Website changes, new books

I have been scrubbing through my old maze sections and improving them recently. I previously updated: Halloween Mazes, Christmas Mazes, Animal Mazes, Food Mazes , Arrow Mazes and Snowflake Mazes. Here are some additional changes I made that you may have noticed, with some before and after’s when applicable:

  • Sign Mazes have been consolidated

I had over 20 sign mazes on the site, many of them were early “maze of the week” mazes. They do not get much traffic. I combined them into a new section, Sign Mazes, initially in the Past Mazes section of the site. This consolidated the website down. Some of the big sign mazes you’ll find here include the Hollywood Sign, Welcome to Las Vegas Sign and Welcome to Colorado Sign.

Sign Maze section cover

  • Moved around some maze homes

Much like the sign mazes, it was time to consolidate the sites main maze pages down. At the time of this writing I changed the home page from 52 mazes down to 25. These 25 are the most looked at mazes on the site and some of the best IMO. The past mazes section went from 45 mazes down to 25 mazes. People still search for these mazes but they are less popular. Each of these 2 pages will now load faster with significantly less mazes !

The archive maze section expanded from 29 mazes to now having 54. There are some nice mazes in here but they are rarely searched for or clicked on so they remain on the site in this purgatory state. I considered calling it the purgatory page but archive won out.

  • Laberintos

My Spanish Language sections are doing well so I brought back the Laberintos section to house all of the different sections. I am expanding the Spanish language books as we speak and adding new mazes in Spanish.

  • Spanish Language Maze books

I added 13 new books in Spanish to the site. 400+ new mazes, more than doubling the amount of books on the site in Spanish. I have ideas for more…

  • La Catrina Maze

I adjusted the pathway/cut widths to make solving more enjoyable, then made the arrows slightly smaller so I could increase the size of the skull on the page. I also added the comic book versions to the La Catrina Maze Page. This maze gets traffic in October, early November and I gave it more attention.

  • New Map Mazes

I changed the Europe Map Maze book, and added new versions of the mazes in native languages. I added mazes of each state of Mexico in Spanish, with a book also available in English. I also did mazes of each of the provinces and territories in Canada, with a new book !

  • New Books

The free printable book section has expanded by 8 books. Hope you enjoy them ! I also revised the majority of the older books to be more black and white printer friendly. A few even got expanded with new mazes.

  • New maze details

Based on some research I have done, I have started adding new details to the bottom of each maze page. I do a couple pages a day and it will take me a few months to finish (I am starting in the archive maze section). So far I am adding these 8 details: Title; Artist; Style; Tags; Format; License; Paper Size; File Size.

I have long list of additional changes to get to, but this is what I have done so far.

Happy maze-ing !

Is There a Difference Between a Maze and a Labyrinth ?

Today we will try to answer the question, Is There a Difference Between A Maze and A Labyrinth ?

Any time I want to define a word I start with a dictionary. Here is how the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the words maze and labyrinth:

Maze: a confusing intricate network of passages

Labyrinth: (1) a place constructed of or full of intricate passageways and blind alleys

(2) a maze (as in a garden) formed by paths separated by high hedges

So from these definitions they can be almost considered interchangeable. Part of this I think comes from the fact that in many languages there is only one word, not two to describe the similar things. i.e. translating the words maze and labyrinth produce one result in French, Labyrinthe. This happens in many languages, all based off the word labyrinth: Spanish (Laberinto), Portuguese and Italian (Labirinto), Swedish, Norwegian and Danish (Labyrint) and Turkish, Haitian, and Uzbek (Labirent) to name a few. I assume to people in these countries based on word usage a maze and a labyrinth are the same thing. For example, the Villa Pisani Labyrinth in Italy is a maze, so the name may not even tell you what it is !

Personally I think of a maze as a network of passages with choices and a labyrinth as one without choices. A maze has an entrance and and exit while almost every labyrinth has a single entrance/exit (the main exception being a baltic wheel labyrinth). But if you speak with someone from another country there is a good chance they use labyrinth as I would use maze, so be aware. In many books and movies they use the words interchangeably, but I believe this is incorrect.

Maze vs Labyrinth example

I made this comic strip that illustrates the issue (for some people).

doyoumaze comic strip #5

To help decide what something is I have developed the the following rules to determine if something is a maze or if it is a labyrinth.

16 RULES TO DETERMINE IF SOMETHING IS A MAZE OR A LABYRINTH:

1. If the set of passageways is made of corn

This is definitely a maze. Tell the farmer how much fun you had and thank them for their hard and creative work. And don’t forget to eat some corn on the cob while you are there.

2. If a series of passageways is made of hedges

This is a usually a labyrinth (but see #3 to confirm). Give your compliments to the head gardener. And don’t forget about the team of gardeners who work on these large works of art.

3. If the passageway has an entrance and an exit but no choices along the way

This is a labyrinth. In my eyes a maze has choices and a labyrinth does not.

