www.timdoesdesign.com/blog/?cat=3

or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/18/lifemazesweb_1.jpg

In 1950 Canon Harry Cheales, parish priest of Wyck Rissington, a small village in the south of England, had a curious dream. In it, he was looking out of window of the rectory while below him, in the garden, he could see people walking around a maze. A shadowy figure behind him was describing the scene.

Image via Wikipedia

The dream was so vivid that, on walking, the rector felt compelled to build a real-life version of the maze he had seen. The newly constructed maze was modeled on a set of religious carvings in the village church and the design was symbolic. The winding pathways represented the journey of life. The wrong turnings and culs-de-sac symbolized the sins that people commit before death, obstacles on the way to paradise and heaven.

soekershoflandart.wordpress.com/…/

or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/18/cactus_1.jpg

Patterns and Puzzles

www.thenetworkm.net/core/content/view/246/91/

or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/18/labyrinthwhole_1.jpg

Throughout history mazes, or labyrinths, have been found all over the world, both as real constructions and as symbolic representations in art. There is even evidence that mazelike patterns were used by the ancients. They are found on Sumerian seals, Babylonian tablets, Etruscan wine jars, Roman mosaic pavements, on a pillar at Pompeii, even on the magnificent carved entrance stone to one of the oldest buildings in the world, the 5,00o-year-old Newgrange Tomb in Ireland.

www.blisstree.com/…/

or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/18/severscornmaze_1.jpg

But despite the frequency with which they have appeared, there is still remarkably little understanding of the real significance of mazes or why they were built. To some people they have always been places of amusement; to others, they are puzzles or mental teasers. And some people regard them as symbols with a hidden meaning.

Image by Jorge-11 via Flickr

The most famous labyrinth of ancient times is said to have been constructed at Knossos in Crete by the famed architect and sculptor Daedalus, under the orders of King Minos. According to legend, its innermost sanctum was the lair of the fearful Minotaur. A monstrous creature that was half man, half bull, the Minotaur devoured the seven young men and seven maidens whom the people of Athens were forced to send annually to Minos. Minos demanded this compensation for the death of his son at the hands of the Athenians. Finally Theseus – with the help of Ariadne, the beautiful daughter of Minos – slew the Minotaur and escaped the winding passageways.

Image by gbaku via Flickr

Despite the popularity of the legend, the actual form of the Cretan labyrinth is unknown. It may have been no more than a decorated pavement for ritual dances, or the legend may refer to a network of caverns today known as the Gortyna Caves; they are linked by winding tunnels near the Palace of Minos at Knossos.

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Some experts believe that the labyrinth never existed at all, that the word is derived from the Greek word labrys, meaning “double ax.” Crete and Knossos in particular, was well known for a bull cult that flourished in classical times. Double-headed axes were used to slaughter sacrificial bulls, and the palace of Minos may simply have been called the Labyrinth because it was “the place of the double axes.” So far, at least, the archeologist’s spade has revealed at Knossos no trace of the kind of labyrinth described in the legend.

www.photoseek.com/greece/SantoriniCrete.html

or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/18/01gre1634minoandolphinfrescoknossos_1.jpg

Rituals and Games

redtory.blogspot.com/2008_05_25_archive.html

or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/18/maze_1.jpg

In medieval times, mazes were drawn on the floors and walls of some of the great churches and cathedrals built in Europe. Some of these were known as the Chemin of Jerusalem. The idea seems to have been that people who were unable to make an actual pilgrimage to the Holy Land could make a symbolic one, either by tracing the paths of a maze on the church wall with a finger or, on their knees, shuffling uncomfortably along the pathway of a floor maze. Other mazes were thought to represent Christ’s final journey from the house of Pontius Pilate to Calvary.

snooway.wordpress.com/…/english-garden-mazes/

or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/18/dscf1904_1.jpg

In Britain mazes specifically designed for pagan games were cut in the fields; probably hundreds of such turf mazes existed in ancient times. They had different local names, such as Mizmaze, the Shepherd’s Race, or Julian’s Bower, and the country people played games such as the Game of Troy or Treading the Maze on them. Unfortunately, the rules have long been lost. Today there are only nine turf mazes left in Britain.

gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/maze/turf/index.htm

Or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/18/whitchurch_1.jpg

Spiral Motifs – Mazes throughout the world take many shapes and forms. The Mizmaze in Hampshire, England (above) is a turf-cut variety.

