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Games and Quizzes for Younger Children
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
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A month or two ago I started work on The Problem Site: Junior Edition, a section of The Problem Site specifically designed for younger children. The games in this section deal with topics like estimation, attribute comparison, and spelling.
Since the last post here, two more games have been added to this section of the site. They are Guess It! (an estimation game) and Spell It! (a spelling game).
The spelling game is brand new; the programming was just finished this morning. So if you experience any glitches or problems with the game, please drop me a comment!
Thanks,
DougLabels: junior edition, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Games For Young Children, Browser Update
Friday, April 11, 2008
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Good morning! There are two purposes for this post. One is to tell you about a new section on The Problem Site, and the other is to tell you about an available browser update for Internet Explorer users.
The Problem Site: Junior Edition
Over the years that The Problem Site has been online, many people have commented that they wished there were games designed for younger children - a little bit "flashier", and addressing more simple thinking skills.
As response to that request, a new section is being added to The Problem Site. It is The Problem Site: Junior Edition. This section is still in its infancy - although there are several games under development as I write, only one is available for play: Colors, Shapes & Sizes. This is a game which helps children recognize attributes of shapes they see.
Several more games will be added by September 2008.
Browser Update
If you use Microsoft's Internet Explorer, you are probably aware that a couple years ago Microsoft had a legal battle which resulted in them having to change their browser to include a "Click To Activate" feature on all plug-ins like Java and Flash applications.
This was a serious annoyance. Many sites used javascript and other means to bypass this restriction. I chose not to do so on any of the puzzler sites, for a variety of reasons. Primarily because, unlike other sites which had flash animations scattered willy-nilly throughout their site, making their pages look like a virtual minefield of unactivated content, the puzzler sites only had flash applications on its game pages, and one extra click was not a serious inconvenience for people who were going to have to click the game anyway.
The good news is, Microsoft has obtained the necessary licenses to remove this annoying feature from their web browser. So if you've still got the "Click to Activate" message, you should seriously consider getting the Microsft updates.Labels: browser, junior edition, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Updated Sidebar - New Easter Egg
Thursday, April 3, 2008
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Not much to say today, except the right-hand sidebar at The Problem Site has been updated again. A little bit nicer graphically, and I went back to displaying all the games, so once again the sidebar functions as a site map.
In addition, I made a minor tweak to the styles of links, which will make it easier for people to recognize which games they have and have not played.
Finally, in the process of updating the sidebar, I did add a new Easter Egg, so if you've been on a quest to find all the Easter Eggs, there are now twelve on the site.
And if you want hint where to find the new egg...
...all the hint you need is right here in this post. :)Labels: easter eggs, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Game Level Editor - Fizziks Tilt
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
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A few weeks ago I posted that the Fizziks Tilt game was available to play. This is a game in which a marble is rolled around a maze, following the laws of Physics, including friction forces and gravitational forces.
At the time I mentioned that there would eventually be a "Level Editor" which members could use to create their own levels. Then I sent out emails to a few members, inviting them to try out the level editor.
What I discovered was very interesting; for most people, figuring out how to create an interesting and challenging level was not intuitive. It took several tries for most people to come up with a level that was good enough to post on the site.
It's a whole lot different than Tile Puzzler, in which creating a difficult puzzle is easy.
Since then I've been debating how to handle the editor. After all, I don't want to spend all my time telling people "No, this is not challenging/interesting enough."
Finally I've opened the level editor to the public. EXCEPT - in order to use it, you first have to demonstrate that you're familiar with how the game works and good enough at it that you can solve several of the hardest levels on the site. Once you've done that, you can begin creating levels.
GIVE THE LEVEL EDITOR A TRY!Labels: fizziks, theproblemsite, tile-puzzler
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Fizziks Tilt - A Physics Game
Thursday, February 7, 2008
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Good morning, everyone! Normally I don't post information about games on the Puzzler sites until they are completely finished, but I'm making an exception here.
I've just added a game called Fizziks Tilt to The Problem Site. It is a game in which you use your keyboard to navigate a marble through mazes. But the press of a an arrow key does not move the marble in that direction; it applies a force in that direction. The result is a game which functions more like "the real world".
In addition, there are some interesting things to deal with in some of the levels, like planets, which create a gravitational force, or clouds, which produce a one-directional force, and there are also "Tilt" triggers, which - if you hit them - cause the entire maze to tilt, so one direction becomes downhill.
All these forces: planets, winds, tilts (and even friction!) are properly calculated using the appropriate equations, to provide a true "Fizziks" experience.
The game is not completely finished, but I have some other things I need to work on for awhile, so I thought I'd post what I have done for you to enjoy!
Fizziks Tilt
Note: If you want your scores to appear in the high score lists, be sure to LOGIN at The Problem Site!Labels: fizziks, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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The Problem Site Updates
Thursday, January 24, 2008
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The last couple weeks have seen some changes at The Problem Site. Some of those changes you might not have noticed.
I began to notice a while back that The Problem Site has been having some "slow down" issues. As I've had time I've been studying the code behind each of the games and resources on the site, trying to find the culprit that's bogging down the server.
