US20050035543A1

US20050035543A1 - Hidden word game & puzzle system

Info

Publication number: US20050035543A1
Application number: US10/947,516
Authority: US
Inventors: Edward Kabak
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-04-06
Filing date: 2004-09-22
Publication date: 2005-02-17

Abstract

The present invention teaches a hidden word game and/or puzzle capable of being played or solved by one or more people, at one or more than one location. In a more broad context, a puzzle or game “system” is provided in which two or more words or letter groupings are set forth in spaced-apart manner. A plurality of groups of letters which are linked to one another are embedded or hidden within one or more of said words or letter groupings. Either the spelling arrangement, or the pronunciation of said letters within a letter group, has an accepted meaning when viewed in at least one arrangement. The letter groups are related to one another by meaning, theme, or otherwise. The user of the game and/or puzzle is challenged to locate these letter groups.

Description

REFERENCE TO PROVISIONAL APPLICATION

I wish to incorporate herein by reference and accept the Apr. 6, 2002 effective filing date of my provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/370,346.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field
The present invention relates generally to the field of word games, and the like, and more specifically to a hidden word game and puzzle system capable of being played alone or among with others.
2. Prior Art
Millions of people have over the years enjoyed playing word games and solving word puzzles. They currently appear regularly in newspapers, magazines and specialty publications dedicated to games and puzzles. However, word games and puzzles of all types have been played and solved for centuries.
The Oxford Guide to Word Games by Tony Augarde, published by Oxford University Press with a copyright date of 1984, and which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, discloses such prior art. By way of example only, Aunt Judy's Magazine dated on or about December of 1869, referred to at page 122, apparently included word games. Buried Cities by Edward Field (1871) is referred to at page 122. Guess Me, by F. Planche (1872) is referred to at page 123 thereof. While I have not seen these cited old publications, I disclose them herein in the spirit of providing to the reader my current knowledge of the oldest prior art relating to this field. I hasten to add, however, that I have never seen anything in the prior art which discloses or suggests the present invention, as herein described and claimed.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

That said, there exists a need for a new system of puzzles and games with additional challenges and options not found in the prior art. It is an object of the present invention to provide such a new and novel system of puzzles and games, which may be used and marketed in connection with one or more of a variety of electronic or tangible media.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such games and puzzles with a view toward providing one or more educational functions, while at the same time enabling the user, child or adult, to have fun in the process.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide such games and puzzles which will improve the cognitive skills of the user, whether the user is a child first acquiring such skills, or adults or the elderly who may have lost some or all of such skills as a result of age, illness or head injury, to name just a few examples.
Yet a further object of this invention is to provide such puzzles and games in a manner which enhances the users' vocabulary and/or reading skills.
A further object of the present invention is to provide such puzzles and games as a means of improving the emotional well-being of the user, through humor or concentration, and in one or more of a variety of degrees of difficulty.
Still another object is to provide a system with strong appeal to people who do crossword puzzles as a way to relax, play Scrabble or Boggle with friends and family, or who carry an acrostics or Mad Libs pad with them while they wait in line.
Another object is to provide such a system which can be played as a board game, like Scrabble, and which may come with sets of stories and words, a timer, and scorecard.
Still a further object is to provide such a system which will work quite well as a regular newspaper or magazine feature, such as a crossword puzzle.
It is anticipated that after reading and understanding the concept of this invention, the reader will be able to create one or more of a substantially unlimited variety of puzzles and games, either for self amusement or for commercialization.

