I do solve them all; when really at a 'dead-end', I rely on "Ariadne's thread", aka 'smart-guessing' (once I have narrowed down dozens of relations). This book drives me to that process more than any other, including more often than with Frank Longo's other good book "Second-Degree Black Belt Sudoku".



2. I love this book and have all of them from level 6 up. Almost all of these can be solved without any forcing. I enjoyed every minute of this book. I wish there was a level 10, 11, and 12 so the enjoyment could go on. Alas, the search for more truly hard sudoku books continues now that I have done every puzzle in this book twice.



3. Good, difficult puzzles, but I was a little disappointed that the book was smaller than the 2nd Degree Black Belt Sudoku that we purchased earlier. This book only has one puzzle per page instead of two, and I probably wouldn't have bought it had I realized that.



4. Frank Longo is the only sudoku writter that I will do. This is a great little takealong book. It has a hard cover so you can write without another surface. It has good paper for erasing pencil marks. The puzzles are difficult and incorporate many of the stratagies he has put forth in his instruction book. All in all, a great little book, I only wish it had more puzzles.



5. Great challenging puzzles and easy to take along with you so you can do them while waiting for doctor appointments, etc. Just stick it in your pocket. Wish there were more like this one.

2 comments about Hidden Treasure Maze Book.

1. The mazes in this book are challenging for older age groups. Personally, I think the age group recommended is too low! This makes a great car or travel book for preteen and older kids. Don't let the price fool you...this is a very good collection of mazes!



2. I purchased for my nephew who is 6, he loves all these books.

3 comments about Quicksolve Whodunit Puzzles: Challenging Mini-Mysteries.

1. My 6 year old son loves mysteries, but many books are to long to keep his attention. The mysteries in this book are perfect for him, he understands them and figures most of them out.



2. "Quicksolve Whodunit Puzzles: Challenging Mini-Mysteries" contains a series of mini-mysteries for readers to solve. The puzzles are very short, just one or two pages long and the answers are at the back of the book. There's a nice sense of humor throughout the book, mostly through the use of punny names starting with Professor Quicksolve and continuing with Officer Kautchya, Sergeant Shurshot, and Officer Longshot. While the names are fun, author Jim Sukach gets a bit carried away and names like Carl Crook, Lulu Lyuer, and Miss Pettithief are dead giveaways to adult readers. Although the book does not specify what age group it is written for, the book is clearly meant for younger readers, as most of the puzzles are too easy for adult readers. However, the mysteries should be just challenging enough for younger readers. Most of the mysteries have logical solutions, but a few ("Tracking Terrorists", "Dog Meet" and "Dit Dah Dilemma") are a bit of a stretch and probably shouldn't have been included.
   
   "Quicksolve Whodunit Puzzles: Challenging Mini-Mysteries" is a good book to introduce young readers to the fun of solving mini mysteries.



3. Dr. J. L. Quicksolve has a sharp mind; he can listen to a story and immediately discern the logical flaw that leads to solving the crime. In this case, you have the opportunity to solve the crimes with Dr. Quicksolve. All of the crime stories are at most two pages in length and involve one or two words or conditions that render the alibi false. A simple diagram is associated with each crime story, but that generally does not assist you. Solutions to all of the stories are included at the end.
   This book is an excellent tool to hone young minds to be agile, thoughtful and attentive. You must read these stories very carefully, literally word for word, in order to catch the clue that leads to the solution.

5 comments about Five Star Mind.

1. I recently purchased this book and was somewhat disappointed when I sat down to read it. The subtitle is "Games & Puzzles to Stimulate Your Creativity & Imagination". Actually, there are only some thirty such puzzles and many of them are 'old chestnuts'. However, my biggest complaint is the lack of accuracy. The very first puzzle (p. 20) has a mistake in it. Then in 'Mental Counting' (p. 161), the author claims that the letters O and U are not symmetrical about the vertical axis. As for 'Three-dimesional Dots' (p. 199) the text states "Below is a collection of random dots." Unfortunately, the random dots have been omitted. So much for "something remarkable" happening as the author claims. And how's this for one of the three (yup, only three) lateral thinking puzzles? What common word begins with IS, ends with ND, and has LA in the middle? I bet that really stretched your brain, didn't it? Sorry, but Mr. Wujec's editor should be fired. These glaring mistakes and omissions have scuttled any enjoyment I may have expected from this book. I suspect the author was motivated by the commercial success of his previous book. He should have waited until he had something of value before publishing this schlock.



2. I'm a copywriter for a national retail chain. I started to read this book at lunch one day, and i got through a couple of chapters. When I went back to the office, I continued working on one of my assignments that had a tight deadline. As I starting working, I could tell that my mind was more alert and I was coming up with more and different kinds of ideas.

