Spiral puzzle facts for kids
A spiral puzzle is a word puzzle in the form of a spiral. A spiral puzzle is essentially a long chain of words in two directions. Counterclockwise inwards, and clockwise outwards. The rows are rolled up like a serpentine. The solutions to the left are entered in the boxes from 1 to 100. The responses to the right provide another set of words that must be entered from 100 to 1. The final solution can consist of a number of boxes, sometimes in colored horizontal, vertical or diagonal rows.
Clues
A description such as 20-26 means that the first letter of the word must be entered in box 20 and the last letter in box 26. The requested answer in that example therefore has 7 letters. The next clue then starts in box 27 and so on to the center of the spiral. So every square of a spiral puzzle is used twice: once in and once out. The solution can be worked in two directions. The lack of crossing words makes spiral puzzles more difficult to solve. For more difficult types of spiral puzzles, the numbering in the spiral is missing.
Spiral puzzles in one direction
There are also spiral puzzles where words must be entered in only one direction. The last letter of one word is also the first letter of the next word. Without overlapping letters, this puzzle is no more than a quiz with the appearance of a puzzle. For more difficult types of spiral puzzles, the numbering in the spiral is missing.
Variants
- There are also Jigsaw puzzles where a spiral has to be placed with puzzle pieces.
- Three-dimensional spiral puzzles can be taken apart. The individual pieces must then be reassembled. The correct way of turning and pushing slides is related to 'spiral' in these 3D puzzles.
