"A puzzlemaker is creating a challenge--a mental showdown--between himself and the solver. The puzzlemaker must set himself up to lose that battle. The solver has to win. The puzzle has to fall. Fledgling puzzlemakers often have the attitude that they want to "win"--that they want to stump the solver. But if the solver is stumped, then the puzzle is a failure. It's either too hard or flat-out unsolvable. Constructing a puzzle is finding the balancing point between mental torture device and entertaining trifle. A successful puzzle is like an iron maiden with a faulty lock that, when manipulated just right, not only springs open but serves the person inside ice cream." -- Mark Gottlieb