Puzzles by Type

Slocum's Classification is probably the most widely used classification for mechanical puzzles. James Dalgety has also published an even more detailed list of classification which he uses to group puzzles in his collection. See his classification page at The Puzzle Museum website.

We've sorted puzzles into more generalised groups to help you find the puzzle you're looking for so look for the + sign and expand the sub categories under this heading.

Metagrobology is the study of puzzles.
A metagrobologist is a person who studies puzzles.
Metagrobolise means to puzzle, mystify, baffle or confound.

The words are uncommon in everyday use and the only reference in print that I could find was this quote from Rudyard Kipling's Stalky & Co in 1899 “It’s the olive branch,” was Stalky’s comment. “It’s the giddy white flag, by gum! Come to think of it, we have metagrobolized ’em.”

More recently many puzzlers have used the word metagrobologist to describe themselves. Wikipedia credits the American wire puzzle designer Rick Irby with first applying it to a puzzler in the 1970's but that's open to argument.

A search of the Oxford English Dictionary show no listings for either metagrbology, metagrobolise or metagrabologist so it seems the word is still puzzling us!