SUMMARY

The present invention teaches a hidden word game and/or puzzle capable of being played or solved by one or more people, at one or more than one location. In a more broad context, a puzzle or game “system” is provided in which two or more words or letter groupings are set forth in spaced-apart manner. A plurality of groups of letters which are linked to one another are embedded or hidden within one or more of said words or letter groupings. Either the spelling arrangement, or the pronunciation of said letters within a letter group, has an accepted meaning when viewed in at least one arrangement. The letter groups are related to one another by meaning, theme, or otherwise. The user of the game and/or puzzle is challenged to locate these letter groups.
While the descriptive term “system” used in this specification may to some denote a mechanical, computer, data, electronic or other tangible system as the term is often used, I use the term “system” in this specification to teach novel “methods” or “processes” which may be used to create puzzles or games according to the present invention. Perhaps the term “business methods” is another term that will come to mind as the reader comes to understand the system according to the present invention.
The present invention includes several embodiments and should not be limited to those embodiments presented as examples thereof. Similarly, while the words “game” and “puzzle” are used in this specification, they may in some instances be interchangeable and must not be construed as limiting the scope of this invention to a system used by any specific number of people. Stated differently, a puzzle or game according to the present invention may be “played” or “used” by one or more people, either as an amusement or educational device or in connection with a competition.
In one embodiment of the present invention, one or more persons is read a story or other text which contains hidden words which are embedded within the text. The hidden words may or may not have a common theme. The subject of the hidden words may or may not have a relationship to the subject of the words in which they are hidden.
The game may be played in one or more of a variety of formats or platforms, by one player, or by more than one player; on a competitive or team basis against a timer clock or otherwise; with the optional awarding of points depending on the number of words correctly identified, and optionally as a function of the difficulty of each answer. The hidden words may be embedded in longer words, linked across words (regardless of punctuation), in homonyms or sound-a-likes, anagrams, or read in reverse sequence or otherwise concealed. When played as a competitive game, points may be deleted for incorrect answers.
The game or puzzle according to this invention may be played in newspaper puzzle format, as a pad game, as a board game with cards or other formatted questions, as an online device, on CD-ROM or other electronic media, television show or in other formats/platforms. The text may be of varying lengths with the number of embedded words therein varying correspondingly. The game is capable of having a large data base of answers in board format or card format with an open-ended supplement of words, and of drawing on traditional themes or categories like sports/recreation as well as arts/entertainment, popular culture, common items, household items, people and places, history, society, geography, company names, names of states or countries, science and the environment, and wild cards, to name a few database categories. Other categories will be obvious to one skilled in the art.

MORE DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following is an example of an embodiment of a puzzle according to the system of the present invention, where the category of the hidden words is “Culture-Astrology” and where the hidden words are each names of astrological signs:

EXAMPLE 1

Puzzle Title: “Sunny Sun Signs”

- “Ida, a cancer care nurse, finished work and put on her leotards and loose-fitting top. She got into her brand-new Ford Taurus and drove to the airport where she had a scone and a Reisling wine before boarding her flight. She was on her way to vacation in Capri, corny as that may have seemed to some of her friends.”

The user or player of the foregoing puzzle seeks to find the hidden or embedded words which satisfy the predetermined theme or category. The answers to this puzzle are indicated in bold and capital letters in the puzzle repeated below:
“Ida, a CANCER care nurse, finished work and put on her LEOtards and loose-fitting top. She got into her brand-new Ford TAURUS and drove to the airport where she had a scone and A RIESling wine before boarding her flight. She was on her way to vacation in CAPRI, CORNy as that may have seemed to some of her friends.”
The present invention, according to an embodiment thereof, may include a set of rules which are intended to govern the manner in which user(s) solve the puzzle or game appropriately. By way of example, the following is an example only of a set of rules which may be applied to a puzzle or game in the form of tangible or electronic cards or sheets or other indicia:

- Number of Players
- The game can be played by one to an unlimited number of players, alone or as a contest between two or more players or teams.
- Easy to Follow Riles
- The object of the game is simple-you pick a card (or sheet) and are given a few short sentences to read. Hidden in those sentences, in an unrelated, zany anecdote, are 5 words on a subject identified on the card. There are in all a total of 500 cards divided into the following groups:
  - Sports/Recreation;
  - Arts and Entertainment;
  - Popular Culture;
  - Common Daily Things;
  - Household Items;
  - People and Places;
  - History and Society;
  - Science and the Environment;
  - Wild Cards.
- Suppose you picked a card from History and Society, on the subject Crimes. All the words would relate to crimes.

