I got an email asking me to check out a new puzzle type called a number maze designed by Mike Reilly. The number maze is a very simple puzzle with a few easy rules, which is always a good thing. You start with a grid that resembles a standard maze. The idea is to lay out the numbers from 1 to 12 in either ascending or descending order. Any orthogonally adjacent numbers must be sequential unless there is a “wall” of the maze between them. And each of the numbers must appear in the maza an equal number of times.
There are a number of sample puzzles on the site. The smaller ones tend to be easy, but the larger ones can be quite challenging. I’ve noticed that a fair number of these puzzles have multiple solutions, though all that’s really needed is a little refining. Also, a number of the puzzles have no initial clues. In theses cases, I would think that any of the puzzles should have at least 12 solutions, if they have any. If you were to increment all of the numbers in a valid solution by 1, with 12 incrementing to 1, you would get another valid solution. And so 12 valid solutions. In this case, the valid solution might be the pattern of numbers rather than the numbers themselves.
Also of note, there are a number of “poker” mazes that use card ranks instead of the numbers 1-12.
