The following theory is entirely my own work, including the example puzzles… for which I apologize.

Past efforts to classify puzzles have focused on the few specific puzzle types that have been given names (cryptogram, lipogram, anagram) or the context of the puzzle (dialogue puzzle, timing puzzle, machinery puzzle, escape puzzle). Instead I focus on core puzzle mechanics that are common to a wide variety puzzles.

DEFINITION:

A puzzle, for our purposes, is a word, phrase, object, image or concept which is hidden in such a way that it may be uncovered, with the intention that the process of uncovering it will be entertaining.

All puzzles are based on facets of the human psyche in which we are prone to misinterpreting our environment. For instance, many words with different spellings and meanings sound alike when spoken. This confusing inconvenience can be used to create a puzzle:

Unscramble “Knot – Oar – Weather.”

Puzzles play on those niches in the day to day human experience between certainty and the unknown where frequent errors occur. Any error common to humans in general can be turned into a puzzle. Illusions work in the same way, illusions trigger those aspects of the human interpretation of the senses that consistently fail to correctly convey reality. Puzzles are a catalog of the limitations and weaknesses of the human mind. Perhaps the reason solving puzzles is enjoyable is because we are hardwired to receive pleasure when we overcome our weaknesses.

relativity

Facebook broke the news at its annual developer conference today.

“There are 200 million people on Facebook who list themselves as single. So clearly there’s something to do here,” he told the crowd.

Zuckerberg said the service will aim to help people find “real long-term relationships – not just hookups”. Personally, I’m not sure that I want my dating app to immediately deliver me into a long term relationship, but Facebook is gonna do what it wants.

The dating app hasn’t been released yet, so we don’t know heaps about it, but Facebook is promising that it will be safe and private. It sounds like it will be part of Facebook itself, but also separate from the other stuff you do on the platform. Your friends, for instance, won’t be able to see your dating profile, and won’t come up as potential matches. Oh, and it will apparently just be called “Dating”.

BlackFly can travel for up to 25 miles (40km) at a speed of 62mph. The car has been tested in Canada, where the country’s aviation authority has authorized its use…

to operate has been unveiled in California.

BlackFly can travel for up to 25 miles (40km) at a speed of 62mph.

Its makers say it will eventually cost the same as a typical sports-utility car, but early models will be more expensive.

It was revealed on Thursday the company is funded by Google co-founder Larry Page.

Mr Page is also behind Kitty Hawk, a separate US start-up currently testing its personal aircraft in Las Vegas.

Several other rival flying cars are in development across the globe.

BlackFly’s creator is the Palo Alto-based firm Opener. The car has been tested in Canada, where the country’s aviation authority has authorised its use.

Like Kitty Hawk, BlackFly could perhaps be more accurately described as a human-carrying drone. It is not designed to be driven on roads.

The vehicle carries one person in a small cockpit, powered by “eight propulsion systems, spread across two wings”.

It works best, Opener says, when taking off and landing from grassy surfaces.

‘Total command’

“Watching BlackFly take flight just blew me away,” said Darren Pleasance, director of the US Experimental Aircraft Association. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

While the vehicle will not require a pilot’s licence, Opener said as a precaution riders would have to undergo a training programme in order to become acquainted.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton