MAZE: Solve the World's Most Challenging Puzzle (1985, Henry Holt and Company

Henry Holt and Company

Henry Holt and Company is an American book publishing company. One of the oldest publishers in the United States, it was founded in 1866 by Henry Holt and Frederick Leypoldt...

) is a puzzle

Puzzle

A puzzle is a problem or enigma that tests the ingenuity of the solver. In a basic puzzle, one is intended to put together pieces in a logical way in order to come up with the desired solution...

 book

Book

A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...

 written and illustrated by Christopher Manson

Christopher Manson

Christopher Manson is a children's book author and illustrator noted for his use of traditional hand tools to painstakingly make the pine woodcuts that fill his several highly acclaimed works.-Background:...

. The book was originally published as part of a contest

Competition

Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...

 to win $10,000.The premise of this puzzle book is akin to popular puzzle computer games

Computer Games

"Computer Games" is a single by New Zealand group, Mi-Sex released in 1979 in Australia and New Zealand and in 1981 throughout Europe. It was the single that launched the band, and was hugely popular, particularly in Australia and New Zealand...

 such as Myst

Myst

Myst is a graphic adventure video game designed and directed by the brothers Robyn and Rand Miller. It was developed by Cyan , a Spokane, Washington––based studio, and published and distributed by Brøderbund. The Millers began working on Myst in and released it for the Mac OS computer on September...

.

Unlike other puzzle books, each page is involved in solving the book's riddle. Specifically, each page represents a room or space in a hypothetical house, and each room leads to other "rooms" in this "house." Part of the puzzle involves reaching the center of the house, Room #45 (which is page 45 in the book), and back to Room #1 in only sixteen steps. Some rooms lead to circuitous loops; others lead nowhere. This gives the puzzle the feel of a maze

Maze

A maze is a tour puzzle in the form of a complex branching passage through which the solver must find a route. In everyday speech, both maze and labyrinth denote a complex and confusing series of pathways, but technically the maze is distinguished from the labyrinth, as the labyrinth has a single...

 or labyrinth

Labyrinth

In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was an elaborate structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos...

.

The book was re-released as the computer game Riddle of the Maze in 1994 by Interplay. This version featured full color illustrations and voice-overs for the narrator.

The contest has been void since 1987, but the book may still be purchased (ISBN 0-8050-1088-2).

Parts of the Puzzle

As Manson describes, this puzzle book "is not really a book,” but "a building in the shape of a book . . . a maze," whereby "Each numbered page depicts a room in the maze.” There are forty-five "rooms" (pages) in the Maze (book). In addition, "The doors in each room lead to other rooms.” With this structure established, Manson challenges readers to solve three tasks:

1. to journey from Room #1 to Room #45 and back to Room #1 in only sixteen steps,
2. to ascertain the Riddle hidden in Room #45 based on visual and verbal clues, and
3. to find the solution to this riddle hidden along the shortest possible path found in task 1.

The Contest

A contest to win $10,000 was released with the book in October, 1985. The contest ended September 1, 1987, which was an extension of the original contest deadline. In early January of 1988, Ventura Associates, Inc. sent a letter to the winners of the contest stating that twelve entrants "were equally close to guessing the correct solutions." The $10,000 prize was split between these twelve, all of whom discovered the correct path, but not the solution to the riddle.

If inquired before November 1, 1987, Ventura Associates would have sent a letter containing clues to the Riddle found in Room #45. Here are the clues:

1. I’ll tip my hat if the two of you can solve this.
2. You can get into these two shoes only if you don’t go anywhere.
3. You will find two names on the table, and they go together like doughnut and hole.
4. You must choose between two pictures.
5. There are no two ways you can read this sign.
6. You can see that another two pictures demonstrate their own kind of symmetry.

External links

1. The MAZE Online, a hyper-linked version of MAZE that can be explored via your web browser.
2. Solutions to the MAZE Online. Click on "Hints" to see the Ventura Associates clues letter (printed above under "The Contest").
3. Maze - An Analysis of a Most Curious Book.
4. Maze introduction Another hyper-linked version of MAZE with larger format illustrations.
5. http://www.thelegacy.de/Museum/76713