1,000 Playthinks: Puzzles, Paradoxes, Illusions & Games [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Ivan Moscovich (Author), Ian Stewart (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2001

1000 PLAYTHINKS is the most compulsive, head-scratching, and--at 5.08 pounds--gargantuan puzzle book ever. An obsessive collection of 1,000 challenges, puzzles, riddles, illusions-both original as well as must-do classics. Jam-packed on the page and illustrated throughout in full-color, with a visual for each entry, the book, opened anywhere, is like a call to action. And once started it's hard to stop, because at the end of every successfully completed game the puzzle-solver feels smart, successful, and at one with the beauty of mathematics.

Created by Ivan Moscovich, PLAYTHINKS is the first and only book where science, math, and art puzzles all come together. Broken down by chapter, PLAYTHINKS challenges with 12 basic categories, including games of Geometry; Patterns; Numbers; Logic and Probability; and Perception. A special Bonus Round is included for die-hard puzzlers who, after all that, still haven't had enough. An easy-to-read key at the!top of each game ranks its difficulty on a scale of 1 to 10. The lie-flat spiral binding makes the hefty book completely reader-friendly. So do the answers in the back.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Moscovich believes that "now that most of the physical frontiers have been crossed the mental ones beckon us." He has created these visual challenges, riddles, and puzzles to help push thinking into these new frontiers. Some of them are completely original; others are adaptations of classic challenges. They are bold, bright, colorful, and genuinely inviting. They are arranged by mathematical or scientific category, and ranked by a degree of difficulty from 1 to 10. A key further subdivides them into mind puzzles, pencil-and-paper puzzles, those that must be traced or copied, and, finally, those that require cutting. Most can be done alone; some are for groups. When complete and total frustration has set in, readers can turn to the back of the book for the solutions, which are clearly illustrated and explained. Sidebars explain the mathematical or scientific principles involved. The spiral binding allows the book to lie flat. Put this out where teens can see it and you'll find them poring over the puzzles, trying to figure them out.
Jane S. Drabkin, Chinn Park Regional Library, Prince William, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

THE MOST WIDE-RANGING, VISUALLY APPEALING, ENTERTAINING, GIGANTIC COLLECTION OF BRAINTEASERS SINE SAM LOYD'S CYCLOPEDIA OF PUZZLES ALMOST A CENTURY AGO. (Will Shortz, Crossword Editor, The New York Times, and NPR's Puzzlemaster

A compulsive, exuberant cornucopia of puzzles, 1000 PlayThinks is like salted peanuts for the brain. Here are mental games, visual challenges, logic posers, riddles and illusions.

Can you cross the IMPOSSIBLE DOMINO BRIDGE? Wield the SICKLE OF ARCHIMEDES? Or figure out how to avoid the booby prizes in GAME SHOW?

Comprised of both original puzzles and mind-boggling adaptations of classic games this book, written by a man Wired magazine called a living inspiration for the rest of us, celebrate that unique place where pure play and problem-solving coexist.

Start solving. And right away you'll feel smart, intuitive, curious, successful and at one with the beauty of mathematics.

Find the Perfect Puzzle

WARM - UPS

249 TUBE ILLUSION 368 PERMUTINO 709 MOBIUS STRIP 835 BOMBS AWAY 913 BIRD IN THE CAGE

CHALLENGING

270 KISSING SPHERES 445 SEPARATING CATS 758 JUMPING DISKS 80 KNIGHTS ATTACK 181 HAMILTONIAN CIRCUIT

PURE GENIUS

172 CRANKSHAFT 242 APOLLONIUS'S PROBLEM 42 HEPTAGON MAGIC 165 MATCH POINT 714 M-PIRE COLORING GAME

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 420 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761118268
• ISBN-13: 978-0761118268
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 11 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #861,266 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Riddled with errors January 9, 2004

By Mr. Clive J. Tooth

Format:Paperback

As I dipped into this book I became more and more annoyed. It has many, many mistakes, of all kinds, in it. Even in presenting well-known puzzles the author manages to make serious errors. Here are a few of the mistakes that I noticed:

(Puzzle 307) Morley's theorem is (to quote the late H.S.M. Coxeter) "one on the most surprising theorems in elementary geometry", but Moscovich manages to get the diagram wrong! The triangle which he picks out does not even look equilateral!

(Puzzle 772) For the well-known puzzle of passing a cube through a smaller cube the author begins his explanation: "If you hold a cube so that one corner points directly toward you, its edges outline a hexagon. It then becomes obvious that the cube has ample space for a square hole slightly larger than one of its faces." There is even a picture of a hexagon with a square superimposed on it. Although a cube can be passed through a (slightly) smaller cube in this way, it is well known that the optimum solution does not have the edges of the hole parallel to the space diagonal of the cube.

(Puzzle 990) Weighing from 1 to 40 grams using weights on one side of a balance only. Moscovich says "you must have the weights 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 grams". Not so. For example, 1, 2, 4, 8, 9 and 16 would be ok.

I began to compile a list of errors in this book, but I gave up when I had accumulated over 30, having read, I would estimate, about a quarter of the book.

The book has a "Difficulty Index" which should be renamed the "Difficult Index". You have to know the exact title of a puzzle and its level (from 1 to 9), in order to find it again using this index.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging High Interest Book! December 8, 2001

By K.Wegley

Format:Paperback

I teach in the gifted math program and one of my students brought this book in. The students were captivated by its thought provoking challenges. The challenges come in all levels so that it captures the interest of all range of students/adults. The solutions are in the back with great explainations. This book would be great for ages 8 through adult!

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty but Unacceptably Flawed August 16, 2003

By Linda Bailey

Format:Paperback

I bought this book because it is beautiful and it looked like fun brain exercise. But much to my disappointment I found too many mistakes in the answers. A good example is the very pretty Pick Up Sticks. The answer in the back is most definitely wrong! I find this type of error in this type of book to be unacceptable, and think it could be very frustrating and discouraging to a person that might not be able to tell whether or not their answer was indeed correct and the book was wrong. I returned my copy to the book store.