puzzle

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

n. riddle, conundrum, poser, enigma; mystification, perplexity, complication; dilemma, bewilderment, confusion. —v. t. confound, perplex, bewilder, confuse, mystify. See difficulty, unintelligibility, secret.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [The state of being puzzled]

Syn. bewilderment, bafflement, perplexity, puzzlement; see confusion 2 .

2. [A problem]

Syn. enigma, mystery, riddle, problem, question, conundrum, tangle, dilemma, quandary, issue, intricacy, maze, labyrinth, query, oracle, cabala, muddle, esoterica, secret, ambiguity, difficulty, perplexity, confusion, entanglement, frustration, paradox, puzzler, poser, teaser, brain teaser, stumper, question mark, stickler*, sixty-four dollar question*; see also difficulty 1 , riddle 1 .

Ant. answer*, solution, development.

3. [A problem to be worked for amusement].

Kinds of puzzles include: riddle, conundrum, cryptogram, logogram, crossword, jigsaw, anagram, palindRome, brain teaser, acrostic, charade, rebus, puzzle-ring, Chinese puzzle. a puzzle is a situation, problem, or, often, a contrivance, that requires some ingenuity to solve or explain; mystery is applied to something beyond human knowledge or understanding, or may refer merely to any unexplained or seemingly inexplicable matter; enigma specifically applies to something whose meaning is hidden by cryptic or ambiguous allusions, or generally, to anything baffling and often mysterious; a riddle is a problem or enigma (usually in the form of a question in guessing games) that involves paradoxes; conundrum is specifically applied to a riddle whose answer is a pun, or generally, to any puzzling question or problem v.

1. [To perplex]

Syn. baffle, bewilder, perplex, mystify; see confuse .

2. [To wonder]

Syn. marvel, be surprised, be astonished; see wonder 1 .

See Synonym Study at confuse .

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus)

I

n.

mystery, conundrum, problem, poser, riddle, enigma, maze, labyrinth.

II

v.

perplex, confuse, bewilder, stump, baffle, mystify, confound, befog, *bamboozle.

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) I verb To cause to be unclear in mind or intent: addle, befuddle, bewilder, confound, confuse, discombobulate, dizzy, fuddle, jumble, mix up, muddle, mystify, perplex. Informal: throw. Idiom: make one's head reel (or swim or whirl). See CLEAR, FEELINGS. II noun Anything that arouses curiosity or perplexes because it is unexplained, inexplicable, or secret: conundrum, enigma, mystery, perplexity, puzzler, riddle. See SHOW.