The Art of Puzzles

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These puzzles are beautiful. They are an art. With some good puzzles, I can really feel the creator’s attitude. In such a case, the puzzle reveals the spirit of the creator, and it is actually a piece of art.

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Ikuko. Today, I’d like to talk about one of my most favorite things to do. It’s solving puzzles. There are many kinds of puzzles, as you may know. Would you be so kind as to help me by giving some examples, please?

I especially like logical puzzles with numbers, like Sudoku. Recently, Sudoku is really popular, not only in Japan, but also in many countries around the world, so most of you may know about it already.

Sudoku: Place a number from 1 to 9 in each empty cell. Each row, column and 3×3 block bounded by bold line contains all the number from 1 to 9.

Sudoku is a logic-based, combinatorial, number-placement puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9×9 grid with digits so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3×3 sub-grids that compose the grid (also called "boxes", "blocks", "regions", or "sub-squares") contains all of the digits from 1 to 9.

The first puzzle I enjoyed a lot in my life involved a train ticket. When I was a kid, we had to buy a ticket to ride on the train, and that small paper ticket always had 4 numbers on it.

I used to enjoy making 10 by these 4 numbers. The rules are as follows: make 10 with these 4 numbers by adding or subtracting or multiplying or dividing. You can change the orderm but you have to use all 4 numbers.

Examples:

3 4 4 9  :  4×4 + 3 – 9 = 10

2 6 3 5  :  2 + 6 + 5 – 3 = 10  or  2×6 + 3 – 5 = 10

There are some reasons why I like these puzzles. First, they is simple. Second, they are challenging. Third, they are beautiful. Let me explain about them a little more.

My first reason is that they are simple. For me, simple also means pure and logical. To reach the answer, there should not be any vague guessing, and also we cannot depend on our luck. We have to make everything clear, and just concentrate on enjoying logical thinking. It’s quite mathematical, and that way of thinking is really comfortable for me.

Second, these puzzles are challenging. We have to be creative, to find a way to discover the answer. We use our brains as flexibly as possible to find a good way. Sometimes we do time trials, too. We can get a sense of achievement when we find a good way, and when we get a good time record.

Third, these puzzles are beautiful. They are an art. With some good puzzles, I can really feel the creator’s attitude.  In such a case, the puzzle reveals the spirit of the creator, and it is actually a piece of art.

I know that some people don’t like puzzles, and I think puzzles often occur in other sorts of art, too. Some people don’t like classical music, and some don’t like abstract painting. But, both of these genres also contain amazing puzzles!

But if you aren’t familiar with the world of puzzles yet, why don’t you try and experience it?  I am sure that many of you will love it!

Before ending my presentation, I’d like to challenge you with one more example of “making 10”. Actually, this is from an entrance examination of a junior high school in Tokyo.

Can you make 10 with 3 4 7 8  :  ?

Well, did you pass? Could you get into junior high school?

Thanks so much for your attention. If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them, as long as they are not too puzzling!

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Mayflower英語教室

週末は英語漬け!
http://msoe.jp/

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