Tag Archives: puzzles round the world

A different way to puzzle: the Norway way!

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Puzzles are a truly global phenomenon, and it’s always fun to explore how other countries tackle classic puzzle styles and designs.

In the past, we’ve looked at German puzzle magazines, Spanish puzzle magazines, Sudoku books in Russian, French, and Japan, and we’ve even embarked on a global tour of Logic Art puzzles from all over.

In today’s post, we add Norway to the list as we check out a Norwegian puzzle book. (Thank you to friend of the blog Amy Roth for sharing this gem with us!)

As you can see, in many European-style crosswords (including these), the clues are placed right into the grid itself, rather than being offset and gathered in one place. Couple this with the intriguing arrow paths roaming throughout the grids, and you’ve got some tight, crafty construction.

But crosswords aren’t the only kind of puzzle to get the Norwegian treatment. Here, a Quotagram and a Bull’s-Eye Spiral take a trip through the Google Translator and come out the other side ready to be solved.

Thankfully, some puzzles remain universally solvable no matter what language you’re in. A Framework-style Fill-in and a Word Search with Scandinavian origins can both be cracked with relative ease.

And there you have it! This Norwegian puzzle book shows not only the endless variations in puzzle design and construction across countries, but surprising similarities as well.

I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into the world of foreign puzzle books! If you’d like to see more posts like this, let us know in the comments section below!

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Doing Crosswords at Home: The Artistic Way

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A few years ago, I wrote about one of the biggest crossword puzzles in the world: the 100-foot-tall Lviv, Ukraine, crossword painted on the side of a building.

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But as it turns out, this isn’t the only supersized crossword to grace the side of a building in Europe. In a book about German street art, I saw a picture of a house with a facade painted to resemble a crossword puzzle.

Doing a bit more research, I discovered that the house was located in Dusseldorf, Germany, on a street called Kiefernstrasse, which is one of the world’s largest graffiti walls. Residents use the walls of their homes and neighboring buildings to make artistic and political statements.

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[Image courtesy of CherylTiu.com.]

It’s a vibrant, fascinating part of the city — one where personal expression trumps traditional aesthetics. Be warned, though: Travel and lifestyle blogger Cheryl Tiu advises tourists to visit only in the daylight hours, and in the company of others. In the 1980s, Kiefernstrasse was home to gangs, political dissidents, and squatters, and it retains some of that anarchic spirit to this day.

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[As a Tsuro fan, I appreciate this work in particular, one of hundreds of works in an overlapping, constantly changing canvas. Image courtesy of CherylTiu.com.]

But the crossword house, located at #31, is what brings us to Kiefernstrasse today.

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[Image courtesy of Daily Dose of German.]

The artists (and residents) of #31 view the house as a microcosm of the world; all of the overlapping, interconnected entries — many of which are political — representing the complexity of our world.

It’s kind of interesting that such a layered statement literally appears in black and white. It feels quite apropos, though, since crosswords are both a cultural barometer — updating and evolving with the times — and a cultural artifact from another time, building upon the knowledge of the past.

As of writing this blog post, it’s unclear whether the piece is actually finished, since the artists said that the final words and clues for the grid were going to be painted on a gate or fence nearby.

Nonetheless, they’ve created a striking and intriguing work of art, one that says as much about crosswords as it does about the world.

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You can also share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and explore the always-expanding library of PuzzleNation apps and games on our website!