The best puzzle books for adults to test your brain

We've rounded up the best puzzle books for adults, so grab a cuppa, and get ready for some brain training.

Best puzzle books

by Piper Huxley |
Updated on

From word searches to picture puzzles, puzzle books are an easy way to keep the brain sharp and get a little of that competitive spirit going (even if you’re competing with yourself). Whether you're a fan of sudoku or mind-boggling codebreakers, there’s a puzzle book to suit everyone from the very young to the very old. There is a variety of puzzle types. Some will only require deduction and patience to crack them, while others expect the solver to have an impressive vocabulary or plenty of general knowledge. We've hand-picked a wide range for you to enjoy.

Perhaps, you're thinking: how to choose the right puzzle book? Our friends behind Britain’s favourite crossword magazine, Take a Crossword, as well as 30 other puzzle-packed titles and a selection of free online puzzles, have shared some top tips with us on how to pick the puzzles. First, think about whether a word, number or logic-based puzzle is likely to keep you engaged. Then, consider how much time you have to spare - five minutes or longer. Perhaps a mini Arrowword, which you can tackle between tasks would fit the bill if you're a busy bee.

Best Puzzle Books for Adults Shortlist

Best puzzle book for British soap fans: Coronation Street Puzzle Book
Best codebreaker's puzzle book: Alan Turing Codebreaker Puzzle Book
Best mathematical puzzle book: The Ultimate Mathematical Challenge
Best gardening puzzle book: RHS Gardeners Quiz and Puzzle Book
Best mindful puzzle book: The Mindfulness Puzzle Book
Best puzzle book subscription: Take a Puzzle Subscription

Next: what sort of challenge are you looking for? Many books will highlight whether they’re aimed at beginners or experts, and some contain puzzles with different ratings - choose the level of difficulty. Make sure to select one which is fun rather than frustrating. On the other hand, You might want to consider puzzles which relate to another of your hobbies. Some crosswords will focus on a single theme, like television or travel. This can be a great way to test your understanding or learn more about a subject that interests you.

Puzzles provide a brilliant way to unwind by yourself, but you could also team up to tackle some teasers. Why not share Wordsearch-solving responsibilities with younger members of the family? Alternatively, pick something with plenty of quiz questions if you’ve got the next game’s night in mind. There's something for everyone...

The best puzzle books for adults

Keep your brain sharp with this great selection of puzzle books for adults. From codebreakers to quizzes, there's something for everyone.

And let’s face it, everyone loves a bit of Where’s Wally...

Best puzzle book for British soap fans

Coronation Street Puzzle Book

Rrp: £19.99

Price: £16.39
Alternative retailers
Target$16.39View offer

Attend your very own Rover's pub quiz with this Coronation Street Puzzle Book. Available to pre-order now - come October, you can test your knowledge of TV's longest-running soap.

Customer Review: "Bought as a little gift for someone. The book is quite thick and has a lot of different Puzzles, Quizzes, Test Your Knowledge and Coronation Street facts."

Best codebreaker's puzzle book

Alan Turing Codebreaker Puzzle Book
Price: £19.03

The puzzles in this Alan Turing Codebreaker Puzzle Book become progressively harder, but if you are in need of a little help, there's a unique hints section, and the solutions lead you step-by-step through the logic of every puzzle.

Customer Review: "Really imaginative. Not just the usual word searches - they actually were about films, books and really cleverly written.'

Best road map puzzle book

The AA British Road Map Puzzle Book
Price: £28.79

Test your word-puzzling, map-reading, general knowledge and problem-solving skills with 400 mind-stretching questions from the AA British Road Map Puzzle Book.

Customer Review: "One reviewer said: 'Bought this for my grandpa who is obsessed with maps, brings one out at every family visit. He's enjoying it so much my dad has even joined in regular quizzing!"

