When Sam Loyd died in April 1911 at age 70, The New York Times described him as a man with “a real gift . . . for the fantastic in mathematical science.” Loyd, who was also a renowned chess strategist and skilled ventriloquist, created more than 10,000 puzzles during his lifetime. Here are three gems adapted from The Mathematical Puzzles of Sam Loyd (Dover Publications, 1959) and More Mathematical Puzzles of Sam Loyd (Dover Publications, 1960), both edited by Martin Gardner.
From the collection of Jerry Slocum, courtesy of the Slocum Puzzle Foundation
