Samuel Loyd (January 31, 1841 - April 10, 1911) was an American puzzle author and recreational mathematician. January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... take you to calendar). ... April 10 is the 100th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (101st in leap years). ... 1911 was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... An example of a simple puzzle. ... Recreational mathematics includes many mathematical games, and can be extended to cover such areas as logic and other puzzles of deductive reasoning. ...

Loyd popularized and is usually credited with the invention of the fifteen puzzle. He also authored a number of chess problems, often with witty themes. Following his death, his book Cyclopedia of Puzzles was published (1914). The n-puzzle is known in various versions, including the 8 puzzle, the 15 puzzle, and with various names. ... Sam Loyd, London Era, 1861 Excelsior by Sam Loyd. ... 1914 is a common year starting on Thursday. ...

An enthusiast of Tangram puzzles, Loyd published a book of seven hundred unique Tangram designs and a fanciful history of the origin of the Tangram. Europe and America were experiencing a Tangram craze at the time, and Loyd's popular book earned him a significant amount of income. A typical tangram construction Tangram (Chinese: 七巧板; pinyin: ; literally seven boards of cunning) is a Chinese puzzle. ...

Excelsior problem

Sam Loyd's "Excelsior". See "Excelsior" for the solution.

Main article: Excelsior

One of his best known chess problems is the following, called "Excelsior" by Loyd after the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. White is to move and checkmate black in five moves against any defense: Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... 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Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Sam Loyd, London Era, 1861 White to move and mate in five with the least likely piece or pawn. Excelsior is one of Sam Loyds most famous chess problems, originally published in London Era in 1861, named after the poem Excelsior by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. ... Sam Loyd, London Era, 1861 White to move and mate in five with the least likely piece or pawn. Excelsior is one of Sam Loyds most famous chess problems, originally published in London Era in 1861, named after the poem Excelsior by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. ... Sam Loyd, London Era, 1861 Excelsior by Sam Loyd. ... Sam Loyd, London Era, 1861 White to move and mate in five with the least likely piece or pawn. Excelsior is one of Sam Loyds most famous chess problems, originally published in London Era in 1861, named after the poem Excelsior by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. ... Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet who wrote many poems that are still famous today, including The Song of Hiawatha, Paul Reveres Ride and Evangeline. ... Checkmate (frequently shortened to mate) is a situation in chess (and in other boardgames of the chaturanga family) in which one players king is under attack and there is no way to meet that threat; it is a check from which there is no escape. ...

Loyd bet a friend that he could not pick a piece that didn't give mate in the main line, and when it was published in 1861 it was with the stipulation that white mates with "the least likely piece or pawn". 1861 is a common year starting on Tuesday. ...

Books

• Sam Loyd's Book of Tangram Puzzles (ISBN 0486220117): by Sam Loyd
• Mathematical Puzzles of Sam Loyd (ISBN 0486204987): selected and edited by Martin Gardner
• More Mathematical Puzzles of Sam Loyd (ISBN 0486207099): selected and edited by Martin Gardner
• The Puzzle King: Sam Loyd's Chess Problems and Selected Mathematical Puzzles (ISBN 1886846057): edited by Sid Pickard

Martin Gardner (born October 21, 1914) is an American recreational mathematician, skeptic, and author of the long-running but now discontinued Mathematical Games column in Scientific American. ...

See also

• Henry Dudeney

Henry Ernest Dudeney (10 April 1857 – 24 April 1930) was an English author and mathematician who specialised in logic puzzles and mathematical games. ...

External links

• A popular free computer game version of the 15-Puzzle
• Biography from the School of Mathematics and Statistics website at the University of St Andrews
• The Sam Loyd Cyclopedia of Puzzles - The complete 1914 book by Sam Loyd (public domain) scanned
• Cyclopedia of Puzzles by Sam Loyd - All puzzles from the book as a web site
• Farmer and Wife to Catch Rooster and Hen - interactive Sam Loyd's puzzle