Sam Loyd - Reception

Reception

Loyd is widely acknowledged as one of America's great puzzle-writers and popularizers, often mentioned as the greatest—Martin Gardner called him "America's greatest puzzler", and The Strand in 1898 dubbed him "the prince of puzzlers".

However, he is also known for lies and self-promotion, and criticized on these grounds—Martin Gardner's assessment continues "but also obviously a hustler", Canadian puzzler Mel Stover called Loyd "an old reprobate", and Matthew Costello calls him both "puzzledom's greatest celebrity...popularizer, genius," but also "huckster...and fast-talking snake oil salesman."

Loyd claimed from 1891 until his death in 1911 that he invented the fifteen puzzle, for example writing in the Cyclopedia of Puzzles (published 1914), p. 235:

The older inhabitants of Puzzleland will remember how in the early seventies I drove the entire world crazy over a little box of movable pieces which became known as the "14–15 Puzzle".

This is false—Loyd had nothing to do with the invention or popularity of the puzzle, and in any case the craze was in 1880, not the early 1870s:

Sam Loyd did not invent the 15 puzzle and had nothing to do with promoting or popularizing it. The puzzle craze that was created by the 15 Puzzle began in January 1880 in the US and in April in Europe. The craze ended by July 1880 and Sam Loyd's first article about the puzzle was not published until sixteen years later, January 1896. Loyd first claimed in 1891 that he invented the puzzle, and he continued until his death a 20 year campaign to falsely take credit for the puzzle. The actual inventor was Noyes Chapman, the Postmaster of Canastota, New York, and he applied for a patent in March 1880.

An enthusiast of Tangram puzzles, Loyd published a book of seven hundred unique Tangram designs and a fanciful history of the origin of the Tangram, which was presented as true and has been described as "Sam Loyd's Most Successful Hoax".