Puzzles are so enjoyable. They get your brain sparking and the competitive spirit flowing. Solving them is one of life's simple pleasures. The puzzle masters of Japan create the world's most satisfying puzzles, so Alex Bellos travelled to Tokyo to meet them. These enigmatologists include the god-father of Sudoku, the winner of the WorldPuzzle Championships, an inspiring teacher who uses games to enliven his students' maths lessons, and the puzzle poet whose name has become a Sudoku-solving technique. They use noms de guerre - Edamame, Lenin, Teatime, Sesame Egg - and each has a distinctive style. What unites them are their megawatt brains and the beauty of their hand-crafted puzzles, which will challenge and sharpen your mind. Bellos has collected over 200 of their most ingenious puzzles, rated easy to excruciating , and introduces over 20 new types of addictive problems including Shakashaka and Marupeke.

Arm yourself with pencil, eraser and laser-like focus. Let's get puzzling .