Info Page

The purpose of this web site is to promote creative and cognitive thinking. The puzzle problems need to be approached with creative thinking, by studying all information and combining known and unknown relations. From these combinations a solution can be formed. This way of thinking works as well for a physicist as for a housewife who finds a quicker way to perform a daily task. For some puzzles, solutions will not be given on this site. Don't give up too quickly if a solution is not found. You will find that your creative thinking will improve as you employ it more often. However, if you're losing sleep over one or two puzzle problems, go to the Info Page and ask the Holy Sphinx for help.

When this site was first initiated, the aim was not to get lots of hits, but to reach as many people as possible without sacrificing attractiveness for speed. However, I have tried to keep loading time to a minimum by keeping the images small. The applets have also been programmed so that they require a minimum of loading time. These applets add interactiveness to the site, which was another goal we set ourselves. The inclusion of applets meant that it was not possible to guarantee optimal access for all browsers and platforms; I opted for Microsoft Explorer 3.0 & 4.0 and Netscape 3.0 & 4.0, both for Windows95.

1. General tips for solving puzzles:
   
   Use logical reasoning
   Make an organized list
   Use or look for a pattern
   Brainstorm
   Make a picture or diagram
   Act out the problem or use objects
   Make it simpler
   Guess and check
   Use or make a table
   Work backwards
   
   
2. If you work with a 14-inch monitor, when using frames the main page may often be very small. You can get around this problem by opening the page concerned as a new window.

   Explorer and Netscape have such an option. Click the right mouse button on the link you want to open, and select "Open in New Window". The page will now be displayed in full screen.

   To display the page with frames again, just close the new window or click on the minimized window in the task bar.

3. Another way to increase the viewing screen: You can disable some of the browser's toolbars to get a larger view.

This web site was written with the Internet Explorer 3.0 & 4.0 in mind. Certain features which are not supported by other browsers will not work. The resolution needs to be 800 x 600 pixels and high colours. Compatibility with the Netscape Navigator has been maintained as far as possible.

Tip for Regular Visitors

In order to be sure that you always get the most recent version of the pages, it is best to set your browser to check for newer versions of stored pages. This is because if you visited our site earlier you might still have older versions stored in your Cache directory.

1. Ms Explorer:
   Go to View/Options/Advanced/settings/ "Every visit to the page".
2. Netscape:
   Go to Options/Network Preferences/Cache/ "Every time".

1. If you want to make a puzzle quickly click the right mouse button on the figure and save it as a Bmp or Gif file or copy it straight to the clipboard using the "COPY" command, and then load the file thus obtained into a drawing program, for example "Paint" or "CorelDraw", and print it. Before you print the figure, you can enlarge or reduce it if you want. After printing, cut the figure out, being careful to follow the lines. Sometimes the figure has to be folded or glued along dotted lines. The puzzles look best if you use different materials/types of wood.

2. Another way of copying the figure for a puzzle to a drawing program is to take the figures file out of the cache directory, and then load it into a drawing program. Internet Explorer's cache directory shows clear names, but Netscape Navigator's cache directory uses numbers for file names. This makes finding a particular file a puzzle; smart move by Netscape!

Three-dimensional puzzles are often made of wood. All sorts of wood can be used. Ash, birch, beech and oak are usually readily available. Hardwoods, such as mahogany, ebony and teak, are more difficult to obtain. Dark and light wood used together produce a nice contrast.

The wood to be used for a puzzle should be bone-dry. After sawing the pieces, each one should be painted or varnished. When making the indentations, you have to remember to take the thickness of the paint into account, so that the puzzle does not fit together too tightly. If an exact fit has been achieved, but the puzzle has not been painted, the wood will continue to shrink and after a while the puzzle will become loose-fitting.

Of course, numerous materials can be used, including plastics, such as perspex or trespa. Sheet metals (copper, zinc, etc.) which can be worked into hollow shapes are very suitable materials. Working with such materials calls for a certain amount of skill. People with two left hands might be better off getting a skilful friend to make their puzzles for them.

Unless otherwise specified, all content on this site, which includes: art work, music, text, Java applets, scripts, etc., is not in the public domain and all rights are reserved by the authors concerned. We set ourselves the following rules:

1. Give credit to the members of alt.brain.teasers and rec.puzzles.
2. Give credit to all known authors.
3. Ask an author's permission to use his/her work.
4. The puzzles will not be used for commercial purposes unless authorized.
5. The author has the right to have his name or puzzles removed from the site.
6. The author reserves all copyrights.
7. A copyright notice will be placed on the site notifying people that the content is not in the public domain and that all rights are reserved.

This web site was made with help from the following people:

• Glynis Johns, who did the editing.
• Jos van Uden, Robert Abbott, Adrian J. Chung, David Eck, Jared Weinberger, Karl Hörnell, Rick Field, Roger Zeitel, David Dunham, Jody Powlette, Ishihama Yoshiaki, Martin Chlond, Michel Hofman and Paul Barendregt, they programmed the Applets/Scripts found on this site.
• home Holland, for their support.
• Puzzlers from alt.brain.teasers & rec.puzzles and others not named here, who supplied us with material which made this site what it is today.