Best mathematical puzzle book

The Ultimate Mathematical Challenge

Rrp: £16.99

Price: £10.49

Full of mathematical puzzles that will test your number knowledge to help keep the cogs turning. From starter puzzles to perplexing Olympiad problems, The Ultimate Mathematical Challenge kicks your brain into gear.

Customer Review: "I spotted this book mentioned on social media and had to order it immediately. My 11 yr old and I dived straight in. This is a well-chosen set of problems from Maths Challenges and Olympiads with what looks like a good proportion accessible to the younger end of the secondary school age range and a nice selection of other puzzles scattered between the weekly sets of problems. We've tried some together and some separately and have enjoyed all of them so far. Well-explained solutions are given - a lovely present for a keen mathematician."

Best gardening puzzle book

RHS Gardeners Quiz and Puzzle Book
Price: £20.90

Think you're green-fingered? Test your plant knowledge and grow your gardening skills. The RHS Gardener's Quiz and Puzzle Book is designed to test your horticultural and botanical knowledge with puzzles to delight and challenge.

Customer Review: "I bought this as a Christmas present for my wife, a keen gardener. It is a well-produced book with beautiful plant illustrations. The expected standard of knowledge is very high! Unless you are a real geek on Latin names, etc. you should expect to use it as a source of knowledge by looking up most of the answers. Some of the puzzles are doable, however, so don't give up."

Best London route puzzle book

A-Z Puzzle Book u2013 Have you got the Knowledge?

Rrp: £24.95

Price: £14.97

London cab drivers have no need for sat navs, they have to learn all the routes to get where you need to go in the Capital. But can you? The A-Z Puzzle Book will help you unlock the secrets of Britain’s streets.

Customer Review: "As I love both maps and puzzles, I couldn't resist this book and I'm really enjoying the challenge of the puzzles as well as the factual information which precedes each map. The quality of the book is very good. It's proving to be a good test of my newly acquired reading glasses and a magnifying glass also comes in useful for some of the London maps."

Best brainteaser puzzle book

adult-puzzle-books

Rrp: £16.99

Price: £16.03

The brains at Bletchley Park cracked one of the biggest puzzles of all time. With puzzles in a range of difficulty levels, let's see how you get on with the Bletchley Park Brainteasers!

Customer Review: "Bought this for Christmas for my dad who loves stuff like this. He's enjoyed it so much that he's also lent it to one of his friends to challenge him with the puzzles. The history of what they did at Bletchley was also intriguing and interesting."

Best mindful puzzle book

The Mindful Puzzle Book is perfect for those who prefer a gentle cerebral stretch rather than a full-on high-intensity brain workout. It includes a wide range of standard puzzles, alongside new and exciting ones - to avoid repetition.

Customer Review: "This is a great book for anyone who enjoys puzzles but nothing too taxing. It's got a good variety but does become repetitive in the type of puzzle as the book goes on. Would make a good gift as is very pretty. I did find it helped me relax but would have been better if there were mindfulness exercises included as it is called The Mindfulness Puzzle Book."

Best sudoku puzzle book

Extra Large Print Sudoku Puzzle Book
Price: £8.99

This Extra Large Print Sudoku Puzzle Book makes a gorgeous gift for someone who loves a Sudoku challenge. With 90 puzzles to try, this will keep your mind occupied and relaxed for hours. And to make this book even better, it's in large print with easy-to-hard levels.

Customer Review: "My 91-year-old Dad has macular degeneration and is really struggling with his eyesight now. However, this book (along with similar) is enabling him to still engage and do the puzzles he loves. The print is large and bold so helps him massively."

Best childhood puzzle book

Best childhood puzzle book
Whereu2019s Wally
Price: £12.56

A classic puzzle book of Sudoku for everyone to enjoy - you might need to find your glasses for this one! Where's Wally offers hours of fun and games await...

Customer Review: "Yep a classic. Hard enough for me."

