I'm a substitute teacher, aide and tutor in the schools and the community college here in the northwest corner of Oregon. Through puzzles, I'm hoping to teach at least math and chemistry, the two subjects I love most, to students and learners of any age. Letting students create the puzzles, especially grid first and clues later, is a great way of collaborative learning. The puzzles I post are my first feeble attempts at getting folks interested.
This is an example of a mixed cross word and number puzzle, focusing on chemistry and numbers. These mixed types of puzzle are useful for learning, and still able to be constructed grid first, clues next.
Here's a variation on a puzzle game I helped develop called insumnia. One of the options in insumnia allows the numbers used to get to the target (here the particular number in the grid) to remain the same while the player tries to adjust the…
To construct this crossnumber puzzle, I first blocked out a grid and randomly chose numbers to fill it. Then I went ahead and devised clues, some math-based, and some just interesting facts about the numbers in the grid. With numbers, it's easier to…
The abbreviations we use for the names of elements, that are used in all chemical writing, are useful to learn. This is an example of a simple crossword that is blocked out on the grid as a cross that enables two-letter words everywhere. It works…
My first attempt at producing a regular (letter-based) crossword in reverse order (grid first, clues last). Challenging, but using symbols for elements and DNA bases helps! If you're inspired, try one yourself with your favorite subject!
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