EXAMPLE 2

- “When they applied for a new apartment in Hamburg, Lars and Greta showed the officials their only child, our son Jurgen who was sleeping in his stroller. Lars was silent, not making a murmur, derby hat in his hand while Greta did all the talking. She wore a simple long dress. May hems so long ever come down, she wondered. The still napping kid nodded, his sleep arrested.”
- Rules of Scoring:
- The answers are shown on a separate sheet; they are all linked letters of words that relate to crime.
- 1 If your answer consists of one word standing by itself or contained within one word, you get 10 points. In the example shown, Arrest would be 10 points.
- 2 If your answer consists of linked letters across two or more words, you get 20 points. From the example above, burglars consists of burg+lars. Murmur+derby=murder. If there is a punctuation mark between the letters the answer still counts. But if another letter is between the linked letters, it doesn't count as a link. Thus if the text said murmur, a derby hat, mur+a+der=murader, which doesn't count.
- 3 If your answer is a homonym, (same sound for two different words)(red=read) or a sound-alike—where a letter combination that is linked sounds like another word—you get an 20 points. From the example above, our son=arson. So this answer gets a score of 20 points.
- 4 If your answer is an anagram—linked letters that when scrambled in another order give the right answer—you get 20 points. From the example, napping+kid=kidnapping. Remember, the letters must be linked with no other letters between them.
- 5 A word may be spelled backwards. That is merely another anagram and gets 20 points. Thus if the subject of the card was food, and one sentence said “He was stressed out,” stressed spelled backwards is desserts.
- 6 Wrong answers lose 10 points and you lose your turn.
- 7 Game can he played by yourself against a one minute or other time clock. It can also be played as a team game between sides. If you are playing on a team basis, your team gets up to three turns in a row before the next team plays. On each turn, your team must score at least 40 points to continue. Erroneous answers lose 10 points and allow the other side to draw the next card. The first team to reach 500 points wins.

To further illustrate examples of the present invention, the following system of puzzles (answers to follow) is described in terms of a game of cards and sheets:

EXAMPLE 3

- Category: Household Items
- SUBJECT: The Bathroom
- STORY: The Stockbroker's Wife
- The stock broker's wife called him, her heart sinking.
- “Honey, we took a bath in the market today' he said his face flushed.” So apply yourself harder” she replied.” That's the way to wellness.”

EXAMPLE 4

- CATEGORY: SPORTS AND RECREATION
- Subject: The 1961 Yankees
- Story: My Gambling Grandparents
- My grandpa loved to gamble — at blackjack, roulette, and at the craps table. Grandma, risk averse, would watch and just get more numb and number. Seven or eleven rarely came up for Gramps. They they'd come home from the casino and feed me chicken salad and bean sprouts. “Where's the mayo-gimme some for David,” Grandpa would shout. Then we'd sit down to eat in front of the hearth and schmoose the rest of the night.

EXAMPLE 5

- Category: Sports And Recreation
- Subject: Golf
- Story: The Doubted Dieter

Bobbie Smith, who had been a bit of a cad, dieted while away from home. In secret, he tried to iron out the rough spots in his appearance. His wife thought he was having an affair. When she accused him on the phone and told him to get home now, he sputtered nervously, “I×ll bb . . . be bb . . . back nine, nn . . . nine days from now.”

EXAMPLE 6

- CATEGORY: ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
- SUBJECT: 2002 Oscar nominees for best actor/actress:
- STORY: The Family Farm
- Mom, always under siege had the laundry to do, washing tons of it. In the den, children were cramped into a small space, kids who were bored with their toys and gazed out the window at the brightly colored scarecrow eating a raspberry.

EXAMPLE 7

- CATEGORY: POPULAR CULTURE
- SUBJECT: astrology
- STORY: The Nurse Takes Off
- Ida, a cancer care nurse, finished work, put on her leotards, got into her brand-new Ford Taurus and drove to the airport where she had a scone and a Reisling wine. She was on her way to vacation in Capri, corny as that may have seemed to her.

EXAMPLE 8

- CATEGORY: SCIENCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT
- SUBJECT: agriculture—grain
- STORY: The Wayward Colonel
- A product of the Gulf War, Colonel Wayne Dees kept his men up all night, ever-vigilant against terrorists. He'd wake up the troops, walk them through a maze, guns drawn, on the lookout for serial killers and assassins. “Hey, Wayne,” his captains would whisper, “can't you cede a little authority to us?”

EXAMPLE 9

- Category: Arts And Entertainment
- SUBJECT: The films of Producer Lynda Obst
- Story: Good Friends
- Lilith and Isis returned to New York and checked into the Hotel Stanhope. Floats of sorbet and creme brulee surrounding her, Isis ordered more dessert after dinner. Lilith said: “Feeling good eating fatty food is a con”. Tactfully she added. “Act your age, Isis; my life is under control and yours is besieged by food demons.”

“But I need the calories,” replied Isis. “Got a date with my agent at Kingfisher Books and have to go to Traffic Court to beat one fine. Days of Wine and Roses—no way here. I work more and sleep less. In Seattle and L.A. the living is easier.”