After the 14th century, hedge mazes were built in the gardens of grand homes to entertain visitors. Louis XIV of France built a spectacular one at Versailles; it was destroyed in 1775. The most famous hedge maze is probably the one laid out in 1690 at Hampton Court in London.

www.stuff.co.nz/…/210529/Mazed-and-confused

or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/18/210587_1.gif

In less verdant areas of Europe, such as the coastline of Scandinavia, mazes have been constructed from the most abundant available material: stones, ranging in size from pebbles to boulders. Yet once again their purpose is in dispute. For example, at Visby on the island of Gotland off Sweden, a historian making inquiries in the 19th century was told that the local maze was used for children’s games, but other evidence suggests that they may have been ritual sites where sailors danced for luck before a voyage.

www.carpediemhealingcreations.ca/products_cdh…

or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/18/fingerlab_1.jpg

More recent times have seen a revival of maze building in places as diverse as Varmland in Sweden, the Château de Beloeil in Belgium, and Floors Castle in Scotland. In 1968 the sculptor Michael Ayrton constructed a 1,680-foot-long “Cretan labyrinth” at Arkville in New York State, using stone and 200,000 bricks.

www.pxleyes.com/…/Maze-of-Love.html

or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/18/mazes4a5cdf7e0a5d4hires_1.jpg

New mazes and labyrinths will continue to be built. Whether they are symbols, places of ritual, or for entertainment, mazes are testaments to human ingenuity and to a love of puzzles as old as time.

When Wally is in America, he goes by the name of Waldo.

Wally, Waldo, Walter, Charlie, Holger, Valli, Willy, Hetti and Effy – One and the Same

image source

In 1987, Martin Handford released the first Where’s Wally book in the UK. It was so popular that the character’s name was adapted for 28 countries in order to make the character more lovable to readers within that nation. So the next time you search for Wally, look out for his bulging pocket of passports.

Wally is a tall, thin character with a red and white striped shirt and hat. He wears glasses and carries a wooden walking stick. In the Where’s Wally books, the aim is to find Wally in a busy scene.

image source

An Example of a Where’s Waldo/Wally Illustration

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Where’s Wally Characters

In Handford’s first two books, Wally was the only character that needed to be found. More characters were added over the years and Wally also became forgetful, which meant that there were now more characters and new objects to be found in the busy, humorous illustrations.

Odlaw

Other characters include Odlaw (which is Waldo backwards). Odlaw is Wally’s arch-nemesis and he is dressed in yellow and black. Odlaw is presumably the evil character in the book, though he is never shown doing anything particularly spiteful in the pictures.

image source

Wizard Whitebeard

Wizard Whitebeard appeared in the third Where’s Wally book. He sent Wally on an adventure and now follows the stripey-shirted hero on his travels.

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Wanda, also known as Wenda

Wanda, aka Wenda, is Wally’s friend and she is dressed in a similar fashion to Wally.

image source

Woof

Wally’s dog Woof later became Wanda’s dog and in most illustrations, only his tail is seen. On the last page of “Where’s Waldo: The Wonder Book”, Woof is revealed in his entirety.

image source

Wally not only travels the world – he also travels through time. In the book; “Where’s Wally Now?” Wally goes to Ancient Egypt, the Stone Age, Ancient Rome and the future.

Wally in Animation

In 1991 an animated TV series called “Where’s Waldo?” was produced in America by DiC and CBS. The thirteen-episode series was created primarily for the American market and then translated, and Waldo’s name changed, for other countries around the world.

Intro Sequence to the US Where’s Waldo? Animated Series

United Kingdom version of the US Where’s Waldo Animated Series (7 min episode including UK intro)

Wally Humor

Wally has a huge amount of fan pages online, including Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and Bebo. Visit http://www.findwally.co.uk for the UK and http://www.findwaldo.com for America. These sites include games and activities for each country.

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wheres-Waldo/28679644355

Myspace – http://www.myspace.com/cyfwaldo

Twitter – http://twitter.com/findwaldo

Bebo – http://www.bebo.com/findwally

The Where’s Wally series of books have inspired many pranks. A young Canadian artist, Melanie Cole, created a 16.5m long by 5.5m wide picture of Wally and placed it on a rooftop somewhere in Vancouver. She then challenged people to find Wally via Google Earth. The project gained a huge amount of media attention and has become a favorite Google Earth search around the world.

Google Earth Satellite Image of Waldo on a Rooftop, Somewhere in Vancouver.

image source

Melanie Cole at Work on Waldo

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Planning for the Where’s Waldo Installation – Creating a Scale Grid

image source

Where’s Wally Exorcist Prank

Another famous online prank for Where’s Wally is a Where’s Wally scene without Wally. The viewer becomes engrossed in the image, desperately searching for Wally when a screaming face from the movie “The Exorcist” comes on screen and makes a loud noise, startling the viewer. View the prank at the following link;

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/waldo

Two decades after the creation of the Where’s Wally/Waldo books, the challenge has not faded away. The series is still gaining popularity and is bound to be a source of interest for later generations.

