Is it harder to solve many puzzles than it is to solve just one? This question has different answers, depending on how you define puzzles. For the case of inverting one-way functions it was shown by Yao that solving many independent instances simultaneously is indeed harder than solving a single instance (cf. the transformation from weak to strong one-way functions). The known proofs of that re...

In recent paper in this journal (), we proposed two novel puzzles associated with the precautionary principle. Both are puzzles that materialise, we argue, once we investigate the principle through an epistemological lens, and each constitutes a philosophical hurdle for any proponent of a plausible version of the precautionary principle. Asbjørn Steglich-Petersen () claims, also in this...

Abstract This paper develops an aesthetics of crossword puzzles. I present a taxonomy crosswords in the Anglophone world and argue that there are three distinct sources aesthetic value crosswords. First, common with other puzzles, merit experiences our own agency: paradigmatically, experience struggling for hitting upon right solution. In addition to instantiating puzzles general, particular ca...