Puzzle of the Week

Fall 2007: Japanese Pencil Puzzles Semester

James Madison University, Department of Mathematics and Statistics

RULES:

Each Wednesday afternooon a new problem will be available at the Puzzle of the Week bulletin board on the first floor of Roop Hall (outside the 119 suite). Problems may also be distributed by various faculty members in their classes. Puzzles will not be available online this semester.

Each problem will be due by noon on the Wednesday after it is released. Puzzle solutions should be brought to the envelope in the filebox on the wall outside Roop 119 or directly to Laura Taalman.

Each week, the best or most complete student solution will win a $5 gift certificate. If there are multiple complete solutions, the winning complete solution will be selected randomly from those. Each POW this semester will be a set of about six puzzles of the same type, in order of difficulty. "Completeness" will be measured according to the number and difficulty of the puzzles that were completed. Faculty solutions will be accepted and used as entries for an end-of-the-semester drawing.

JMU faculty in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics can order a subscription to the Puzzle of the Week, to get the current POW delievered to their mailbox already copied for their classes. Interested faculty should contact Laura by email with subject line "POW subscription," and include the name of and number of students in each class.