It turns out, the culprit was not any of the games at all; it was the database server. So one day last week I made a copy of the database and moved it to another web server. Presto! Problem solved!
In the process of making these changes, however, I took another look at the layout of some of the pages, and realized that with the number of games and resources on the site, listing them all on the right-hand sidebar was getting truly cumbersome. So I limited the sidebar to showing only the most popular games and resources. Everything else is accessed by clicking 'View More' under the different headings.
This led me to re-evaluate how the main pages (Math Games, Word Games, Miscellaneous, etc) appear. With the large icons and descriptions next to each resource, people have to do a lot of scrolling just to view the different games. So, I'm trying something new. If you visit the Math Games page, you will see that all the games are listed by title, with a small icon, right at the top of the page. Then, for those who want more details, you can scroll down through the page for game explanations.
Over the next day or two I will be working on the other main pages to make them match this format.
One more feature which was just added; at the bottom of most pages you will see a heading that says "If you liked [game name], try one of these...", followed by a few icons for games that are similar to the game you just played.
If any of these changes cause problems for you, or you find any broken links, please send me an email to let me know: dtwitchell@virtu-software.com. Or you can just post a comment here.
Thanks,
Doug TwitchellLabels: theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Hangman That Cheats
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
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Yesterday I posted a notice that the dictionary used by Hangman has been updated. What I didn't tell you is that I was working on a brand new version of Hangman.
A game of Hangman that CHEATS!
This is a game idea I built several years ago, which I used to torment friends and relatives. But I didn't put it on any of my sites, because I'm not quite mean enough to want to torment complete strangers with a game that cheats.
But someone reminded me of the game recently, and I decided it would be okay to put it on the site, with appropriate notification that the game was cheating, so no one would get too frustrated with it.
So I redesigned the game to go on The Problem Site
Really, the challenge on this game is to figure out how the game cheats. Once you think you've figured it out, go ahead and scroll down to the bottom of the game page to find out if you're right!
Here's the game: Cheater Hangman
Enjoy!Labels: hangman, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Hangman Game Update
Monday, January 14, 2008
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Hangman is one of the very oldest games on The Problem Site; it has been on the site almost since the very beginning. It has also undergone changes a couple times.
One thing that hasn't changed is the dictionary on which the game is based. At the time the game was created, I found a 17 thousand word dictionary which was about the best I could find.
However, that the word list was not very accurate; it contained a variety of misspellings, which were (of course!) very frustrating for hangman players.
Since then, I have switched to using the Enable2K dictionary for new word games, but never took the time to update hangman.
That change, finally, has been done. Hangman now uses a word list containing not 17 thousand but 170 thousand words.
Play Hangman!Labels: hangman, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Announcing: Subtraction Triangles
Sunday, January 6, 2008
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The last time a new game made its appearance on The Problem Site, my niece scolded me a bit, saying: "Uncle Doug, how come you didn't put up an announcement about the new game?"
So, Annie, this is for you.
ANNOUNCING: SUBTRACTION TRIANGLES
Many students are returning to school tomorrow (around here most students started back to school on Thursday, but I know not everyone runs on the same schedule as we do up here in the cold northern reaches of the US), so just in time to kick off a new week and a new year, and get the brain in gear, I'd like to direct your attention to the new game on The Problem Site: Subtraction Triangles.
Subtraction Triangles are like upside down and backwards Pascal's Triangles. I won't explain any more here, since it's explained on the game page. I will just say this: Even though the puzzles are divided into "Easy" and "Difficult", don't think that the "Easy" puzzles are going to be so easy that you can do them with your eyes closed. They're not that easy!
I hope you enjoy the new game!Labels: math, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Merry Christmas, and a Contest!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
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Good morning! This is going to be a bit of a hodge-podge posting; please read through to the very end, because this post includes a contest for you to enter, in which you could win a subscription to Quote Puzzler.
First, though, in honor of the Chrismas season, I thought some might enjoy a couple pieces of Christmas writing. One is a very serious and true Christmas story, the other is an amusing series of letters to and from Santa Claus.
Second, I'm working on a new puzzle game for The Problem Site, however, I just got a contract to write a series of 90 math competition problems in the next few weeks, so the game is going to have to wait. Combine Christmas with 90 math problems and doing a wholescale upgrade of Quote Puzzler next weekend, and I'm sure you can imagine, I'm going to disappear from view for awhile!
The Contest
Creating new games and puzzles for The Problem Site is a lot of fun. The greatest challenge is not programming a puzzle, but coming up with a puzzle idea. Do YOU have ideas for educational games/puzzles?
If you do, write up (in detail) how your game/puzzle would work, and explain why it is educational, rather than "just entertaining". Then email it to me at: dtwitchell@virtu-software.com.
The very best game idea will receive a six month free subscription to Quote Puzzler. Other game ideas may (or may not) be awarded free subscriptions, at my sole discretion.
All puzzle ideas submitted will become the property of The Problem Site.
