puzzler

From puzzle + -er.

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puzzler (plural puzzlers)

1. A puzzling situation or problem.

   Synonyms: puzzle, puzzlement; stumper, enigma, brainteaser

   • 2012, Mandy Keifetz, “Perfect”, in Flea Circus: A Brief Bestiary of Grief, Kalamazoo, Mich.: New Issues Poetry & Prose, →ISBN, page 133:

     And reason cannot answer that question, because it exists outside of reason. It’s a puzzler, right? A real head-scratcher? Which brings us back to me.

2. A puzzling person.
   1. One who is mysterious.

      Synonym: enigma

   2. One who devises puzzles for others to solve.

      Near-synonyms: riddler, quizzer, setter

3. (video games) A video game in which the player is presented with (usually abstract) puzzles to solve.
   • 2012, Brett Weiss, Classic Home Video Games, 1985-1988: A Complete Reference Guide:

     With the exception of certain handheld titles […] , puzzlers (such as the countless Tetris iterations), and download-only games […] , two-dimensional gaming has largely become a lost art, alienating many of us who grew up in a 2D virtual world.

4. A person who solves puzzles as a hobby.
   • 1927, Frederic Gregory Hartswick, Read the Pictures, page v:

     […] he commits what to a hardened puzzler seems an unforgivable sin when he uses a picture of a two-masted ship followed by HTER for the word BRIGHTER.

   • 2013, Linda B. White, Barbara H. Seeber, Barbara Brownell Grogan, 500 Time-Tested Home Remedies and the Science Behind Them:

     Mentally stimulating leisure activities, such as doing crossword puzzles, seem to help keep the brain sharp. […] The puzzlers delayed the onset of accelerated memory loss (a sign of dementia) by an average of 2.54 years.