A Book for Puzzle-Solvers

You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.

I’m Grant Barrett.

And I’m Martha Barnette.

I want to talk some more about the book that I mentioned at the top of the show because it is fun, fun, fun.

It’s called The Puzzler, One Man’s Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, From Crossword Puzzles to Jigsaws to the Meaning of Life.

It’s by A.J. Jacobs, who’s known for writing in sort of a light, breezy style, but this book is also chock full of really interesting information about all kinds of puzzles. Like, for example, did you know that jigsaw puzzles were originally called dissected maps?

Oh, no, I didn’t know that.

In the late 18th century, there was a British mapmaker named John Spilsbury who glued a map to a wooden board and then carved it up, and he sold these maps to British nobility as a means of teaching geography. And Jacobs visits jigsaw puzzle makers in the U.S. He and his family even end up competing in the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championships in Spain, representing the United States.

Wow, that’s cool. It’s cool that there’s even a competition, but it’s also cool that he got to that level.

Well, apparently they were the only people from the U.S. who went to it.

But still, good for them.

Yeah, that’s a great story.

Jacobs visits with speed cubers, those people who can do a Rubik’s Cube in just seconds.

Grant, I’m sure that you’ve played the New York Times spelling bee puzzle before.

Mm-yes.

Well, he interviews the 25-year-old editor of that puzzle, and they talk about some of the controversies that come up when he fails to include a word or includes a word that people have problems with.

And Jacobs also finagled a trip to the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, to try to crack one of the most famous codes in the world.

Oh, I know. This is the one in like the foyer or the lobby, right?

Yeah, yeah. Well, I think it’s maybe in a courtyard or something like that.

But about 30 years ago, the CIA commissioned this sculpture with 1,800 or so seemingly random letters and question marks.

And only one or two people in the world know what this code actually translates to.

But there are online groups, maybe you’ve run into these online, of code-cracking enthusiasts.

These groups have sprung up trying to solve this puzzle, and nobody’s been able to do it yet.

Oh, I love it. I love it.

So the book has all kinds of fun things like that in it.

But it also goes into the philosophy and psychology of puzzling.

I mean, he touches on sociological research that suggests that one of the few situations where people of deeply divergent political beliefs can actually work together well is when they’re trying to solve a crossword puzzle.

So he actually gets pretty thinky in there, too.

It’s a book with heart.

But wait, there’s more.

This book also includes 19 puzzles in a variety of styles by Greg Pliska.

And longtime listeners of this program will remember that Greg often gave us quizzes on the show before he went on to an illustrious career in the music industry, working with Steve Martin and others.

Oh, so there’s a Way With Words connection. How wonderful.

There is a Way With Words connection.

And in fact, if you go to our website, waywordradio.org, you can find a bunch of Greg’s puzzles and us trying to solve them.

There are quite a few of them still on our website.

The word try is important.

But there’s also a website for this wonderful book.

Yes.

It’s called thepuzzlebook.com.

And you can find even more puzzles there.

But I really, really recommend this book.

It’s called The Puzzler, One Man’s Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, From Crosswords to Jigsaws to the Meaning of Life by A.J. Jacobs.

And we’ll link to the book and more information about it and the website from our website at waywordradio.org.

Call us with your questions, 877-929-9673, toll free in the U.S. and Canada, 24 hours a day.