Basic dictionary of puzzles and games

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Puzzles and games are integral to intellectual and recreational culture, spanning time and geography. They range from riddles and anagrams to Sudoku and complex logical challenges, showcasing human ingenuity and imagination. Many classic puzzles have significantly influenced discoveries in logic, mathematics, and psychology, crafted by some of history's greatest minds, including Lewis Carroll, Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, and Stephen Sondheim. This dictionary compiles a wide array of puzzles and games from antiquity to the present, with each entry explained in simple language and illustrated for clarity. It features interconnections among puzzles through cross-references and highlights their implications for human history. Covering every domain of human knowledge—from language and logic to visual illusions, rebuses, and mathematical conundrums—this work appeals to both puzzle enthusiasts and history scholars. Marcel Danesi, a Professor of Anthropology and Semiotics at the University of Toronto, has authored numerous books on puzzles and games. He has also contributed puzzles to well-known periodicals and directs a research center at the Fields Institute for Mathematics, focusing on various types of puzzles. Additionally, he serves as editor-in-chief of "Semiotica" and several book series.