mathpuzzle.com

What is MathPuzzle.com?

MathPuzzle.com is a long-running personal site for mathematical games, puzzles and recreations, maintained by puzzle collector and writer Ed Pegg Jr. It is less a structured course or puzzle shop and more a deep archive of short articles, problem notes and links, organized mainly by date, with many topics indexed by name.

Its core audience is recreational mathematicians, puzzle enthusiasts and teachers looking for unusual problems. Typical material includes classic and lesser-known puzzles, graph and geometry topics, games and competition-adjacent curiosities. The site also points to related tools and references, and it accepts small PayPal support payments.

A practical way to use it: start with an index page for a topic you already enjoy, such as fair dice, polyominoes or coin weighing, then follow the linked articles and references rather than trying to read chronologically. If you want a broader reference shelf alongside it, MathWorld and Wikipedia are useful for definitions, while WolframAlpha can help check calculations and examples.

What types of math puzzles and games can I find on MathPuzzle.com?

MathPuzzle.com is a long-running archive of mathematical recreations rather than a single game site. The material is mostly written explanations, problem statements and links to applets or programs, so expect to read and think rather than click through polished interactive levels.

The main categories visible across the site include:

• Classic puzzles and games: chessboard tasks, coin weighing, fair dice, tournament dice, Tic Tac Toe, Mini-Go, Dots-and-Boxes-style connection games, and sliding-block puzzles.
• Geometry and tiling: pentagon tiling, dodecahedral tilings, polyominoes, dissections, square packing, and similar dissection puzzles.
• Graph theory and combinatorics: the Hoffman-Singleton game, cubic symmetric graphs, the Fano plane, domino graphs, and graceful rulers.
• Number theory and sequences: prime-generating polynomials, prime megagaps, integer complexity, Egyptian fractions, digital sums, repeating decimals, evil numbers, and the Riemann Hypothesis.
• Logic and computation: philosopher logic, multi-state mazes, 2D Turing machines, WireWorld, encryption, and the Golay code.
• Recreational topics: Sudoku variations, the Social Golfer Problem, Nob Yoshigahara puzzles, burr puzzles, and the Eternity puzzle.

A practical way to use the site is to pick a topic you already teach or study, then treat the page as a starting point: read the problem, try it by hand, and follow the linked programs or Wolfram Demonstrations if you want to experiment. For a general audience, the puzzle pages are the most accessible; the graph theory, number theory and computation pages assume more mathematical comfort. If you want a broader reference shelf alongside it, MathWorld and Wikipedia are useful for definitions, while Wolfram Demonstrations can supply interactive versions of some ideas.

How can I support MathPuzzle.com or access its premium content?

MathPuzzle.com does not present itself as having a premium tier. The site is an archive of mathematical recreations, and the visible support mechanism is a direct PayPal donation, suggested at $10, rather than a paywall or subscription. The site also lists a "Prize Page" and specific prize puzzles such as the Hoffman-Singleton ($20) and Chaos Tiles, plus book recommendations and a "Buy books" link. Those are distinct from a premium-content area: prizes are challenges with rewards, and book links point to outside purchases.

Practical ways to engage

• Donate via the PayPal link if you want to support upkeep.
• Treat the dated archive (2000 through 2026, with hiatus periods noted) as the main content; browse by year rather than expecting a members' section.
• Try the prize puzzles only if you want a defined challenge with a stated reward.
• Use the book recommendations and external references if you want structured learning beyond the site's short articles.

A reader scenario Suppose you enjoyed the pages on fair dice, sliding-block puzzles or the Social Golfer Problem and want more depth. The most reliable next step is to follow the site's own reference list toward books and established math resources, since the site itself is a collection of short explorations rather than a course. For broader reference material, MathWorld and Wikipedia are the kind of general sources the site links to; for interactive demonstrations, Wolfram Demonstrations matches the site's own linking habits. If you specifically want to support independent math writing, a one-off donation is the clearest route here; if you want premium content, this site is not the right fit, and a subscription-based math publication would serve you better.

What are some notable mathematical recreations or problems featured on MathPuzzle.com?

MathPuzzle.com is a long-running personal archive of mathematical games, puzzles and recreations, organized as dated pages and topic pages rather than as a structured course. Its notable material tends toward recreational problems with surprising depth, plus links to software and reference sites used to explore them.

