Games World of Puzzles

[AndrewParr]

Since we are a like-minded bunch, perhaps some of you would appreciate trying out a puzzle series of mine that is going to be published in December.

I've been writing for World of Puzzles magazine, an American publication, for a few years now, and I try to include a variety of logic, word, visual and maze puzzles in my series. Many of my creations are based on existing puzzle forms, like word searches or logic puzzles. Some of my puzzles take an existing form and add a surprise twist in some way (like solving a Hashi puzzle and then having to navigate through it, like a maze). And some of my puzzle ideas are completely original.

I used to think, "are these puzzles too hard?" But after getting to know the World of Puzzles audience a little better, I know now there is no such thing. So if you'd like to have a challenging break from mapping your newest Revomaze, why not pick up a copy of World of Puzzles?

The new special section will be called "Holiday Road." It's a puzzle series inspired by my many intercontinental road trips through the USA.

Here's an older edition so you can see what the cover looks like.

Thanks for reading this!

Andy

[AndrewParr]

Me again.

The series consists of 10 puzzles to solve, each giving a clue to solving a metapuzzle that appears at the end of the series. I've picked one puzzle to post here that I think would appeal to the Revomaze community.

I hope you enjoy it. And feedback is always welcome.

Andy

[AndrewParr]

I'm coming to the puzzle community looking for a favor...

Obviously, there are a lot of puzzle enthusiasts here. Some puzzle critics too. I was hoping to get some feedback from all you experts on a puzzle. It's a new logic puzzle I've written. I don't need anyone to test solve it (but if you enjoy this type of puzzle, be my guest). What I'd really like feedback on is the topic. It's music-themed, and I need to know if I'm assuming too much from the solver. Even without a music background, could the average solver get all the information they need from what I have provided and solve the puzzle?

Feedback is welcome!

Thanks,

Andy

[a-maze-ing]

I would be happy to take a look at a new puzzle and provide feedback. Consider me a puzzler without specific musical background (although I must admit I correctly remembered where the C is on a piano when a piano puzzle was discussed on a forum last year .

[AndrewParr]

Great! I attached the file to my previous message if you'd like to look it over.

Thanks!

Andy

[a-maze-ing]

Ah, I did not see an attachment via TouchBB, but a browser shows it.
Having looked at the puzzle (and worked on it for almost an hour) I can confirm no additional googling or musical background is required to solve it. All relevant information is properly explained on the page itself, the rest is pure logic deduction/exclusion.

Having said that, I can't help commenting on the puzzle itself: Wow, what a beautiful b*****d! I thought it would be a logigram, but it was definitely more than that!
The low and high notes with equal names cause major confusion, but at the same time they are essential to the puzzle. There is not the tiniest bit of redundancy in the clues, and yet they are enough to solve the whole puzzle without any doubt and without any trial and error.
Great work, where do I get more of this (in Europe)?

[AndrewParr]

Wow, I didn't expect such a positive response, so thanks for the kind words! And I appreciate you taking the time to test solve it too. I'm glad I don't need to reword anything - I thought I might need to add a definition of terms (beat, pitch, measure) but I assumed the average solver should have a minimal familiarity with music notation.

As far as getting more puzzles... I can post more here for you from time to time. I am constantly writing (in my free time)!

My proudest moment: having my puzzle called a b*****d. I've seen that label used to describe some awesome revomazes.

Andy

[AndrewParr]

For anyone interested, my junk is being featured in the current issue of World of Puzzles. On sale now! Check your local supermarket, newsstand, or favourite book store. In North America only, as far as I know (sorry, most people in this forum).

I'll attach another one of my non-logogram logic puzzles, from an older issue of said magazine. If you do try this puzzle, don't worry about the grid. That has no bearing on the solution; it was used for a metapuzzle in that particular series.

Have fun!

Andy

[AndrewParr]

Who wants a new Revomaze to play with?

Yeah, me too. That's what motivated me to design a Revomaze-inspired puzzle for a future issue of World of Puzzles. The goal was to give the solver the experience of exploring a multi-level maze while avoiding traps. And, I threw in a dexterity challenge too. (What Revomaze would be complete without one?)

Chris Pitt has kindly reviewed and approved this puzzle for publication. So I'd like to post it here for the Revo community to try first. Keep in mind, this is going to be only one from a series of nine puzzles with an overlying story, so some of the text on the page is not necessary/relevant to your solving experience. Feedback is always welcome.

Incidentally, the story I'm writing for this puzzle series is inspired by a text adventure computer game I loved as a teenager. Can you guess which one from this clue? You start out west of a white house, near a mailbox. The house has a boarded front door. And a trophy case.

[AndrewParr]

Here's the solution.