4. If the entrance and exit are the same

If the entrance and exit are the same, it's 97% a labyrinth, and conversely if there are distinct entrances and exits (or starts and goals) this is 98.3% a maze. The numbers come from a study that was never done and I made up.

5. If the passageways are drawn in a book.

These are mazes in a maze book. I have never heard of a labyrinth book, although there is a publishing company called Labyrinth books that publishes books on all subjects (but I couldn’t find any maze books, weird).

6. If the passageway walls are made of mirrors.

You are in a carnival fun house and that is a maze (PROBABLY - if it is for young children it is probably a mirror labyrinth so they don’t get lost !). Now there are 2 types of mirror mazes. The first is made of standard mirrors, and you need to go slow to orient yourself. The second is made of wacky mirrors, and you should also go slow to have fun looking at yourself. Do you prefer to look wide, thin, or wavy in those mirrors ? When you make your way out of the maze reward yourself with some cotton candy, elephant ears, or a corn dog.

7. If Freddy Krueger, Jason or Leatherface are jumping out to scare you from the dark.

You are in a Haunted House and following a labyrinth. If you are in a haunted house that is a maze, well that’s just mean (Haunted house business idea ?). It could give new meaning to the term dead end….

8. If David Bowie has wonderful spiked hair and is singing to you.

That’s the movie Labyrinth and David Bowie is the Goblin King. Hopefully you aren’t stuck in the fantasy world trying to save someone like in the movie.

9. If you are surrounded by pineapple’s and tropical plants

Well congratulations, you are in Hawaii at the Dole Pineapple plantation maze, considered the world’s largest maze at over 3 acres. Enjoy the weather, and have some delicious fresh pineapple. I’m jealous. I hope it rains.

10. If you are eating dots and being chased by colorful ghosts

You are in a maze and are stuck in a Pac-Man game (or one of it’s many spin-offs) Tron style. Try to eat the big dots if the ghosts get too close, then eat the ghosts. And if you see fruit (Cherry, Strawberry, Orange, Apple), eat that too. There are many video games that are based on the maze premise, like Gauntlet and Rally-X. I think I’ve died 2,437 times playing Gauntlet and I would just keep putting in more quarters. Quick side question - did you prefer to be the Wizard, Elf, Warrior or Valkyrie ?

11. If you are walking between placed stones or boulders (can you place a boulder?).

You are in a labyrinth, and most likely in the country of Sweden where they are most common with about 300 placed stone labyrinths located there.

12. If you are walking on grass between small mounds.

You are in a labyrinth, most commonly found in England and Wales. Locals refer to them as mizmazes. While the historical record shows these were quite common in the Middle Ages, most have been plowed over to use the land for other uses.

13. If you are passing by kitchens and bedrooms and bathrooms and pillows and towels and…

You are in a labyrinth also known as the store called Ikea. Just keep walking. They have food available for purchase at the end. Maybe pick up a pillow, blanket, or some assemble-at-home furniture along the way.

14. If enormous people are watching you

You are in a maze. You are a rat/mouse and those large people are scientists. Get to the end and there is CHEESE (probably) ! If you want to have some fun act erratic and do the opposite of what they want. But you might miss the reward…just go get the cheese.

15. If you are surrounded by hay bales.

You are in a hay bale maze created by a farmer who thought corn mazes weren’t quite enough.

16. If they are on my website

Those are all mazes. Unless they are in the labyrinth section, then they are labyrinths, but mostly mazes !

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I hope these 16 rules helped you figure out if you are dealing with a maze or a labyrinth.

A Classic Labyrinth

Classical 7 circuit labyrinth

Weekly Hard Maze #2

Each Saturday I post a new hard maze with all of them sitting in the Hard Maze Archive. I will try to post a variety of maze types to keep things interesting.

Weekly Hard Maze #2 - On Line Maze

This is a maze I made from scratch and is an On Line Maze where you travel on the line instead of in between them. If you enjoy this maze I have an On Line maze section on the site. Solution will be in the archive. Download is below.

download the hard on line maze

If you solved that maze quickly and want to try some of my archival hard mazes, these posts should do the trick:

One Maze - Many designs - the first 5 experiments

This is a continuation of of maze design experiments. Read about it in post #1, One Maze - Many designs, or just enjoy the ride.

The original maze:

Simple Maze

I used Inkscape for these first 5 options to redesign it.

  • The first is a filter to make the maze blurry and it did that quite well. I hate it. It is hard to look at.

  • The second was made by reversing the image colors. White pathways on a black background. It looks good unless you are paying for ink when you print it.

  • The third was made using something Inkscape calls the Bloom Filter. I don’t think it works here, but I think it might help make a close-up of water look more realistic.

  • The fourth is my favorite filter, called Dark Glass, but I think it looks like snow ! Now, I have to find an opportunity to use it in that way !

  • The fifth is a filter called fat oil and it makes the maze melt. Fun. I would use this to show the distorted reflection of something in the water like a face.

I should mention that all versions kept the maze a maze. Nothing got distorted so much that it became unsolvable or something else entirely.