h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I just wanted to say well done. It's an esoteric subject, but one that interests me. You see, I used to really enjoy Martin Gardner puzzles as a kid. I used to find them in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine.

The usual trick was to put a puzzle on one page squeezed around advertisements or the end of a short story. Gardner tended to create fictional characters in futuristic stories to form a 'story' of how the puzzle might come up in conversation or in practice. There would be a note at the bottom to check another page for the answer.

The referenced page would answer the first question, but might give an additional puzzle. The plot would thicken for our fictional characters. There might even be three puzzles. In the end, Gardner usually found some overreaching moral or pun to cap off the story/puzzles.

I seem to remember seeing a small series of Hex puzzles in this format. It would be from the late 70s or early 80s, but I wouldn't remember the issue number of the magazine. I suspect these would be reprinted in one of his two books.

I don't mean for this to sound like blatant self promotion. It's just that, as a puzzle fan, I love to find new puzzles and games. And this one is well known to Piet Hein and Martin Gardner fans. It's my entry on Pentominoes A970904 .

Count Zero

Isn't the link from the Soma Cube enough for you Ct Z? Sometimes I think my efforts are all for nought

Pimms (working through the backlog )

No... the soma cube link is plenty. I didn't even suggest that my lowly entry needed a link in the article (I wanted to, but even I couldn't justify it.) So I just put my plug here.

CZ