EXAMPLE 10

- Category: Wild Card
- Subject: Girl's First Names
- Story: When Irish Eyes are Smiling
- The O'Reillys lived the traditional Irish life Sunday churchgoing, at All Soul's Eve, dressing in witch garb and bobbing for apples, and at Christmas, caroling and presents from Saint Nick. But, as clan leader Aidan says every X-mas,” We couldn't live without my Kelly girl Inez.” After dinner and before the first carol, Inez cleared the table and waxed the floors. “You fill us with great joy,” the whole family swooned. Curiously, they vacationed and fox hunted each year in Scotland on the shores of Loch Lomond, where twins Len and Lyn dallied and played tricks on each other and composed a rap idyl “Lomond Loch-up.” It was here they spotted in a cul-de-sac lairs of the first silver foxes they had seen. The creature returned their glance, then quickly rose, navigated the scene, and fled, jumping over a small obstruction in the lane.

EXAMPLE 11

- Category: Sports And Recreation
- SUBJECT: Chess Pieces
- Story: Getting it Right
- Bob needed money, so he went out one night to trade in his gold watch at the local pawnshop, where he got rooked by a fast-talking salesclerk.” You know Bob, I shop better than you, “said his wife in a queenly manner.

EXAMPLE 12

- Category: Sports And Recreation
- SUBJECT: Baseball
- Story: The Great Greek
- Although the poet Homer was blind as a bat and couldn't stop short when he needed to, he could still strike back at an assailant and appreciate the curves of a voluptuous woman.
- The following answer sheet accompanies the examples set forth above, where the hidden words are highlighted by underlining, and examples of point values to be earned are specified:

Answer Sheet

- Household Items
- The Bathroom
- The Stockbroker's Wife
- The stock broker's wife called him, her heart sinking. “Honey, we took a bath in the market today' he said his face flushed.” So apply yourself harder” she replied.” That's the way to wellness.”
  - Bath—10
  - sink—10
  - flush—10
  - towel—20
  - soap—20
- Sports And Recreation
- The 1961 Yankees
- My Gambling Grandparents
- My grandpa loved to gamble—at blackjack, roulette, and at the craps table. Grandma risk averse, would watch and just get more numb and number. Seven or eleven rarely came up for Gramps. They they'd come home from the casino and feed me chicken salad and bean sprouts. ‘Where’s the mayo-gimme some for David,” Grandpa would shout. Then we'd sit down to eat in front of the hearth and schmoose the rest of the night.
  - (Roger) Mans 20
  - Number seven (Mickey Mantle) 20
  - Yogi (Berra) 20
  - (Whitey) Ford 20
  - Moose (Skowron) 20
- Sports and Recreation
- Golf
- The Doubted Dieter
- Bobbie Smith, who had been a bit of a cad, dieted while away from home. In secret, he tried to iron out the rough spots in his appearance. His wife thought he was having an affair. When she accused him on the phone and told him to get home now, he sputtered nervously, “I'll bb . . . be bb . . . back nine, nn . . . nine days from now.”
  - caddie 20
  - iron 10
  - rough 10
  - putter 10
  - back nine 10
- ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
- 2002 Oscar nominees for best actor/actress:
- The Family Farm
- Mom, always under siege had the laundry to do, washing tons of it. In the den children were cramped into a small space, kids who were bored with their toys and gazed out the window at the brightly colored scarecrow Eating a raspberry.
  - (Denzel) Washington 20
  - (Judi) Dench 20
  - (Sissy) Spacek 20
  - (Russell) Crowe 10
  - (Halle) Berry 10
- POPULAR CULTURE
- Astrology
- The Nurse Takes Off
- Ida, a cancer care nurse, finished work, put on her leotards, got into her brand-new Ford Taurus and drove to the airport where she had a scone and a Reisling wine. She was on her way to vacation in Capri, corny as that may have seemed to her.
  - Cancer 10
  - Leo 10
  - Taurus 10
  - Aries 20
  - Capricorn 20
- Science and the Environment
- Agriculture—Grain
- The Wayward Colonel
- A product of the Gulf War, Colonel Wayne Dees kept his men up all night, ever-vigilant against terrorists. He'd wake up the troops, walk them through a maze, guns drawn, on the lookout for serial killers and assassins. “Hey, Wayne,” his captains would whisper, “can't you cede a little authority to us?”
  - colonel—homonym for kernel —20
  - dees—anagram, seed spelled backwards —20
  - maze—homonym for maize —20
  - serial—homonym for cereal —20
  - hey—homonym for hay —20
- ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
- The films of producer Lynda Obst
- Good Friends
- Lilith and Isis returned to New York and checked into the Hotel Stanhope. Floats of sorbet and creme brulee surrounding her, Isis ordered more dessert after dinner. Lilith said: “Feeling good eating fatty food is a con”. Tactfully she added. “Act your age, Isis; my life is under control and yours is besieged by food demons.”
- “But I need the calories,” replied Isis. “Got a date with my agent at Kingfisher Books and have to go to Traffic Court to beat one fine. Days of Wine and Roses—no way here. I work more and sleep less. In Seattle and L.A. the living is easier.”
  - Hope Floats 20
  - Seige 10
  - Fisher King 20
  - One Fine Day 20
  - Sleepless in Seattle 20
- WILD CARD
- Girl's First Names
- When Irish Eyes are Smiling
- The O'Reillys lived the traditional Irish life-Sunday churchgoing, at All Soul's Eve, dressing in witch garb and bobbing for apples, and at Christmas, caroling and presents from Saint Nick. But, as clan leader Aidan says every X-mas,” We couldn't live without my cleaning Kelly girl Inez.” After dinner and before the first song, Inez cleared the table and waxed the floors. “You fill us with great joy,” the whole family swooned.
- Curiously, they vacationed and fox hunted each year in Scotland on the shores of Loch Lomond, where twins Len and Lyn dallied and played tricks on each other and composed a rap idyl “Lomond Loch-up.” It was here they spotted in a cul-de-sac lairs of the first silver foxes they had seen. The creature returned their glance, then quickly rose, navigated the scene, and fled, jumping over a small obstruction in the lane.
  - Eve 10
  - Carol 10
  - Kelly 10
  - Inez 10
  - Phyllis (homonym) 20
  - Joy 10
  - Lynda 20
  - Claire (homonym) 20
  - Rose 10
- SPORTS AND RECREATION
- Chess Pieces
- Getting it Right
- Bob needed money, so he went out one night to trade in his gold watch at the local pawn shop, where he got rooked by a fast-talking salesclerk.” You know Bob I shop better than you, “said his wife in a queenly manner.
  - night (homonym) 20
  - pawn 10
  - rook 10
  - bishop 20
  - queen 10
- SPORTS AND RECREATION
- Baseball
- The Great Greek
- Although the poet Homer was blind as a bat and couldn't stop short when he needed to, he could still strike back at an assailant and appreciate the curves of a voluptuous woman.
  - Homer 10
  - bat 10
  - short stop 10
  - strike 10
  - curve 10