   If you feel like your brain has turned to mush due to daily routine or not venturing outside of your "thinking comfort zone," this book is for you!




3. Now this is an interesting book! It describes how YOU can be more creative. Maybe you think you're not? Well, according to this book creativity is a process you can learn. And I must say that after having read this book I now understand why I sometimes are very creative and sometimes not. For instance, I play the guitar and are sometimes in a very spirited mood for writing new songs. This usually occurs after having spent a few weeks listening to new albums. When I don't - I rarely come up with some new and exciting riffs. You have to have the urge to get these impulses, but then again you need the impulses.

   I think both the title and the subtitle (games & puzzles to stimulate your creativity and imagination) are a bit misleading. The focus is on the process and the author divides this creativity process into 8 "phases", drawing a metaphor to cooking food: Appetite - hunger for ideas, gather - collect ideas, cut - analyze ideas, mix - combine ideas, cook - concentrate on ideas, spice - season ideas, taste - evaluate ideas, digest - assimilate ideas. Within each of these he gives you valuable tools you can use.

   It seems to me that when you gather information (e.g. listen to records or research a specific topic) you unconsciously cut and mix it with data and knowledge you already have, and thus forming new patterns which become new ideas. Knowing the process you can also do this deliberate. How wonderful!

   There are lots of other books which describes methods for collecting thoughts and ideas (and does that better), but no one I have read or heard about describes the process as good as this one. Just think about what kind of preparation you should impose on your colleagues before they enter your next brainstorming session...




4. I bought a LOT of creativity books(at least i had 20+ on my collection), and i think this is one of the GOOD ONE, among other books.

   I particulary like the chapter on Methapor, and some of the samples of GAMES/QUIZ that i even use for my creativity seminar/training.

   A lot of GAMES and PUZZLES there that is fun, interesting and useful to generate creative brusts.

   The whole book is set as a CREATIVE KITCHEN with chapters like Food for thoughts, Appetite, Gather, Cut, Mix, Cook, Spice, Taste and Digest.

   This book can be useful even standing alone, being read by itself. Or if you are interested in creativity, it can stand tall along with all the classics like A whack at the side of the head (best classic creativity book), Orbitting the giant hairball, Jump start your brain, The Mind Map book, and all De Bono book.

   This book's approach is fun and it explain in a good sense a lot of creativity stage and provide a lot of fun games.

   Hope you can enjoy the book as much as i do.




5. I bought a LOT of creativity books(at least i had 20+ on my collection), and i think this is one of the GOOD ONE, among other books.

   I particulary like the chapter on Methapor, and some of the samples of GAMES/QUIZ that i even use for my creativity seminar/training.

   A lot of GAMES and PUZZLES there that is fun, interesting and useful to generate creative brusts.

   The whole book is set as a CREATIVE KITCHEN with chapters like Food for thoughts, Appetite, Gather, Cut, Mix, Cook, Spice, Taste and Digest.

   This book can be useful even standing alone, being read by itself. Or if you are interested in creativity, it can stand tall along with all the classics like A whack at the side of the head (best classic creativity book), Orbitting the giant hairball, Jump start your brain, The Mind Map book, and all De Bono book.

   This book's approach is fun and it explain in a good sense a lot of creativity stage and provide a lot of fun games.

   Hope you can enjoy the book as much as i do.

3 comments about Jumble Fever: Catch the Jumble Bug!.

1. I like puzzles with a little challenge to them...somehow even the more challenging Jumbles that were supposed to be toward the back were too easy for me! I hate solving the main puzzle before I get the words unscrambled!



2. We've done the newspaper Jumbles at breakfast for several years. This book fits our morning schedule as perfectly as the newspaper.



3. This is a mind teasing collection of word jumbles. They are a great mind exercise and a fun way to keep your spelling skills sharp. A great gift for teens that does not need a computer or tv.

1 comments about 10 x 10 Sudoku.

1. I didn't want this book to end - it's been a while since I've had such fun while tackling a challenge.
   My favorites had to be the rectangular 5 and 6 starred puzzles.
   
   I will definitely be checking out more of his books.

2 comments about SCRABBLE Puzzles Volume 2.

1. Author claims to have used "4 collegiate dictionaries" to find
   words in puzzle - when he should have been using Scrabble dictionary.
   
   Solutions are useless to players, because *many* words do not appear
   in Scrabble dictionary.



2. Once again, 3-time US Scrabble Champion has produced a book to please Scrabble enthusiasts of all abilities. The puzzles are all based on the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary and the vocabulary and Scrabble knowledge you learn from this series transfer directly to skills needed to compete in Scrabble clubs and Tournaments or on-line at Scrabulous ([..]) or ISC.ro, the popular crossword game sites.