This competition will remain open until January 31st, 2008.
Important Note: Do NOT send your puzzle idea as a file attachment. For security reasons, I do NOT open file attachments from people I don't know! Your puzzle idea MUST be in the main body of your email.Labels: contest, quote-puzzler, theproblemsite, writing
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Popular Games
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
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A couple weeks ago Mike asked for a listing of all Entrapment Puzzles which had never been solved. I had planned to do that, but several other projects got in the way, and by the time I did get to it, the issue had become a moot point, because all the Entrapment Puzzles have now been solved at least once.
Back in August I made the following statement about Entrapment: I suspect that by the time the school year is over, this geometry game is going to prove to be one of the favorites on the site!
My prediction has already turned out to be correct, long before I expected it to. Within the last couple weeks the popularity of this game has skyrocketed, until it has reached the point where more Entrapment games are played each day than any three other games on The Problem Site put together. Several thousand Entrapment games are played each day now.
I was recently asked which are the most popular games on The Problem Site, and that is a slightly different list than the one I posted back before school began. So I thought I would post that list here.
The top games, in order of popularity:
6. One To Ten*
5. Picture Word Game
4. Trio Match
3. Hangman
2. Adders
1. Entrapment
* The popularity of this game fluctuates wildly from week to week depending on what math units elementary school students are studying; whenever schools are studying order of operations, One To Ten becomes one of the most played games on the site.Labels: theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Monty Hall's Game - A Probability Question
Thursday, November 29, 2007
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This post is particularly for math teachers and those who enjoy mathematics. The Treasure Hunt makes use of a mathematical riddle called the "Three Door Puzzle" or the "Monty Hall Game" - this is a puzzle that inspires some controversy among people who like to ponder the weighty matters of the universe (like: how can I win a million dollars in a game show?)
The Puzzle/riddle/game is explained here: The Monty Hall Game. Visit that page not just to learn about the game, but also to play it online, and find out the truth about it!
There is also an explanation of the puzzle here: Choosing The Right Door. Yesterday someone visited that page and posted an argument that the correct solution is, in fact, not correct. Since he signed his name "Monty Hall", I wasn't sure whether he was trying to be funny or serious. But I decided it would be a good idea to have this simulation online for anyone who wants to try it out.
Also, for math teachers, it might be a good discussion starter to have your students read both the article linked above and the dissenting opinion on that page. Then, when they've read and discussed and argued, let them play the simulation.
 Labels: math, monty hall, probability, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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This Week's Brainfood Puzzle
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
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Thought I'd drop just a quick note here to say...check out this week's BrainFood Puzzle.
Last week's puzzle had a lot of solvers, but this week...not so many! Can you figure it out before the solution is posted on Sunday?Labels: brainfood, puzzle, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Picture Word Game Addition
Thursday, November 15, 2007
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Mike recently requested a couple new features on The Problem Site. I haven't had a chance to do them both, but I have done one.
Mike observed that it would be awfully nice to have definitions of the words used in the Picture Word Game. Since we only have a word list, rather than an actual dictionary, this is accomplished in the same way as it's accomplished in the Hangman Game: by paying a visit to Dictionary.com
When you finish your "Picture Word Game", whether you figured out the word or not, a link titled "Definition" appears next to the word. Click this link to pop open the definition in a new window.
You'll learn a lot that way, because this game uses some very obscure words!
Thanks for the suggestion, Mike!Labels: picture word game, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Games, Games, More Games...
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
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Sunday I was visiting with some of my young nephews and my niece, and one of them said to me: "Why didn't you post a notice about the new game on The Problem Site?"
My mistake. :D
So, in case you didn't notice it, you'll want to check out this game: The Picture Word Game - Find the secret word to uncover the secret picture.
I wanted to let everyone know that with three thousand Entrapment Puzzles on the site, people have been working very hard at solving them. As of today, there are only 73 Entrapments which have never been solved. Keep up the good work, and lets see if we can bring that number down to ZERO!
(And for those who were skeptical that they could all be solved, I hope you're starting to believe now!)
Finally, I wanted to let everyone know, if you are not yet a subscriber at Quote Puzzler, or your subscription is scheduled to expire before Christmas of 2007, I strongly encourage you to subscribe (or resubscribe, as the case may be) before December 1st.
Why? Because on December 1st, I will have a special treat that will be available to subscribed members only.
Am I going to tell you what it is? NOPE! I'm not! :DLabels: entrapment, picture word game, quote-puzzler, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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High School Math Problems
Saturday, November 10, 2007
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I know some of you have been chomping at the bit for Graeme's new High School Math Problem for the month of November. You'll be happy to know Graeme is back, and has a brand new math challenge for you! Be sure to stop by and check it out!Labels: math, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Picture Word Game
Monday, November 5, 2007
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In case you haven't noticed it, there's a new game at The Problem Site. The game is kind of a Reverse Hangman game- instead of a picture being revealed as you make incorrect guesses, a picture is revealed as you make correct guesses.
There are approximately 22,000 words in the game (but not nearly that many pictures!), so you won't run out of words to play for a very long time.
