This is a list of puzzles which have been proven impossible. An impossible puzzle is a puzzle that cannot be solved by following the directions or criteria for that puzzle.
- Mutilated chessboard problem
- Some variations of Fifteen puzzle
- Three-colouring the edges of the Petersen graph
- Seven Bridges of Königsberg
- Water, gas, and electricity
- Three cups problem
Famous quotes containing the words list of, list, impossible and/or puzzles:
“My list of things I never pictured myself saying when I pictured myself as a parent has grown over the years.”
—Polly Berrien Berends (20th century)
“A man’s interest in a single bluebird is worth more than a complete but dry list of the fauna and flora of a town.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Is it impossible not to wonder why a movement which professes concern for the fate of all women has dealt so unkindly, contemptuously, so destructively, with so significant a portion of its sisterhood. Can it be that those who would reorder society perceive as the greater threat not the chauvinism of men or the pernicious attitudes of our culture, but rather the impulse to mother within women themselves?”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)
“Woman and fool are two hard things to hit,
For true no-meaning puzzles more than wit.”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)