Definition of "puzzle" []

• To baffle or confuse mentally by presenting or being a difficult problem or matter. (verb-transitive)
• To clarify or solve (something confusing) by reasoning or study: He puzzled out the significance of the statement. (verb-transitive)
• To be perplexed. (verb-intransitive)
• To ponder over a problem in an effort to solve or understand it. (verb-intransitive)
• Something, such as a game, toy, or problem, that requires ingenuity and often persistence in solving or assembling. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "But it ` s just -- it ` s a normal investigative process, you know, and it ` s odd that the term puzzle was used, because essentially that ` s what an investigation is."
• "Many assignments in the professional world are a word puzzle in need of a visual solution and it's up to the photographer to make lemonade from lemons."
• "A big piece of the puzzle is the Web Application Accelerator, which Akamai has enhanced specifically for SaaS customers."