Here's the game:
The Picture Word Game
Enjoy!Labels: picture word game, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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One To Ten, In And Out
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
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The new Flash version of the old game "One To Ten" is now online at The Problem Site. When you click "One To Ten" in the game menus, you get this version instead of the old one.
The old version hasn't been removed from the site, so you can still try it out by going to the game page and clicking the link for the old version.
Speaking of new Flash versions of old games, if you haven't noticed it yet, in the discussion forum at Quote Puzzler, we're talking about a new version of the old game In And Out
The only way you can access this game is by creating a membership account at Quote Puzzler and visiting the discussion forum.
Hope you enjoy both of these updated games!Labels: in and out, one to ten, quote-puzzler, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Rotating Block Puzzle
Friday, October 12, 2007
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First, if you missed yesterday's post, be sure to check out the new version of One To Ten which is being tested out. I'd love to hear feedback on the new version.
Today, I'd like to point out a brand new game on The Problem Site. It's called The Rotating Block Puzzle.
This is kind of like a two-dimensional Rubiks Cube. You have 16 squares in a four by four array, and you rearrange them by rotating three by three squares. You'll see what I mean when you try it out.Labels: one to ten, rotating block, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Order Of Operations Game - New Version
Thursday, October 11, 2007
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In my previous post I was talking about Order Of Operations (PEMDAS), and I mentioned the "One To Ten" game, which is currently the featured game on The Problem Site.
As I was looking at the game, however, I realized that this was one of my very first games created for the site, and it had some serious shortcomings.
The primary one is that it gives you no feedback about how you're doing. You enter 10 expressions, and when you're done you click submit...
...and the computer tells you which ones you have wrong, and never gives you the opportunity to fix your mistakes.
I decided to reprogram this as a Flash game. The new format lets you get more immediate feedback. You can enter an expression, click "Calculate", and if your expression evaluates to a number between 1 and 10 inclusive, that number lights up. This way you get immediate feedback, you get to fix your mistakes, and you can also see your progress through the game.
Want to try the new version? It's still being tested, so if you find any bugs, please send me feedback (dtwitchell@virtu-software.com). Actually, now that I think about it, I'd love to have feedback even if you DON'T find any bugs!
Anyway, here's the new version of the game: One To Ten - Flash VersionLabels: one to ten, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Member Login, a New Writing Website
Friday, September 28, 2007
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This morning there was a little quirk with The Problem Site's login system, which I believe is now resolved; nothing major, but if you encounter any problems with the login system, let me know, and I'll get right on it!
Also, while I have your attention, for those of you who are interested in writing, there's a brand new website you should take a look at.
Fifteen Minutes Of Fiction
This is a place where anyone, whether they are children or adults, can spend some time doing creative writing, and get involved in a community of writers. You don't need to be professional - in fact, I built the site for my own use, and I'm certainly not a professional writer!
I plan to introduce a new writing prompt onto the site every week (probably every Sunday afternoon/evening). If you're not sure what a writing prompt is, it's a directed writing assignment. For those who need a little help getting their creativity kicked into gear, a once per week writing prompt is a great way to get started.
This week's writing prompt can be found here: This Week's Writing Prompt
You can also read what has been posted on the site in response to that writing prompt.
So give it a try - create a free writing account, and write something to share with the world!Labels: theproblemsite, writing
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Congratulations, High Scorers
Friday, September 14, 2007
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Well, my congratulations go out to Kaleb and Bryce - the first members at The Problem Site to beat my high score on the Adders! Math Game!
Nice going, guys! (And to the member whose screen name is DouglasIsGoingDown...you're getting close, but not quite there yet! :)
It looks like VICKY is starting to catch up with globuggie in the Entrapment game...
But I'm afraid no one is even in the ballpark to catch DO in the Trio Match game!
For those who are trying to catch DO, be sure to read the hints in the instructions section of the game, because there's no way to catch him without either clearing the board out several times OR creating lots of multiple trios!
Good luck!
DougLabels: adders, entrapment, high scores, theproblemsite, trio match
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Puzzle Progress - Tracking System
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
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Some are wondering how your progress through the puzzles is tracked at The Problem Site. After all, if you login to your membership account, the puzzles still seem to come in a seemingly random order. You don't get Puzzle #1, followed by Puzzle #2, Puzzle #3, etc. So what is going on?
Well, for some puzzles (like Entrapment) the puzzles are sorted in order of difficulty, and you start with the easiest, and move toward the hardest. But what happens if you get a "mental block", and can't figure out puzzle #25? Are you stuck on that puzzle until you solve it?
I didn't want people to have to sit and stare at the same puzzle until they got it, if they wanted to skip it and come back later. So here's how this works...
Instead of giving you the puzzles in order, the site randomly selects a puzzle from the first 30 or 40 unsolved puzzles, and presents it to you. If you get it, great - the site then picks another unsolved puzzle. If you don't get it, the site will go back and grab another unsolved puzzle...but since you've left that puzzle unsolved, the site will periodically grab it again (random luck of the draw) and give it to you again. Eventually you'll be forced to overcome your mental block and get that puzzle done.
