Frank Carlson Library

Thorough, systematic introduction to serious cryptography, especially strong in modern forms of cipher solution used by experts. Nihilist, grille, U. S. Army, key-phrase, multiple-alphabet, Gronsfeld, Porta, Beaufort, periodic ciphers, and more. Simple and advanced methods. 166 specimens to solve - with solutions.

I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity. Edgar Allan Poe Try not to go insane as you enter the world of master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe, with this fascinating collection of cunning puzzles and curious riddles. The ground-breaking master of mystery and horror Edgar Allan Poe was fascinated by puzzles and codes, as well as being the inventor of detective fiction. So, you will need your wits about you, as you hone your own skills...

My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. -Sherlock Holmes, The Sign of the Four. Pit your wits against the greatest detective of them all with this collection of fiendish and hugely entertaining puzzles and enigmas. Some involve riddles, some plays on words, and some rely on mathematical principles. Use your powers of logical...

Noted mathematician T. H. O'Beirne leads readers through a delightful maze of problems and solutions that are as artfully formed as any great poem or melody. Most require little mathematical knowledge, just careful logic and a playful imagination. Each chapter presents a series of thematically related brainteasers: difficult journeys featuring unlikely passengers and inadequate transport; geometric paradoxes; pouring liquid puzzles; cube and color...

Chronicle Books is pleased to continue the Puzzlemaster Deck line with this new deck from acclaimed NPR Puzzlemaster Will Shortz, crossword puzzle editor for the New York Times. Packed with 75 verbal brainteasers each, this deck will challenge all who enjoy wordplay. None of the puzzles require pen or paper, making them perfect for playing while standing in line, commuting to work, or hanging out with friends.

Sharpen Your Sleuthing Skills with These Super Brain-Strainers Mystery: A burglar robs many homes throughout the day. At the last house, he breaks in through the back door. This house has more valuables than any of the other houses, and nothing is there to stop him from taking them, but he doesn't take anything. How come? Put on your detective hat and prepare to solve the best mindbenders from the popular puzzle book series One-Minute Mysteries....

Frame games, as seen in USA WEEKEND magazine and read by more than 48,000,000 people in 600 newspapers weekly, are an extremely popular and amusing form of word puzzle that represent a famous phrase, song, person, place, or movie. By looking at the way the letters are formed and where they are placed in relation to the other letters, you can piece together a solution. These artfully constructed brainteasers are a favorite among teachers, travelers,...

Devised by devious genius Tom Cutler, The Pilot Who Wore a Dress is a fiendish collection of riddles, mysteries and puzzles to test and tease your brain. Here's a simple one to get you started: four bodybuilders are huddling together in the street, under a small ladies' umbrella, yet after 20 minutes not one of them has got wet. How is this possible? Separated into original brainteasers and timeless conundrums, plus locked-room head-scratchers and...

Solving puzzles can be murder when a PI and a crossword editor join forces to catch a killer in the first novel of Nero Blanc's fiendishly clever crossword mystery series Playboy Thompson C. Briephs has just been found strangled in his bed. The police believe the Newcastle Herald crossword editor, a scion of a blue-blooded New England family, died from kinky sex gone wrong. But cop-turned–private investigator Rosco Polycrates thinks there's a...