How to Select Logic Puzzles

A logic puzzle is essentially a math problem that requires the use of deduction to arrive at a solution. Logic puzzles aren't just about doing math problems, though--they're also about getting your mind to think in different ways to solve problems creatively. If you're mathematically inclined, you may find that logic puzzles provide you with opportunities to exercise your brain power and have fun at the same time.

Instructions

Select Logic Puzzles

1. Try the most popular of all the various kinds of logic puzzles available today, Sudoku. Find a Sudoku puzzle in your daily paper. If you like it, you can always pick up a book full of puzzles like "200 Difficult Sudoku Puzzles".

2. Look at a site like Puzzles.com. This site offers monthly downloadable puzzles and an archive of the previous month's puzzles.

3. Select logic puzzles according to their three components. Logic puzzles contain premises, conditions and questions. If you have difficulty understanding the premise of a particular logic puzzle, move on to another one.

4. Look for logic puzzle books that contain diagrams that will help you solve the puzzles.

5. Sign up online to receive puzzles and publications from "Nikoli," the first puzzle magazine in Japan. You will need a Flash player installed on your computer to be able to use the puzzles online.

6. Try one of the most popular types of logic puzzles, the type in which you're presented with incomplete information about five different people. To solve the puzzle, use the information you're given to make deductions until you figure out the missing information.

7. Try other popular types of logic puzzles, such as maze puzzles, Sudoku number puzzles, creative crossword puzzles, Kakuromath puzzles and hidden picture puzzles.

Solve Logic Puzzles

1. Look for patterns, such as groupings of similar objects.

2. Create a diagram for charting deductions you've made based on the information presented in the puzzle.

3. Give it time. Keep in mind the more logic puzzles you complete, the more intuitive the solutions become.

Tips & Warnings

• See how long it takes you to complete a puzzle. Compare your time to the average time listed for the puzzle. If you're on par or ahead of schedule, you may be ready to select more advanced puzzles.

• Logic puzzles may help you prepare for analytic reasoning questions on GRE and LSAT tests. You can find some standard logic puzzles in books designed to help people prepare for these tests.

• Make copies of logic puzzle grids or use a pencil when completing grids, especially if you're working on more advanced puzzles.