So it appears to be random, but actually it's designed to give you a more enjoyable ride! :)
And, while I'm on the subject, I'm pleased to announce that the Side By Side Puzzles now include an option (like Entrapment) to track your progress through the 1200(ish) puzzles. Just make sure you're logged into your member account, and the site will keep track of your progress!Labels: entrapment, side by side, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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The Pirate's Map
Monday, September 10, 2007
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Recently, I realized that International "Talk Like A Pirate Day" is coming up. Actually, I don't celebrate "Talk Like A Pirate Day" - I only remember it because it's the same day as the birthday of twin girls in my church youth group - September 19th.
Anyway, since "Talk Like A Pirate Day" is coming up soon, I decided it was time to create another "Treasure Hunt".
The original Treasure Hunt was built a couple years ago, and was quite popular. As of the writing of this post, there are over 11 thousand people who have attempted the treasure hunt.
The treasure hunt was intended for high school students and beyond - some of the puzzles were exceedingly difficult! Unfortunately, the hunt was discovered by many elementary school teachers, who assumed it would be a good activity for their classes.
So, to those teachers I made a promise that I would eventually create an easier treasure hunt, which was better suited to kids.
(Not that adults can't have fun with it too - I hope kids, parents, and teachers will all get a kick out of this little puzzle!)
I just finished it up, and have only done a minimal amount of testing on the game, so I'm hoping that the readers of this blog will give the game a try and let me know (dtwitchell@virtu-software.com) if you find any problems with the game.
Here it is: The Pirate's MapLabels: pirate's map, theproblemsite, treasure hunt
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Game High Score Lists
Friday, September 7, 2007
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I must begin by offering my apologies to those who are so eager to reach the top of the high score lists at The Problem Site...this morning I added a high score list to the Entrapment game, and in the process, deleted previous high scores for the other games. Thus, everyone starts with a clean slate today.
There are now three places (besides the Problems Section)where you can find high score lists at The Problem Site.
Adders! - This is a fun little game that lets you chomp down correct answers to math problems.
Trio Match - A game that looks a bit like Tetris, but requires a lot of planning ahead, rather than speed!
Entrapment -The Entrapment scores are based on two things: First, the solver receives 25 points for each puzzle solved. Second, for each puzzle solved in LESS THAN THE AVERAGE time, the solver receives and additional 5 points.Labels: theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Two Player Strategy Game - NullGee (Zero Gravity Connect Four)
Monday, September 3, 2007
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Someone commented recently that the last week or two has seen quite a few changes at The Problem Site, and that is certainly true. As I look back over the last few entries in this blog, most of them have been about The Problem Site.
There are a variety of changes I had hoped to implement before school started, and I didn't quite get them all done, so I'm still working on this on Labor Day!
The most recent addition to the site is a new version of "NullGee" (also known as "Zero Gravity Connect Four"). This game is like Connect Four, except that pieces can be dropped from any side.
The old version was one of the very first games added to The Problem Site, way back in 1990-something. It was straight ASP and VBScript, which meant that every move resulted in the entire page being refreshed, which was quite annoying for people with slow internet connections (which was pretty much everyone back then!).
The new version is Flash based, and has a more attractive user interface.
If you like, you can compare the two versions:
Zero Gravity Connect Four, OLD VERSION
Zero Gravity Connect Four, NEW FLASH VERSION
Currently the old version is still linked in, and the new one is not. But please give a try to the new version, and give feedback on what does and does not work well.Labels: nullgee, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Trio Match - Version Two!
Saturday, September 1, 2007
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About a month before I began programming Flash games and puzzles, I created a game on The Problem Site called "Trio Match". I was very pleased with the premise of the game, and have had a variety of very positive feedback from people who have played the game - either as part of a classroom activity, or just for fun at home.
But because I hadn't yet started programming Flash, the game structure was quite cumbersome - every player action resulted in the entire page being refreshed. Not a big deal if you're on a high speed connection, but still not a great system.
So, when I started learning Flash, I looked back at Trio Match and shook my head. What was I thinking, trying to program a game as complex as that without using a tool like Flash?
So I started recreating the game as a Flash app. I made good progress on the game, but then got sidetracked by another project which needed my attention.
Today I stumbled across that almost-finished-flash-project, and decided to finish it.
It turns out I was even closer to finished than I realized. The result is a much smoother game, and it should be much more fun to play.
If you experience any difficulties with the new version of the game, please post a comment here, or send me an email!
Trio MatchLabels: theproblemsite, trio match
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Site Updates, New Problems!
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I'm very happy to announce that Graeme McRae is back for another year of High School Math Problems! Graeme comes up with some very creative and challenging problems, so be sure to check that out. He plans to post a new problem each month. If you solve his problems, you can login and submit a solution for him to grade.
Along the same lines, you will find a brand new brainteaser as well. The BrainFood page will be updated every Sunday throughout the fall and winter (with short breaks for Thanksgiving and Christmas).
