Newspapers are known for their wealth of articles, photographs and advertisements, but they have also included daily doses of fun, like puzzles and cartoons, for more than a hundred years. Many people think of crossword puzzles when they think about newspaper puzzles, but maybe you aren’t a crossword puzzle fan. Maybe you’d rather skip the crossword and go straight for the sudoku. In that case, these puzzles are for you!
From riddles to innovative pictorial puzzles, newspapers have also been a source of mathematical and numerical fun. Take a look at the puzzles below from our Chronicling America* historic newspaper database to see how far you can get.
Number Pictures
Let us know if you solve this next puzzle! The solution was never published in the newspaper. The publishers only sent a diagram to those who wrote into the newspaper to ask for it—along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
Number Riddles
These are the types of puzzles that you’ll have to think about and write out. So get your paper and pencils ready and see if you can figure them out!
Holiday Fun
Finally, for some holiday fun, try to figure out how to fix the lights on this Christmas tree!
More Puzzles
For more puzzle fun, don’t miss the other posts in our series of Free Puzzles!
*The Chronicling America historic newspapers online collection is a product of the National Digital Newspaper Program and jointly sponsored by the Library and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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