Recurring themes and specific topics

• Games and game theory: the Social Golfer Problem, Tournament Dice, Fair Dice, Connection Games, Mini-Go, and Domino Games.
• Geometry and tiling: Dodecahedral Tilings, Pentagon Tiling, Square Packing, Polyominoes, Iamonds, Dissecting Convex Figures, and Similar Dissections.
• Number theory and sequences: Prime-generating Polynomials, Prime Megagap, Egyptian Fractions, Evil Numbers, Repeating Decimals, Integer Complexity, and the Riemann Hypothesis.
• Graphs and combinatorics: the Fano Plane, Hoffman-Singleton Game, Cubic Symmetric Graphs, Domino Graphs, Chromatic Number of the Plane, and Rulers and Gracefulness.
• Logic and mechanical puzzles: Coin Weighing, Philosopher Logic, Sliding-block Puzzles, Modern Burr Puzzles, the Partridge Puzzle, and Loculus of Archimedes.
• Computation and code: 2D Turing Machines, WireWorld, Golay Code, Encryption, and 64K or Less (demoscene).
• Puzzle culture and events: World Puzzle Championship 2000, G4G7, Nob Yoshigahara, and the Eternity Puzzle.

The site also points to reference and tool sites such as MathWorld, Wolfram|Alpha, and Wikipedia for background, and it offers book recommendations and archived pages going back to 2000.

How to use it: pick a topic page rather than browsing chronologically. If you want a concrete starting point, try the Social Golfer Problem (scheduling and combinatorics), Fair Dice (probability and design), or the Hoffman-Singleton Game (graph theory). These reward readers who want to experiment with small cases, write a quick program, or compare their own solution with the archive's discussion.

Can I find resources or books for math puzzle enthusiasts on MathPuzzle.com?

Yes. MathPuzzle.com is built around exactly that audience: people who enjoy recreational mathematics, classic puzzles, and unusual problem collections rather than standard textbooks. The site's own navigation includes a Book Recommendations section, a Puzzler's Picks area, and a Prize Page, alongside links to puzzle-related books. It also points outward to references such as MathWorld and Wikipedia for background material.

What you'll actually find

• Book pointers. The "Book Recommendations" and "Puzzler's Picks" entries are the most direct route to reading suggestions for puzzle fans. Treat them as curated pointers rather than a full bookstore.
• Puzzle collections by topic. Pages on fair dice, sliding-block puzzles, burr puzzles, domino games, polyominoes, coin weighing, and the Eternity Puzzle give you specific problems to work through, often with links to deeper reading.
• Historical and reference material. Topics like the Loculus of Archimedes, Nob Yoshigahara, and the Cyclopedia of Puzzles connect puzzles to their sources and to classic collections.
• Software and tools. A Math Software page and items like Chaos Tiles, Zome, and Wolfram Demonstrations point to programs and interactive tools rather than books alone.
• Prize problems. The Prize Page and mentions of prizes for specific problems (for example, the Hoffman-Singleton game) suit readers who want an open challenge, not just a reading list.

How to use it

Start with the Book Recommendations and Puzzler's Picks pages if your goal is reading material. If you want to do puzzles rather than read about them, jump to a topic page that matches your interest — combinatorial games, tiling, number theory, or logic — and follow its links.

One practical note: much of the site is organized as an archive, with dated pages running from 2000 through 2026 and several multi-year hiatuses. Older entries may point to books, articles, or tools that have since moved or gone out of print, so verify availability before buying. The site also accepts support via PayPal, which signals it is a personal, independently maintained resource rather than a commercial shop — useful context if you are looking for a single place to buy books, since it is better at recommending and linking than at selling.

What is the history of MathPuzzle.com and why was it on hiatus?

MathPuzzle.com is a long-running personal site for mathematical recreations, games and puzzles. Its own navigation lists year-by-year archived pages from 2000 onward, plus topical pages such as the Social Golfer Problem, Dodecahedral Tilings, Fair Dice, Sliding-block Puzzles and the Hoffman-Singleton Game. The site also points readers to book recommendations, programs, a prize page, a guestbook and external resources including MathWorld and Wolfram|Alpha.

Its history is best read as an archive rather than a blog. The dated sections run in monthly or multi-month blocks, with earlier years split into finer intervals, and the page explicitly labels two long gaps: "2014-2019 Hiatus Jan-Dec" and "2020-2026 Hiatus Jan-Dec". A separate note says "Material added 1 Jan 2026", which fits a site that has been revived or updated after a long dormant period.

Why the hiatus

The page evidence does not state a reason for either hiatus. What it does show is the shape of the site: a one-person collection of puzzles, links, programs and occasional prize challenges, with a PayPal option for support and a prize page. Sites of that kind commonly go quiet when the maintainer's time, health or priorities change, when a hosting or software setup becomes a burden, or when the surrounding web moves to platforms that are easier to update. Those are general explanations, not facts recorded on this site.

What the gaps mean for a reader

• The dated archive is the reliable part: use it to find puzzles and articles by year.
• The hiatus labels are useful signposts: expect some links to be stale and some interactive material to depend on old software.
• The 2026 addition suggests new material can still appear, so it is worth checking the front page rather than assuming the site is finished.

If you want to explore it, start with the archive year that matches your interest, then follow the topic pages. For a broader reference shelf alongside it, MathWorld and WolframAlpha cover definitions and computations, while Mathematical Association of America is a good source for recreational mathematics in a more formal setting.