So there you have it - a reason to come back every month, and a reason to come back every week!
Also, some changes have been made to the site, which you can read about here: The Problem Site free membership.
Please note that, as always, new features can result in bugs, so if you encounter any problems, I'd like to hear about them!Labels: brainfood, math, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Changes And Updates
Friday, August 31, 2007
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Today is the last day of August, 2007, and tomorrow morning some changes will be implemented on The Problem Site. There may be a period of an hour or two tomorrow morning (probably around 8:00 AM, EST) when the site's behavior may be erratic, and certain features may not function properly. Once these updates are completed, the following features will be available:
1. The login system for the Problems section of the site will be modified. Members will login using their screen name and password, rather than their email address and password. The reason for this change is simple: members are no longer required to provide an email address in order to create a membership account - this will make it easier for children/students to access various parts of the site.
2. Speaking of the "Problems" section of the site, Graeme will have a new High School Math Problem posted tomorrow, and I will have a new BrainFood Puzzle posted.
3. Two games on the site which have high score lists (Adders! and Trio Match) will be modified so that the high score lists will show scores by members only.
4. Also, when you are logged into the site, the site will track how many of the 2800 Entrapment Puzzles you have completed, and will always show you puzzles you have not yet solved, in roughly ascending level of difficulty.
Once these changes are in effect, if you have ANY problems with the site, please fire off an email to me (dtwitchell@virtu-software.com) or post a comment here!
Thanks,
Douglas Twitchell
TPS AdministratorLabels: brainfood, math, membership, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Getting Ready For School!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
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I know, school is finally starting up. Some of the children and teens around here have already started, some are starting tomorrow.
Teachers are updating their classroom websites, and looking for new links to add.
So, I thought I'd help out. I spent quite a bit of time today poking around school/classroom websites from schools all over the country (and a few from around the world!) and noticed that there are several games on the site that get linked over and over and over again. So, to make your life easier, if you want to link to the games that many other teachers are linking to, here are the Top Six most popular educational games on The Problem Site.
For Elementary Classrooms
My Secret Word
One To Ten
Hangman
Side By Side
Adders
Trio Match
If you want to link to all of these on your website, just copy and paste the HTML code from the box below!
For Middle/High School Classrooms
Secret Number Two
Daily Puzzles
One To Ten
Side By Side
The Treasure Hunt
Entrapment
"Entrapment" was a bit of a surprise; this game has only been on the site since mid-spring, and already there are quite a few classroom websites that link to it. I suspect that by the time the school year is over, this geometry game is going to prove to be one of the favorites on the site!
If you want to link to all of these on your website, just copy and paste the HTML code from the box below!
Labels: theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Bookmarking, Part Two
Monday, August 27, 2007
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In my previous post I mentioned that I had to remove the bookmarking link from The Problem Site, because it was causing everything to slow down.
I have done a work-around on that - now the bookmarking icon takes you to the "Page Linking" section of the site, where you can then jump to a bookmarking service.
It's an extra step, I know, but since some of the site's older games require fast loading pages, that takes precedence over bookmarking convenience.
So, give it a try - if you find a game you like, click the bookmarking icon, and then you can either add a link to your own site, or select a bookmarking service!
On a different subject, I'm compiling my list of new puzzles for Brainfood, and that should be back up and running in a couple weeks. Once again, if you have puzzles you'd like to see show up on the site, go ahead and email me!Labels: brainfood, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Bookmarking Service
Sunday, August 19, 2007
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I've gotten a couple comments recently that The Problem Site has been running slow. I spent some time playing with it to see if I could figure out what was going on. This was a great problem solving exercise for me!
Eventually I ended up testing the whole site out on an entirely different web server, and it still was being slow. So I started removing things from the site, to see what would happen...
...and I finally found the culprit...
A few weeks ago I added in the AddThis.com bookmarking service. It's a nice, easy way for people to bookmark the site's pages, but it was causing a horrible slow-down in page loading. As soon as I removed the AddThis.com service, the site went back to normal.
So, I'll be exploring other options to help people bookmark pages they like.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy being back to the regular speed!Labels: theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Abraham Lincoln Quotes, Easter Eggs
Monday, June 25, 2007
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Easter Eggs
I decided to add an Easter Egg Hunt to The Problem Site. This is just a few odd pages scattered throughout the site that either have a joke, an interesting picture, an odd piece of trivia, or hints for solving puzzles on the site.
Hope you have fun looking for those!
Absence From Quote Puzzler
Probably some of you have noticed that I haven't been doing the puzzles on Quote Puzzler lately. The reason for that is very simple.
Periodically I have to go into the site and set up a new batch of quotes for the coming months. And, of course, when I'm setting them up, I have to look at them, which means I run the risk of remembering them. So, when I set up new quotes, I usually stay away from the puzzles for a week or two.