Try to find Waldo: http://whereswaldo.com/fankit/graphics/IntlManOfLiterature/

Creating the Master of QYI Puzzle Series has been a labor of love for more than 12 years. It was originally designed to challenge myself to create a brainteaser puzzle that I would not be able to solve, because there hasn’t been a puzzle that I couldn’t solve. Well, the Master of QYI Puzzle Series was solved. Yes, everyone one of the puzzles.

In 2006, I decided to have the Master of QYI Puzzle Series test-played using unbiased offline board game testers and online board game testers from Boardgamegeek.com and after some adjustments and tweaking the puzzles were ready to manufacture. However, manufacturing plans were changed and eventually put on hold.

Until now, the Master of QYI Puzzle Series has been on hold for nearly two-full years. Instead, I determined that it would be better to release the brainteaser puzzles on the Internet for free of charge with no strings attached and nothing to purchase. Just printout the QYI Puzzle that you want to play and happy solving and once you have solved the puzzle that you had chosen, then just select a different one and follow the same steps as you did with the last puzzle that you printed out to play.

The brainteaser puzzle series that has been published on the Internet is not the full-fledged commercial version, because to printout this version would require players to use too much of their printer ink. So, the Master of QYI Puzzle Series has been scaled down to accommodate the players and not to waste printer ink.

Players still must provide their own colored game pieces, in which was thought about in the process of designing the series for the Internet. Fruit Loops Cereal, jelly beans, Spree Candy, Sweet-Tarts and colored plastic bingo chips make excellent “Master of QYI Puzzle Series” game pieces. The color of the cereal and candies closely matches the color spaces of the puzzle board (some cereal and candies colors may be a little lighter in color than as seen on puzzle board, but still works well as game pieces).

The Master of QYI Puzzle Series has proven in some of the testing that players who are suffering from A.D.D. have experienced sufficient attention improvement when playing QYI Puzzles at least a couple of times per week. Although, the testing has not been scientific, it has been tested for over two years and with both children and adults with and without suffering from the affects of “Attention Deficit Disorder (A.D.D.)”.

Master of QYI Puzzle Series is recommended for players ages 8 and up and possessing any problem-solving skill level.

One of the most challenging tasks that have been facing the prospects of bringing the puzzle series to the Internet has been locating the technology that could deliver the puzzles to any user and using any computer operating system (OS). Originally, I attempted to bring the puzzles to the world using my online publisher Triond, but due to the layering that in required laying the puzzles out, it was found un-doable.

Since I had decided that I wanted anyone in the world to be able to printout the puzzles and solve the brainteasers it was important that the distribution method was free to use for carrying out this assignment. Luckily, after a grueling search, a distribution source was discovered and now, the first “10” Master of QYI Puzzles are available for the public and totally, free.

Master of QYI Puzzle #1

This puzzle is considered to be a low master level puzzle in the commercial version and usually requires players an estimated 3 to 6 hours to solve.

Master of QYI Puzzle #2

This puzzle is considered to be a high advanced level puzzle in the commercial version and usually requires players an estimated 2 to 4 hours to solve.

Master of QYI Puzzle #3

This puzzle is considered to be a mid-level master puzzle in the commercial version and usually requires an estimated 4 to 8 hours to solve.

Master of QYI Puzzle #4

This puzzle is considered to be a mid-level advanced puzzle in the commercial version and usually requires players an estimated 2 to 3 hours to solve.

Master of QYI Puzzle #5

This puzzle in considered to be a mid-level easy puzzle in the commercial version and usually requires players an estimate 20 to 45 minutes to solve.

Master of QYI Puzzle #6

This puzzle is considered to be a low level advanced puzzle in the commercial version and usually requires players an estimated 1 to 3 hours to solve.

Master of QYI Puzzle #7

This puzzle is considered to be a mid-level easy puzzle in the commercial version and usually requires an estimated 30 minutes to 2 hours to solve.

Master of QYI Puzzle #8

This puzzle in considered to be a mid-level advanced puzzle in the commercial version and usually requires an estimated 2 to 3 hours to solve.

Master of QYI Puzzle #9

This puzzle in considered to be a mid-level master puzzle in the commercial version and usually requires an estimated 4 to 8 hours to solve.

Master of QYI Puzzle #10

This puzzle is considered to be a mid-level easy puzzle in the commercial version and usually requires an estimated 45 minutes to 2 hours to solve.

The exact amount of time it takes to solve each of the brainteaser puzzles above depends on the individual player’s reasoning and problem-solving skills. Some people are naturally good at solving brainteaser puzzles and they may be able to solve the puzzles in less than the estimated solve times given in each description. Other people might discover that it takes them longer than the estimated solve time shared in each puzzle description.

Stay tuned as other “Master of QYI Puzzle Series” puzzles will be published on the Internet to be printed and played totally for free. Bookmark this article, so not to forget where to find the “Master of QYI Puzzle Series” in the future.