Tips & Tricks Pencil Puzzles

[mvangord]

Does anybody remember when they started doing these?  This was my favorite part of the magazine, and the worst part of reading these issues online is you can't really do them anymore  Unless you print out the pages or something.  I also have this weird memory of them doing an issue that was just the pencil puzzles but that might just be a fever dream I had.

[Ethereal Dragonz]

It looks like they started the puzzles around 2001: https://web.archive.org/web/20111027002447/http://www.tipstricks.com/puzzles.html

They must have stopped doing these around 2005 because the scans I have of that year do not include them.

[Phillyman]

Could be a pet project, somehow converting them to a printable format that works and putting them into the Gallery for people to print out and mess with

[Ivy]

Weird how I found this post that is just days old... I was just thinking of that issue that was entirely Pencil Puzzles, but can't find any evidence of it existing so I thought I was imagining it too. Pretty sure the main color of the cover was brown. I can't find any images online or even on the back catalog list in the codebooks that I have. I just spent over 4 hours going through my entire ~5000 book/magazine collection and haven't found it. I am 100% certain I didn't get rid of it though. It is one of the last books I would ever get rid of. May have possibly lost it at a friend's house, I noticed my 2006 zombie edition codebook is missing too. Just gonna give up the search and hope someone else might have it.

[ChrisB]

Sorry to disappoint, but there was no "all Pencil Puzzles" issue. We stopped doing the puzzles around 2005 because we no longer had that newsprint section in the middle of the magazine, and the puzzles didn't work on the glossy pages.

We did bring the puzzles back in the Tips & Tricks Codebook after the monthly Tips & Tricks was discontinued in 2007, because the Codebook was almost entirely newsprint. After that, they appeared in every subsequent issue until the last one came out in 2011. Come to think of it, there may have been one issue with more puzzles than usual - like eight or ten of them instead of the usual two or four, I can't remember exactly. Maybe that's what you're thinking of.

[BrandonE]

Inspired by Pencil Puzzles, I created an open-source Pixel Puzzle creation app. You can solve puzzles online, print them, create your own, or generate them by uploading an image. Hope you will enjoy!

[BrandonE]

Update: I completed and archived all of the Pencil Puzzles I have access to using the website above. By clicking one of these links, you can solve the puzzle online or print it to relive the classic experience! As stated in the Pencil Puzzles page of the archived Tips & Tricks website, teachers “wanted to hand out the puzzles to their students in the classroom!” I hope that this archive can enable that dream now that the magazine is no longer in circulation.

I also added these links to the Wiki page of each magazine (where available) and as a comment on each gallery post. If there is a better place to put these links, please let this new member know!

If you have access to a Pencil Puzzle not included in this post, archiving one using this website is easy! Just click this link, solve the puzzle using your mouse, and then click Share to generate a link containing the puzzle. It is also very possible that I made a mistake with one or more of these puzzles, so if you see a discrepancy, please let me know and I can correct this with new corrected link.

Additionally, if I posted a Pencil Puzzle for a magazine that is not currently preserved, that means that I personally own a physical copy of it. I am open to learn more about the preservation process and how I might be able to add these to the archive.

Note: The website does not store the puzzles. The contents of the puzzle are provided via the URL, which is why each has a large number of 1s (filled cells) and 0s (empty cells). If for whatever reason these puzzles need to be taken down, please simply remove these links.

 

• TipsTricks.com - Animated Example | Puzzle A | Puzzle B

 

• Issue 81 - A | B - According to the wiki, this is the first issue featuring Pencil Puzzles.
• Issue 82 - Missing
• Issue 83 - A | B
• Issue 84 - A | B
• Issue 85 - A | B
• Issue 86 - Missing
• Issue 87 - A | B
• Issue 88 - Missing
• Issue 89 - A | B
• Issue 90 - A | B
• Issue 91 - A | B
• Issue 92 - Missing
• Issue 93 - Missing
• Issue 94 - Missing
• Issue 95 - A | B
• Issue 96 - A | B
• Issue 97 - A | B
• Issue 98 - A | B
• Issue 99 - A | B
• Issue 100 - A | B | C - Extra puzzle for the 100th issue.
• Issue 101 - A | B
• Issue 102 - A | B
• Issue 103 - A | B
• Issue 104 - A | B
• Issue 105 - A | B
• Issue 106 - A | B
• Issue 107 - A | B
• Issue 108 - A | B
• Issue 109 - A | B
• Issue 110 - A | B
• Issue 111 - A | B
• Issue 112 - A | B
• Issue 113 - A | B - These puzzles were printed on glossy paper, so as @ChrisB mentioned above, they were impossible to solve using a pencil.
• Issue 114 - A | B
• Issue 115 - A | B - Unless they were reintroduced later on, this is the last issue containing Pencil Puzzles, probably because of the issue mentioned above.

 

• Codebook Summer 2002 - A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I
• Codebook 2003 - A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I
• Codebook 2004 - A | B | C | D | E
• Codebook 2006 (Special Zombie Edition) - A | B | C | D | E | F | G
• Codebook 2007 - A | B | C | D | E - For some reason, these puzzles were printed on glossy paper, which was very odd as half of the book uses newsprint.
• Codebook 2007 (Super Video-Game Codebook) - A | B | C | D | E
• Codebook Spring 2007 - A | B | C | D | E
• Codebook September-October 2007 - A | B | C | D
• Codebook November-December 2007 - A | B
• Codebook November-December 2009 - A | B | C | D
• Codebook February 2010 - A | B | C | D
• Codebook May 2010 Issue 3 - A | B | C | D
• Codebook May 2010 Issue 4 - A | B | C | D
• Codebook October 2010 - A | B | C | D
• Other Codebooks may have Pencil Puzzles that have not been archived.

Enjoy!

Edited September 3, 2021 by BrandonE
Fixed Zombie Edition Puzzle C

[TheValintyne]

Just found this post while waxing nostalgic with a friend about Tips & Tricks.

@BrandonE, you are incredible for archiving these puzzles here. I wish I had ready access to my old collection of mags because I could help you complete the archive for the ones you're missing. Have you considered adapting your code into a mobile app? If I knew how, I'd have done it yesterday.

Thank you again! I had to make an account *just* to thank you, so I hope you see this.

[TheValintyne]

Sorry to double post here, but I was reviewing some of the missing issues that are needed to complete the magazines archive on Retromags. I was reading the 10th Anniversary Codebook (which included blurbs and covers for issues 1 - 111) and upon further reading, it seems Issue 80 was the first issue to feature Pencil Puzzles.

[TheValintyne]

It's me again!

I'm happy to report that I've completed the missing Pencil Puzzles from your original post, @BrandonE. I actually learned that the first issue to contain Pencil Puzzles was Issue #80 (as mentioned in the 10th Anniversary Codebook). At this time, the original run of Pencil Puzzles has been completely archived digitally, using your great program. There may be more left to "digitize" in the Codebooks, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Issue 80: A | B
Issue 82: A | B
Issue 86: A | B
Issue 88: A | B
Issue 92: A | B
Issue 93: A | B
Issue 94: A | B