The following further illustrates a format and rules of a game:

Format and Rules of the Game

The basic format for the game is as follows:
A player is given a short anecdote to read. The story is zany or off-beat and is easy to read, though not usually predictable. The player is asked to read the story and find words unrelated to the story embedded in it. The player is only given the category that the words belong to. He is not given the words themselves. There are certain formats for the words: they may be in plain sight, linked across words (including across punctuation), sound-alike words (homonyms), or scrambled words (anagram). Points are based on how many words are found, and the degree of difficulty in finding them.
For example:
The Story:
The Doubted Dieter
Bobbie Smith, who had been a bit of a cad, dieted while away from home. In secret, he tried to iron out the rough spots in his appearance. His wife thought he was having an affair. When she accused him on the phone and told him to get home now, he sputtered nervously, “I'll bb . . . be bb . . . back nine, nn . . . nine days from now.”
The Topic of the Hidden Words: Golf
After reading the story, the player is asked to find five words about golf embedded in it. He/she is given a limited amount of time to do so.
The Words:

- caddie
- rough
- putter
- back nine
- iron

Below is the story with the words identified by underlining:
Bobbie Smith, who had been a bit of a CAD, DIEted while away from home. In secret, he tried to IRON out the ROUGH spots in his appearance. His wife thought he was having an affair. When she accused him on the phone and told him to get home now, he sPUTTERed nervously, “I'll bb . . . e bb . . . BACK NINE, nn . . . nine days from now.”
Based on the degree of difficulty, the points are assigned to each correct word uncovered (or a player can play for pleasure and not count points):

