Puzzle Links

VIDEO: Two puzzle enthusiasts travel to Suzhou
and enter the fascinating world of Chinese puzzles

Tangrams – Randy Crawford’s website devoted exclusively to the tangram.
mathpuzzle – Ed Pegg’s celebration of mathematical puzzles and recreations.
Nick Baxter’s Puzzle Links – links to Nick’s sliding block puzzle page, IPP puzzle design competition and much more.
Puzzle World – puzzles, designers, craftsmen, books and online forum.
Hordern-Dalgety Puzzle Collection – the world’s largest collection of mechanical puzzles and an online puzzle museum.
Slocum Puzzle Collection – Jerry Slocum’s world class puzzle collection at the University of Indiana’s Lilly Library.
Martin Gardner Video – a fascinating look at Martin Gardner’s passion for puzzles, magic, math and scientific skepticism.
Rob’s Puzzle Page – an online collection of more than 4000 mechanical puzzles and hundreds of links.
 

Puzzles in Museums

Peabody Essex Museum (Salem, Massachusetts) – a Chinese export lacquer games box with 25 ivory puzzles and an ivory puzzle ball with 15 concentric spheres. (seen on 2/F in 2006)
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City) – an ivory carving of four boys sharing two heads (seen in Gallery 219 in 2011); a Kangxi blue and white puzzle jug made in the delft style (not on display); a pair of Kangxi hexagonal puzzle jugs (not on display); and a Kangxi peach-shaped bottom-filling wine pot (not on display).
American Museum of Natural History (New York City) – tangram, fifteen-piece tangram, nine linked rings, and a peach-shaped bottom-filling water dropper collected in China between 1901 and 1904 by anthropologist Berthold Laufer. (not on display)
Suzhou Garden Museum (Suzhou) – a beautiful set of tangram tables with marble tops are on display at this new museum just east of the Humble Administrators Garden. (seen in 2011)
Shaanxi History Museum (Xi’an) – China’s most famous bottom-filling wine pot with a video explanation and an iron Yuan dynasty magic square. (seen in 2010)
Summer Palace (Beijing) – two sets of tall tangram tables and two sets of short ones on display at Paiyundian (Hall That Dispels the Clouds); cross a small bridge, climb two flights of stairs, turn left, and look inside through the windows. (seen in 2010)
British Museum (London) – a Kangxi peach-shaped bottom-filling pot; a Ming dynasty fairness cup; and a Northern Song/Jin dynasty float (or surprise) cup. (all on permanent display in Room 95)
National Museum (Copenhagen) – a large collection of China Trade puzzles and a set of fifteen-piece puzzle books and pieces in Room 263; and a Dehua fairness cup in Room 265. (seen in 2002)
 

Puzzles for Sale Online

Mr. Puzzle (Australia) – a good source for nine linked rings and six-piece burr puzzles.
Square Root Games (USA) – very nice hardwood version of the Huarong Pass sliding block puzzle.
Monkey Pod Games (USA) – tangrams, burr puzzles, and entanglement puzzles.
Tucker-Jones House (USA) – heavy duty handcrafted iron entanglement puzzles from easy to very complex.
Fiddl’widdit (USA) – high quality lightweight wire entanglement puzzles—from basic to very difficult.
Puzzle Master (Canada) – puzzle rings and wire puzzles, a giant puzzle ring, and a six-piece burr puzzle.
Livewire Puzzles (Canada) – a six linked rings puzzle, loads of wire puzzles, and even puzzles for your ears.
tangram-table (Switzerland) – full-size tangram tables available in seven colors, four veneers and solid wood.
 

Puzzles to Play Online

Tangram – drag, rotate or flip over the tangram pieces to create your own tangram figures.
Sliding Block Puzzle – move the pieces horizontally and vertically to help Cao Cao escape in 81 moves.
Fifteen-Piece Tangram – arrange the fifteen pieces to create more than 200 Chinese characters.
 

Puzzle Videos and Animations

Tangram – a bit of tangram history from Beijing’s CCTV-9.
Tangram – there are many great tangram animations online, like this and this and this.
Nine Linked Rings – this linked rings animation is in Chinese, but don’t let that stop you!
Huarong Pass Sliding Block Puzzle – a very nice animation of the puzzle’s 81-step solution.
Huarong Pass Sliding Block Puzzle – a brief history of one of China’s favorite puzzles from Beijing’s CCTV-9.
Burr Puzzle – an easy-to-follow solution of the six-piece burr puzzle set to music.
 

Puzzle Books and Magazines

Chinese Puzzles: Games for the Hands and Mind – 100 antique puzzles from the Yi Zhi Tang collection.
Exploring Math Through Puzzles – Wei Zhang’s step-by-step instructions for making over 50 puzzles.
The Tangram Book – Jerry Slocum’s fascinating history of the most popular Chinese puzzle in the world.
Winning Ways – mathematical analysis of puzzles by John H. Conway, Richard K. Guy and Elwyn R. Berlekamp.
Puzzle Projects for Woodworkers – Allan Boardman’s guide to making puzzles, including a six-piece burr.
Cubism for Fun (CFF) – excellent puzzle quarterly published in English by the Nederlandse Kubus Club.
Directory of Puzzle Collectors & Puzzle Sellers – the definitive international puzzle directory.
 

Puzzle Apps for iPods, iPads & Androids

Tangram – Tangram Puzzle Pro, TanGramon, Tangrams, TangTouch, TanZen.
Nine Linked Rings – Rings Puzzle.
Huarong Pass Sliding Block Puzzle – Klotski Lite, Hua Rong Dao, Klotski/Move It.
 
Do you know additional links to traditional Chinese puzzles?
If so, please us with your suggestions.
Thanks!

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