This time, as I was setting up the puzzles, I found some interesting quotes by Abraham Lincoln which were far too long to use as puzzles, so I thought I'd post them here for your consideration:
Quotes By Abraham Lincoln
Let me not be understood as saying that there are no bad laws, nor that grievances may not arise for the redress of which no legal provisions have been made. I mean to say no such thing. But I do mean to say that although bad laws, if they exist, should be repealed as soon as possible, still, while they continue in force, for the sake of example they should be religiously observed.
Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. As a peacemaker the lawyer has superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough.
I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crises. The great point is to bring them the real facts.
On a related subject (not related to Abraham Lincoln, but to my absence from the site), for the next six weeks I will be away teaching at various camps around the state, so I will be on the puzzler sites very little. I will still check in from time to time, but if you have questions or issues with any of the sites, your best bet is to email me: dtwitchell@virtu-software.com. Be sure to specify which site your question pertains to, and give as much detail as possible.
I hope everyone has a GREAT SUMMER!Labels: easter eggs, quote-puzzler, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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A New Look!
Saturday, June 9, 2007
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I thought Entrapment was going to be my last modification to the Puzzler Sites before beginning my summer of camp work.
I was wrong. As I was thinking about the various puzzle sites I maintain, I realized that all of them had very similar layouts, with one glaring exception: The Problem Site. This was one of my very first websites ever built, and its layout was vastly different from all the other puzzle sites.
As I thought about this, I decided I wanted to make The Problem Site similar in layout to the other puzzle sites, but still maintain some of what made it distinctively different from the others. Accordingly, the new layout has a similar menu system, similar borders and backgrounds, but still maintains the right-hand sidebar, which regular visitors to the site will recognize as a distinctly "TPS" feature.
Along the way, I added some new features, like some more attractive buttons:
 
And there's a fun new navigation system at the bottom of each page. On every page you'll see icons that looks like this:
Every time you load a new page, the icons at the bottom will change, so you'll always have some fresh new feature of the site to try out. And, for the adventurous, there is the "Surprise Me!" button which you can click to be transported to a randomly selected game.
Obviously, with all the changes made all at once, there is a risk of introducing some "bugs" on the site. So if you have any problems, please use the site's contact form to let me know, or post a comment here!
Thanks,
DougLabels: theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Geometry Of Midpoints
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
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Last week a new puzzle titled Entrapment was posted on The Problem Site. This new puzzle has already become a big hit on the site, more than I anticipated. Within just a few days there were already close to 2000 puzzle solutions submitted.
On the puzzle page I gave the following hint:
Start out by trying some of the "Practice" puzzles. These are all puzzles which contain exactly three red and three gray dots. What you will discover is that most puzzle solutions are built around triangles, so if you can master the easy puzzles, the more challenging puzzles can be broken down into smaller, more manageable pieces.
I thought I would elaborate on that just a little bit, because the Geometry of the Entrapment Puzzle is quite interesting. The Geometry of Entrapment is the Geometry of Midpoints, and of Triangles.
Take a look at the following image, which shows three completed "Practice" puzzles:
What do you notice about each of these solutions? First, you should notice that the three red dots form a triangle (of course! Three points in a plane always determine a triangle!). Second, of course, the gray dots form a triangle as well. What should also be apparent is that the gray triangle is similar to the the red triangle. And when I say "similar", I'm using the geometric definition of the word similar. These two triangles have congruent angles, and equal ratios of sides.
In fact, if you think about it for a moment, you'll be able to figure out what that ratio of sides is. Are you thinking about it? If you're not sure, you can scroll down to the bottom of this post, where you'll find the answer.
Now, the other thing which is interesting and helpful is the fact that if you pick any two red dots and draw a segment connecting them, there will be two gray dots that define a segment parallel to that segment. Take a look at the picture if you don't believe me. Remember that from your Geometry class?
All of a sudden you should realize why the "Practice" puzzles are called "Practice" puzzles - once you understand the Geometry of the situation, there is very little Problem Solving involved; you can solve each one of the Practice puzzles by counting distances and creating parallel segments.
So why bother with the Practice puzzles? Because if you can get the hang of entrapping triangles, the other puzzles get much easier. Take a look at this puzzle:
A puzzle like this can look very intimidating - and some are even more intimidating than this. But if you can quickly locate triangles to entrap, the puzzle gets easier. Here's an example:
It took me only moments to recognize that triangle which could be entrapped. Note the similar triangle, the common ratio, and the parallel sides. From there I would start placing other dots to maximize the number of red dots entrapped. But it all starts with finding a triangle you can entrap.
When I first started solving these puzzles, I thought This is insane - these beastly things are unsolveable! In reality, even the most challenging Entrapment puzzles can be solved within a minute or two, if you can find the correct triangle to start with!
Have fun ENTRAPPING!
Ratio of Sides: Well? What is the ratio of sides? Did you say 2:1? If you did, you are correct. I won't take the time to do a proof here, but it's well known that a segment connecting midpoints of two sides of a triangle has half the length of the third side.Labels: entrapment, geometry, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Getting Ready For Summer
Monday, May 28, 2007
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Those who have been around the Puzzler Sites for awhile know that when summer hits, I "disappear" for a few weeks. This summer I'm going to be "camp pastor" at several different camps over the course of a month and a half.