- caddie
- rough
- putter
- back nine
- iron
- Another example—The category is POPULAR CULTURE and the hidden links are to 2002 OSCAR NOMINEES for Best actor/actress: Here we've already highlighted the Answers:
- The Family Farm
- Mom, always under siege had the laundry to do, WASHING TONs of it. In the DEN, CHildren were cramped into a small SPACE, Kids who were bored with their toys and gazed out the window at the brightly colored scareCROW Eating a raspBERRY.
- The answers are Russell Crow, Halle Berry, Sissy Spacek, Judy Dench, and Denzel Washington And in the category of Culture-Astrology, the hidden words are all ASTROLOGICAL SIGNS:
- Ida, a CANCER care nurse, finished work, put on her LEOtards, got into her brand-new Ford TAURUS and drove to the airport where she had a scone and A RIESling wine. She was on her way to vacation in CAPRI, CORNy as that may have seemed to her.
- Number of Players—
- The game can be played by one person, or several. It can be played alone or as a contest between players or teams.
- Rules
- The object of the game: To win the most points by finding all the hidden words.
- Method:
- Pick a card in a topic area and read out loud a short story (usually 3 to 5 sentences; more in an advanced game). Find hidden words related to that topic within the story. (Or this can be done without a game board. It can be done as an individual game in a newspaper column, for example, or as one of many in a book of games.)
- Contents (for Board Game)
- 500 cards divided into topics. (Or individual stories/hidden words in a newspaper, website or book).
- Score sheets.
  - Time.
  - Sample categories
  - Sports/recreation
  - Arts/entertainment
  - Popular Culture
  - Common Items
  - Household Items
  - People and Places
  - History and Society
  - Science and the Environment
  - Wild Cards.
- Scoring
- Within each story. there are different point values for hidden words as follows:
- 1 stand-alone word or one contained within another word: 10 points.
- 2 linked letters across two or more words, 15 points.
- 3 homonym, (same sound for two different words) or a sound-alike—where a letter combination that is linked sounds like another word: additional lo points, over and above the base score for the word.
- 4 anagram,—linked letters that have been scrambled: 20 points.
- 5 word spelled backwards: 20 points.
- 6 wrong answers deduct 15 points from total to date.

The game(s) described can be played by oneself against a one minute or other time clock. It can also be played as a team game between sides. If one is playing on a team basis, that player's team gets up to three turns in a row before the next team plays. On each turn, the player's team must score at least 40 points to continue. Erroneous answers lose 15 points and allow the other side to draw the next card. The first team to reach 100 points wins.
The present invention contemplates multiple categories both in story and in hidden word form. For example, categories may include household items, celebrities, geography, science, popular culture. Specialized categories for distinct audiences may include words related to the state of California, for example, or a specific community group. Advanced versions may comprise, for example, a two-page story that contains names of 30 classical composers, designed for an airplane flight.
The present invention has been described in both general terms and with specific examples. However, other examples and embodiments are contemplated as coming within the proper scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A puzzle, or the like, comprising, in combination:

a plurality of words which are spaced from one another,

a plurality of groups of letters which are linked in some way with one another, said letters being embedded within one or more of said words,

either the spelling arrangement or the pronunciation of said letters within a letter group having an accepted first meaning when viewed in a first arrangement,

the meanings of a plurality of said letter groups having a relationship to one another.

a user of said puzzle being challenged to find said letter groups.

2. A puzzle, according to claim 1, wherein the subject of said meanings of said letter groups is substantially unrelated to the subject of said words.

3. A puzzle according to claim 1, wherein two or more users compete with one another to solve the puzzle.

4. A puzzle according to claim 3, wherein the winner among said users is able to locate more of said letter groups than the other.

5. A puzzle according to claim 3, wherein the winner among said users is able to find a predetermined number of letter groups before the other.

6. A puzzle according to claim 1, wherein the order of letters within a letter group may be arranged in more than one configuration to yield a meaning when spelled or pronounced.

7. A puzzle according to claim 1, wherein the language of said letter groups, on one hand, and said words, on the other, is the same.

8. A puzzle according to claim 1, wherein the language of both said letter groups and said words is different.

9. A puzzle according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said letter groups comprises a word which has a meaning which is distinct from the meaning of the word within which said letter group is embedded.

10. A puzzle according to claim 1, wherein said puzzle is used as an educational means to improve the development of cognitive skills in the user.

11. A puzzle according to claim 9, wherein said cognitive skills includes one or more of the following: the ability to associate or link related letter groups, the ability to improve one's vocabulary, and the ability to improve reading skills.

12. A puzzle according to claim 1, wherein said meanings are related to a predetermined criteria.

13. A puzzle according to claim 1, wherein a letter group is never identical to a word within which it is embedded.