Dell Logic Puzzles: left-brain calisthenics

Let's start this review with a logic puzzle of my own invention:

Soxfan, her brother, and her friend were at CVS to pick up a few things. On the way to the register, they stopped at the magazine stand, which that day had only three titles on sale: Dell Logic Puzzles, PC Computing, and Forbes. From the following clues, can you determine which person bought what magazine?

1. Each person bought only one magazine, and no two people bought the same magazine.
2. A woman bought Dell Logic Puzzles.
3. Soxfan's brother did not buy Forbes.
4. Soxfan's friend is a man.

(Solution at end of this review.)

If you enjoyed this exercise, you'll probably have fun with Dell Logic Puzzles. Like the other magazines issued by this problem-solving publisher, DLP is guaranteed to give your neurons a workout, requiring only pencil and paper for equipment.

What are logic puzzles?

For the purposes of this review (and since DLP defines them as such), logic problems are strictly limited to puzzles like the one above. Readers are given a situation, are asked to match certain items of information with each other, and are given clues that rule out certain combinations.

Why start logic puzzles in the first place? Think of it as a chance to play detective; you've come across a mystery to solve, and you need to figure out what's what from the information you have.

Just the facts, ma'am

Dell Logic Puzzles is published bimonthly, and is priced at $2.99 an issue in the U.S. A yearly subscription costs $17.94 U.S. (though there's a special offer right now for $15.97 a year) and $21.94 in all other countries. I usually pick this up from CVS or at one of the bigger newsstands, and will probably be taking Dell up on its $15.97 deal.

Although DLP shares some features with more general publications - there's always a half-page editorial and a couple of letters to the editor - the meat of this magazine is the collection of logic puzzles itself. Fifty-three puzzles to be exact, ranging from simple to fiendishly complex, and submitted by a variety of writers.

The simpler puzzles take up a half-page; puzzles of average to challenging puzzles occupy one page, and the most challenging puzzles spill over to a second page. Most include one or two solving grids, and some white space on which to write notes (although for some, I've found it necessary to use a separate sheet of paper instead).

Another ten pages or so are devoted to the solutions section at the back of the magazine. The solutions provide step-by-step explanations for each puzzle, referring to the appropriate clues (see end of epinion for an invented example). This section uses a smaller font size than the rest of the magazine, and makes the solutions - particularly for the more complicated puzzles - a little harder to read.

All in all, DLP runs between 60 and 70 pages an issue. Thankfully, there's little advertising - it seems to be limited to the pages inside the front and back covers, and thus is easily ignored.

What this magazine offers to beginners

If you're new to logic puzzles, DLP's two-page intro ("How to Solve Logic Puzzles") is a must-read. This section, which runs in every issue, includes the following:

- a concise definition of logic puzzles
- two example puzzles
- illustrations of the two most common solving grids
- step-by-step, fully elaborated solutions to the two examples
- tips on how to approach puzzle-solving

"How to Solve Logic Puzzles," since it's geared toward newbies, also offers a bit of encouragement with its advice. Unfortunately, you won't find a statement like "Bruce isn't Mr. Foster, so Mr. Foster doesn't own the iguana. Voila!" in the regular solutions.

But the humor does carry over to the puzzles themselves; part of the fun in DLP is reading the different "stories" for each problem. In the October 2000 issue, one puzzle introduces five characters who tried to get into the Guinness Book of World Records, while another discusses a haunted hotel with six resident ghosts. (If you think you can make up your own puzzle, feel free to submit it to Dell; a logic problem from an eight-year-old reader ran in the current issue.)

What this magazine offers to experienced solvers

Riddle me this: where else can you get over 300 logic puzzles a year?

I can find crosswords in most newspapers. I can buy little word find books at the local supermarket. But I haven't seen logic puzzles anywhere other than in Dell publications.

What a workout these puzzles are, too! The four-star ones are tricky, and I've spent days hacking at, taking breaks from, and re-attempting the five-star problems. (And that's with peeking at the solutions for help.) Two months, as it turns out, is not too long a time between issues, especially if logic puzzles aren't part of your daily routine. This epinion was written by soxfan. If you're reading this on someone else's page, this review was plagiarized. Sorry to have to put this in.

Verdict: five stars

DLP promises "hours and hours of solving fun" on its cover, and it's absolutely right to do so. I highly recommend this to my fellow puzzle fans, and to anyone looking to develop those left-brain muscles.

Solution to my logic problem

One person bought Dell Logic Puzzles, one person bought PC Computing, and one person bought Forbes (clue 1). A woman bought Dell Logic Puzzles (clue 2), so the purchaser could not have been soxfan's brother or soxfan's friend (clue 4). Therefore, soxfan was the one who purchased Dell Logic Puzzles. Soxfan's brother did not buy Forbes (clue 2), so he bought PC Computing. By process of elimination, soxfan's friend bought Forbes. To sum up:

soxfan, Dell Logic Puzzles
brother, PC Computing
friend, Forbes