Derrick Niederman
Encyclopedia
Derrick Corson Niederman is an author
, mathematician
, game designer, and national squash champion. His most recent game, 36 Cube
, has been described by Reuters
as "a wolf in sheep's clothing" because its simple design belies the sophisticated mathematical intuition required for the solution. He received a B.A. in mathematics from Yale
and a Ph.D. in mathematics from MIT.
Niederman has created a number of crossword puzzles and cryptic puzzles for The New York Times Magazine
since the early 1980s. His October 5, 1997 crossword puzzle "Baseball by the Numbers" is often included in crossword puzzle anthologies.
Puzzle and Game Books
Dr. Niederman has also published other game and puzzle books.
36 Cube
The 36 Cube
is a puzzle that requires the arrangement of "towers" in a 6x6 square block so that each color appears only once in each row and column, all the same height. The completed puzzle will then be a cube. Jerry Slocum
, a puzzle historian and one of the world's top puzzle collectors, finds 36 Cube
one of the most engaging puzzles in his extensive collection. "My first impression was that it was quite a beautiful puzzle. Its three-dimensional character and colors are very striking. Out of the 30,000 puzzles I own, it's quite distinctive and unique." Dr. Niederman came up with the idea while writing a book on whole numbers, after unearthing a mathematical supposition from the 18th century. "It struck me as the basis for a potentially great 3-D puzzle, and what eventually became 36 Cube
."
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
, game designer, and national squash champion. His most recent game, 36 Cube
36 cube
The 36 Cube is a three-dimensional sudoku puzzle created by ThinkFun. The puzzle consists of a gray base that resembles a city skyline, plus 36 colored towers. The towers come in six different colors and six different heights...
, has been described by Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
as "a wolf in sheep's clothing" because its simple design belies the sophisticated mathematical intuition required for the solution. He received a B.A. in mathematics from Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
and a Ph.D. in mathematics from MIT.
Published games
The New York Times Magazine Sunday CrosswordsNiederman has created a number of crossword puzzles and cryptic puzzles for The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine is a Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It is host to feature articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors...
since the early 1980s. His October 5, 1997 crossword puzzle "Baseball by the Numbers" is often included in crossword puzzle anthologies.
Puzzle and Game Books
Dr. Niederman has also published other game and puzzle books.
- Math Puzzles for the Clever Mind (2006)
- Hard to Solve Math Puzzles (2006)
- Classic Brain Twisters (2005)
- Mind-Stretching Math Puzzles (2005)
- Sit & Solve Brainteasers (2003)
- Hard-to-Solve Math Puzzles (2001)
- Giant Book of Whodunit Puzzles and Giant Book of Puzzles for Young Einsteins (2001)
- Pocket Puzzlers: Whodunits (2000)
- The Little Giant Book of Math Puzzles (2000)
36 Cube
The 36 Cube
36 cube
The 36 Cube is a three-dimensional sudoku puzzle created by ThinkFun. The puzzle consists of a gray base that resembles a city skyline, plus 36 colored towers. The towers come in six different colors and six different heights...
is a puzzle that requires the arrangement of "towers" in a 6x6 square block so that each color appears only once in each row and column, all the same height. The completed puzzle will then be a cube. Jerry Slocum
Jerry Slocum
Jerry Slocum is an American historian, collector and author specializing on the field of mechanical puzzles. Prior to retiring and dedicating his life to puzzles, he worked as an engineer at Hughes Aircraft...
, a puzzle historian and one of the world's top puzzle collectors, finds 36 Cube
36 cube
The 36 Cube is a three-dimensional sudoku puzzle created by ThinkFun. The puzzle consists of a gray base that resembles a city skyline, plus 36 colored towers. The towers come in six different colors and six different heights...
one of the most engaging puzzles in his extensive collection. "My first impression was that it was quite a beautiful puzzle. Its three-dimensional character and colors are very striking. Out of the 30,000 puzzles I own, it's quite distinctive and unique." Dr. Niederman came up with the idea while writing a book on whole numbers, after unearthing a mathematical supposition from the 18th century. "It struck me as the basis for a potentially great 3-D puzzle, and what eventually became 36 Cube
36 cube
The 36 Cube is a three-dimensional sudoku puzzle created by ThinkFun. The puzzle consists of a gray base that resembles a city skyline, plus 36 colored towers. The towers come in six different colors and six different heights...
."