What does that mean for the sites? It means that, although I will be checking in on the sites regularly, you shouldn't expect to see any new puzzles appear on the site for the next few months. Here is a little bit of information about the sites to get you through the summer...
BrainFood
The BrainFood Page is about to shut down for the summer; this week's puzzle is the very last one before summer vacation. The next puzzle will appear in September. If you would like to be reminded when the BrainFood page has new puzzles again, you can either use the "subscribe" link to put the BrainFood puzzles into your favorite feed reader, or you can email me(dtwitchell@virtu-software.com). Be sure to specify that you're emailing me because you want to be reminded when BrainFood is back online.
 | Click the email icon to send me an email asking to be put on the BrainFood reminder list. |
On that subject, I haven't decided what sorts of puzzles I'm going to do next fall, so if you have any ideas, drop me an email!
Entrapment Puzzle
If you missed the previous post in this blog, there is a new game on The Problem Site. The game is called ENTRAPMENT, and the goal of the game is to "trap" each of the computer's red dots between your gray dots. Sounds simple, right? Especially when I tell you that you can move your dots, but the computer doesn't move its dots, right?
Turns out it's a little more complex than that, and I won't say any more, except to tell you to go check it out, and also to show you a screenshot of a completed puzzle:
Tile Puzzler
I'm very excited to see the sheer number of puzzles which have been created/solved at Tile Puzzler, since the site went online a few months ago. I think we now have enough puzzles that I can select the cream of the crop and start a "Daily Puzzle" competition complete with high score list (but, unlike Quote Puzzler, without prizes). If you would like to be notified when the daily Tile Puzzler competition starts up, send me an email.
| Click the email icon to send me an email asking to be put on the Tile Puzzler notification list. |
Also, feel free to continue adding puzzles througout the summer. Who knows - some of your puzzles may make it into the competition!
Note: During the summer months you can expect that creation of Tri Puzzles, FreeStyle Puzzles, and Overlap Puzzles will be restricted to members only. This is to keep the site from being flooded with pathetically easy or painfully impossible puzzles. If you want to create these style puzzles, just create a member account and login!
The Puzzler Store
This site will be getting a major overhaul towards the end of the summer; I am putting together a team of product reviewers who are going to be writing reviews of puzzle/educational products. Some of these reviewers are already receiving products directly from publishers to review for this site. Coming in the fall you can expect to see reviews of several math and science tutorial DVDs, and probably a variety of other products.
The Problem Site
As you may have noticed, all the puzzler sites (Tile Puzzler, Quote Puzzler and The Puzzler Store) have very similar page layouts - same color scheme, same background image, same border styles, etc. The Problem Site is, strictly speaking, the very first of the puzzler sites, yet it has a very different layout.
I've been toying with the idea of rebuilding the site layout so it matches the other sites. Any opinions?Labels: brainfood, entrapment, puzzler-store, theproblemsite, tile-puzzler
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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BrainFood: Creating a puzzle
Monday, May 14, 2007
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The Brainfood Puzzles section of The Problem Site is a popular spot on the site; although only two or three people post solutions each week, there is a much larger group of visitors who return every week to read the new puzzle (and presumably check the previous week's solution!)
If you haven't checked out the Brainfood Page, this year the puzzles have been word associations. I give three or four words, and you must figure out what other word can be used in conjunction with these words. Don't understand? Well, here's an example:
The three words: HORSE, FOOTBALL, MERCY
The solution is: QUARTER
Why? Because you can have a QUARTER HORSE, football games have QUARTERS, and to GIVE QUARTER is to grant mercy.
(This particular puzzle can be found here: Horse, Football, Mercy Puzzle)
Today, Ruth (one of the members who posts solutions regularly) asked: How do you come up with these?
The answer to that question is: I work backwards. I start with a solution, and then try to come up with a few phrases that make use of the word.
For example, the day I came up with the QUARTER puzzle, I was sitting in my office, and there was a quarter (25 cents) on my desk. So I thought, "In what other contexts (besides money) do we use the word 'quarter'?"
The answers were pretty obvious - you often hear of Quarter Horses, and of course, many sporting events have quarters. "Giving Quarter" or "Granting Quarter" was a phrase I had heard (or read) many times. It turned out, though, that many solvers had never heard the phrase, so they had a much harder time with the puzzle.
This is one of the things that makes the Brainfood puzzles so interesting; you don't need a specialized knowledge in any area to solve them, but having a broad knowledge base in many subjects will be very helpful.
Ruth's other question was this: Do you think that language is so inventive that you could do this with any three words and enough time?
And my answer to that question is: if we tried it, and were stubborn and patient enough to work away at it, I think we would be very surprised at the number of solutions we could come up with! I'm often surprised by the alternate solutions which visitors come up with. When people come up with alternate solutions that work as well as my own solution, I generally post the alternate solutions in the "Solutions" section.
Here's an example that had alternate solutions by Ruth and yoi55: Hole, Push, Hook Puzzle.Labels: brainfood, brainteasers, theproblemsite
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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