Maze of the Week #23 - Wrigley Field Sign Maze

Many of the mazes I have featured this year have showcased signs and buildings that most people probably weren’t that familiar with. But this week, for my 23rd maze I am featuring a maze of the iconic Wrigley Field Sign. The maze is a standard construction and was done in full color. There is only 1 version.

Some information about Wrigley Field

It is not surprising that Wrigley Field is a US National Historic Landmark, but it is surprising that it was only added in September of 2020. Since opening in 1914 it has primarily been the home of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, however it has housed 3 different NFL teams since it’s opening…the Bears…and well you’ll need to guess the other 2 ! Here is a video with a quick view of the sign:

The maze:

Wrigley Field Sign Maze

Wrigley Field Sign Maze

I hope you enjoy the maze. Free Wrigley Field Sign Maze download is available on it’s long term webpage.

Coming next week:

A sign maze of a local Ice Cream shop !

Maze of the Week #22 - Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch Maze

This week I am featuring a maze of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch located in Hartford, Connecticut to celebrate Memorial Day in the US. It becomes maze of the week #22 after a last minute switch with a lighthouse maze (now maze #37). There are many memorials (over 20) named this, or similar around the United States. This particular memorial celebrates those Hartford citizens that served in the US Civil War. The Memorial Arch was dedicated on September 17, 1886 and was designed by a local architect named George Keller.

If you want to learn more about the memorial arch, read the Wikipedia page , or just check out this video:

Here is a photo of the memorial:

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch - Connecticut State Library flickr

The maze: Finished? You decide. I can’t seem to find a clear picture of the battle scene that is banded above the arch. I attempted a few versions with it and none came out to my standards. I may add it in the future (and change the maze) if I find a good picture to work off of. I went with black and white. The brocks make for a good gridded maze construction.

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch Maze

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch Maze

I hope you enjoy the maze. Downloads are available on the homepage.

Coming next week:

An iconic sign maze from the world of sports !

Also interesting:

Maze Construction - 5 Maze Design Decisions Make All the Difference

How to Make a 7 Circuit Caerdroia Labyrinth

In this post I will show you how to draw a 7 circuit Caerdroia Labyrinth. I first became aware of this type of labyrinth, a variation of the Cretan labyrinth, when I saw it in the film, The Night House, which has a maze theme weaved into the storyline. This type of labyrinth is Welsh and they were used for gatherings of singing and dancing. To learn more about them check out Wikipedia.

How to Draw a 7 Circuit Caerdroia Labyrinth

Step 1 Draw the seed pattern

I came up with 2 possible seed patterns for this. The first is based on the classical 7 seed labyrinth and adjusted for the unique shape of this labyrinth. You can see this below in black overlaid onto the complete labyrinth in red. It uses a center cross (in this case offset), 4 L’s and 4 dots just like that seed uses.

The step by step instructions will use this seed, however there is another seed option I will review below.

Caerdroia Labyrinth seed pattern

Step 1 - Draw the seed pattern

Step 2 Note the Connection points

All seeds become labyrinths by connecting one point to another around the entire shape. For a 7 circuit you will need to make 8 connections as labeled below.

Caerdroia Labyrinth seed pattern with links shown

Step 2 Note the connections

Step 3 Note the location of the peaks and shape changes

In the northern part of the labyrinth, you have all circular pathways, and all of them have a peak that is centered between the first connection points (also centered above the center goal).

In the southern part of the labyrinth you have a square labyrinth. This portion of the labyrinth fills bottom half and a half step above the seed (this is an aesthetic choice by me - you may also use the seed as the point of shape change if you prefer)

Caerdroia Labyrinth design analysis

Step 3 Location and shape changes

Step 4 Draw and connect the pathways to create the labyrinth

After all the explanation above, connect the same numbered pathways to create the labyrinth. Connections 1-5 require (mostly) the drawing of semi-circles, while 6-8 require pathway extensions before drawing the semicircles.

Connect the pathways in order from left to right.

Caerdroia Labyrinth connections drawn

That completes the labyrinth, BUT let’s look at the other seed I mentioned above.

ALTERNATIVE Step 1 Draw the seed pattern

To simplify the connection drawing this seed requires only the drawing of semicircles, but a much larger seed which looks more like a very wide tree. There are still 8 connections to make, but they are more uniform. Just make sure you align all of their transition points from square shaped to circular shaped.

Caerdroia Labyrinth alternative seed pattern

All other step are basically the same, with just the drawing of your walls changing since you did more upfront work !

Caerdroia Labyrinth

OPTIONAL STEP 5 Make any Aesthetic Changes

You have options for the wall.to pathway ratio. Below I made them equal. The display of corners ( I chose soft below vs. sharp corners), and how the ends of lines will look (I chose rounded vs squared).

Caerdroia Labyrinth with thick walls

That concludes our instructions. Good luck in making your own design !

Additional posts you might like:

Maze Construction - 5 Maze Design Decisions Make All the Difference

The 12 best maze/labyrinth movies of all time

Comparison of the even MORE online maze generation websites

Previously I have reviewed and compared the top 12 maze generation websites. And that blog post gets updated often as new websites are created and replace some of the original sites. It seems to be a common logic and programming puzzle to create a website that can create a digital maze. And so, today, I am going to take the time to go through 7 MORE maze generation websites. Why ? Well I like to keep up to date on what content is out there and share it with you.

