Love puzzles? 10 fascinating facts for puzzling enthusiasts

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers became an instant Sunday Times bestseller when it was published last year.

The novel is set in a retirement community comprised entirely of Britain's top puzzlemakers - from fiendish crossword creators, to a maze builder, jigsaw puzzle painter and even the ultimate pub quiz compiler. It's the tale of an orphan brought up by this community, who learns the secrets of his inheritance by solving a series of clues.

It's the debut novel by Samel Burr, and tells the tale of an orphan brought up by this community, who learns the secrets of his inheritance by solving a series of clues.

Samuel got his inspiration after filming a documentary in a retirement village and volunteering as a telephone befriender to older people. He researched the puzzlemaking world to learn some of the secrets of Britain's greatest brains.

10 fascinating puzzling facts

So here the author reveals ten of his favourite pieces of puzzling trivia he uncovered.

1. Samuel was inspired by a real-life legend

A legendary crossword setter called Ruth Crisp was a huge inspiration behind many of the strong-willed, sharp-minded female characters in my book. She was one of the few women operating in a very male-dominated world, compiling under the names "Crispa" and "Vixen", eventually becoming one of the few compilers to deliver crosswords to all five of the national broadsheet newspapers, including the Independent, whose launch puzzle she created in 1986.

2. Lewis Carrol hid puzzles in his prose

Gameplay in fiction isn’t anything new. It goes back to the likes of Lewis Carrol, who liked to hide acrostic puzzles and riddles in his prose, so his books could be played as well as read.  Symbolic Logic, one of his lesser-known works, isn’t a children’s book at all, but a series of logic puzzles that leaned into his incredible mathematical mind.

3. The Philippines has a puzzle museum

A museum called The Puzzle Mansion in the Philippines has over 1500 preserved puzzles on display — breaking the world record for the largest collection. It’s also a B&B and attracts thousands of visitors from all over the globe every year. 

4. What is God's Number for the Rubik's cube?

Many will be familiar with the Rubik’s cube, but did you know there are approximately 43 quintillion (43,252,003,274,489,856,000) different ways to solve one? Despite this astronomical number, every configuration can be solved in 20 moves or fewer, a concept known as 'God's Number'.

5. The first jigsaw puzzle

A master map engraver called John Spilsbury accidentally invented the first ever jigsaw back in 1762. He stuck a map onto wood and then cut around the countries, presenting the puzzle to local school children in a bid to help them with their geography. Jigsaws for adults didn’t appear until the 1900s. 

6. The health benefits of puzzles

Getting your daily dose of puzzling in isn’t just good for our mental health (reducing stress, lowering heart rate, increasing dopamine levels) but helps our physical wellbeing too. Tackling puzzles is scientifically proven to reduce heart rate and blood pressure, plus it reinforces connections between brain cells, improving mental speed and short-term memory.

7. Puzzle sales soar during difficult times

A puzzling resurgence took place  during the Covid pandemic with jigsaw puzzle sales reaching £100m in the UK in 2020 alone– a rise of 38% from the previous year. Interestingly, jigsaws have long been a great source of entertainment (and distraction) during difficult times. They became immensely popular during the Great Depression.

8. Which day of the week sees the hardest crossword?

Zooming through the crossword in the paper? Did you know the complexity of the grids increases across the week, with Sunday featuring the most difficult clues?

9. The biggest jigsaw ever made

If 500 or even 1000-piece jigsaws are becoming a bit of a breeze, perhaps have a go at the largest jigsaw ever made? It’s produced by a German game company Ravensburger and consists of 40,320 pieces (which they suggest should take 600 hours to complete) 

10. The greatest living enigmatologist

Not many people know that the study of puzzles, including mathematical, logical, or word-based, is known as Enigmatology. Will Shortz, the legendary crossword editor at The New York Times, is considered one of the greatest living enigmatologists, holding the only degree in the study of puzzles.  

Eagle-eyed readers may have spotted the message secreted in a line above.