Best national mapping puzzle book

The Ordnance Survey Puzzle Book
Price: £23.65

Even if you can't get out as much as you'd like to, you can explore our green and pleasant land virtually. The Ordnance Survey Puzzle Book makes a great gift for the walkers in your life.

Customer Review 'My wife and I love this book, the quiz is a nice mix of easier and more challenging questions. Should keep most people going for a good few days. Makes a great gift for people that love books and quizzes… I'd recommend it.'

Best puzzle book subscription

Need a new puzzle every month? Why not sign up for a subscription to Take a Puzzle Subscription? All puzzles and brain teasers are in large print, bold type making them ideal, easy to read, puzzles for adults. With puzzles including crossword puzzles, brain games, logic puzzles and more puzzle types, this is your one stop game book.

Best literature puzzle book

The Penguin Book Quiz

Rrp: £16.95

Price: £12.19

Bookworms rejoice! Indulge your passion for literature with these fun quizzes and discover how much you really know about your favourite characters. The Penguin Book Quiz has 400 questions covering iconic literary classics to children's books and more. How fun does that sound?

Customer Review: "A very fun and sublimely informative book. Great to leaf through randomly and a great party game."

Best children's puzzle book

Little Childrenu2019s Puzzle Pad
Price: £12.43

Keep little ones busy (and out of trouble) with a puzzle pad that will help their educational development. The Little Children's Puzzle Pad is jam-packed with simple word, number and picture puzzles for little children to enjoy.

Customer Review: "Amazing book for my 5-year-old. Worth its weight in gold when we were travelling. Not too hard but enough to keep him interested. I had to read the instructions though. Bought more like this in the same series of books."

Recommended sudoku puzzle book

The Guardian Killer Sudoku 1
Price: £9.95
Alternative retailers
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Are you new to puzzle books? Do you want to learn how to master sudoku? If the answer is yes, this The Guardian Killer Sudoku 1 is the one for you.

Customer Review: "Others have mentioned that a lot of these puzzles are fairly basic, so here's the thing: If you're new to killer sudoku, get this book, it's right for you. If you've done a few and want to improve your speed, technique, and confidence, this book will likely help with that. If you've been doing killer sudoku for some time and like a complex technical challenge, you might want to look elsewhere, you'll likely find most of the puzzles in this book a little below your current standard."

FAQs

What are the types of puzzles?

The world of puzzles has grown exponentially in recent years, so there are literally hundreds available. Here are some of the most popular:

Word puzzles

Logic puzzles

Maths puzzles

Crossword puzzles

Codebreaker puzzles

Trivia puzzles

Picture puzzles

Sudoku

Word search puzzles

What are the most challenging puzzles?

The most challenging puzzles for each person will vary, as we each have our own strengths and weaknesses. If you find that maths is a weak point for you, opting for a maths puzzle book would be a real challenge. Conversely, if words take a little more brainpower, give word puzzles, crosswords or anagrams a try. That's why we've made it our mission to find the best puzzle books for adults.

Do puzzles help your brain?

Puzzles actually increase the brain's production of dopamine, which is responsible for regulating mood and optimism. Every time you get an answer right, you get that feeling of satisfaction and a little dopamine hit.

They're also great for memory, concentration, and focus, requiring patience to make it all the way to the end. Along with this, they can help us to react differently to life experiences, improving our problem-solving skills.

Do puzzles help with anxiety?

Many people who suffer from anxiety turn to puzzles in times of need. Not only do they distract us for a little while from our problems and help to slow down our breathing rate, but as we mentioned previously, they can help the brain produce dopamine.

Like to relax while you challenge your brain?

Don't forget to buy a book holder to make life easier - and park yourself down on a comfy reading chair.

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Piper Huxley is a Homes, Garden and Wellness Product Writer for Yours, an all-rounder who will write on anything from décor to wellness. When not scouring the net for the best home bargains, Piper is listening to a musical soundtrack and tending to her houseplants.

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