So today I will look at 7 online maze generation websites, compare them, and let you know what each is capable of. This maze generator comparison includes the (1) shape of the overall mazes, (2) the cell types or shape of the cells that create the internal paths/walls, (3/4) the width and height sizes you can generate, (5/6) how the start/end are shown, (7) are the solutions given, and (8) how can you download the maze you have generated.

To give them a good comparison I decided to generate a 20x20 maze with each to compare how each generated (when possible). I also tried to give and example of some of the advanced features if the maze generator site has them.

In no particular order:

1. all kids network

Shapes: 5 : Square

Cell types: Square

Width / Height: 9 pre-selected sizes available, smallest 5 x 5, largest 120 x 120

Start/End: Entrance and exit are labeled.

Advanced options: You can choose one of 2 styles: Simple or Artistic

Solution generated: Yes

Downloads available: Yes. Pdfs available.

This site also allows you to select your difficulty level (Easy, Medium, Hard), and to select between 11 different page sizes.

Examples: You must register and login to download mazes. Registration is free.

2. PUZZLE GeneratoRS

This site has 6 different inputs that must be filled in to make a maze. There is no information to explain how they work (Information icons did not work for me). Those inputs are labeled: Width, Height, North, East, West, and South. This site also allows you to make crossword puzzles, sudoku and word searches !

Shapes: 2 : Square, Rectangle

Cell types: 1: Square

Width: 2 - 50

Height: 2 - 50

Start: Entrance and exit are not specified, 1 of each at the top and bottom of the generation.

End: 1

Solution generated: Yes

Downloads available: Yes

Examples: Both are 20x20 squares. The left was generated using 1111 for NSEW, while the right was generated using 2222.

puzzle generators maze example
puzzle generators maze example 2

3. JAMISBUCK

This maze generator is built to generate mazes for Minecraft. This includes mazes with up to 10 layers (Think of a 3D maze with each layer being a floor to a building).

Shapes: 1 : Square

Cell types: 1: Square

Width / Height: Comes in 4 selectable sizes: Small Medium Large and Huge

Start: Entrance on the left hand side.

End: Exit in the right hand side.

Advanced options: The levels I mentioned before add layers to the maze, allowing the solver to travel in a third direction. Note that this generates as a separate picture for each level with blocks colored to indicate where you may move up or down.

Solution generated: No

Downloads available: No

Examples: First example is Medium sized with 1 Level. The next set of 3 show a Small sized 3 level maze where yellow and blue denote the ability to move up and down.

JamisBuck maze example
JamisBuck maze example small
JamisBuck maze example 3
JamisBuck maze example 4

4. Dcode Maze Generator

Shapes: 1 : Rectangle

Cell types: 1: Square

Width: 2 - 50

Height: 2 - 50

Start: Entrance and exit are not specified, 1 of each at the top and bottom of the generation.

End: 1

Advanced options: You can change the walls of your maze to be made by any character. The default maze walls are made from solid black blocks.

Solution generated: No

Downloads available: Yes

Examples: Left with the default black walls. Right with * as walls. I tried a few different symbols and find non-black walls very difficult to follow what the pathways are.

Dcode maze generator example
Dcode maze generator example 2

5. delorie

Shapes: 1 : Rectangle

Cell types: 1: Square, Rectangle

Width: 1 - 100

Height: 1 - 100

Start: Entrance and exit are not specified, 1 of each at the top and bottom of the generation.

End: Entrance and exit are not specified, 1 of each at the top and bottom of the generation.

Advanced options: You can generate a maze in Gif format (Though I could not get this to display) or using text (which uses the “+” and “-” characters). You can choose the width and height of each cell. I found if you use the default of 1 it is difficult to understand the walls of the maze.

Solution generated: Yes

Downloads available: No

Examples: Left uses a width and height of 2 per cell and is difficult to follow. The right maze is much easier to follow by changing the width per cell to 6. This generates a more square maze.

Delorie maze example
Delorie maze example

6. the teachers corner

Shapes: 1 : Rectangle

Cell types: 1: Square

Width: 10 - 50

Height: 10 - 75

Start: Entrance and exit arrows are chosen with 6 color options. Entrance generates in the top left corner.

End: Entrance and exit arrows are chosen with 6 color options. Exit generates in the bottom right corner.

Advanced options: You can add a Title and directions/instructions for the maze. Default directions are “Can you find your way through the crazy maze below?”. You can change the width of lanes, there are 5 options that vary the display size.

Solution generated: No

Downloads available: Only by right clicking to download directly from the browser. Note that the download will NOT include the start and ending arrows you see on the screen.

Other: This maze generator is part of a larger website dedicated to resources for teachers like lesson plans, activity sets and teacher resources. Great for teachers !

Examples: Each is 20 x 20.

Teachers corner maze example
Teachers corner maze example

7. Xefer Maze Generator

Shapes: 1 : Rectangle

Cell types: 1: Square

Width: 2 - 1000 ? At 1,000 the maze still generates.

Height: 2 - 1000 ? At 1,000 the maze still generates.

Start: Entrance and exit are not specified, 1 of each at the top and bottom of the generation.

End: 1

Advanced options: You can choose the size of the cells. You can choose the anfractuosity - roughly how much channels are important in the maze. Most mazes have high anfractuosity.

Solution generated: Yes

Downloads available: No

Examples: Left 20 x 20 has low anfractuosity. Right 20 x 20 has high anfractuosity.

Xefer maze generator example
Xefer maze generator example