To baffle or confuse mentally by presenting or being a difficult problem or matter.
To clarify or solve (something confusing) by reasoning or study: He puzzled out the significance of the statement.
v.
intr.
To be perplexed.
To ponder over a problem in an effort to solve or understand it.
n.
Something, such as a game, toy, or problem, that requires ingenuity and often persistence in solving or assembling.
Something that baffles or confuses.
The condition of being perplexed; bewilderment.
[Origin unknown.] puz'zler n.
Synonyms: These verbs mean to cause bafflement or confusion. Puzzle suggests difficulty in solving or interpreting something: "The poor creature puzzled me once . . . by a question merely natural and innocent" (Daniel Defoe). Perplex stresses uncertainty or anxiety, as over reaching an understanding or finding a solution: a dilemma that perplexed the committee. Mystify implies defying comprehension by obscuring facts: symbolism that mystifies me. Bewilder emphasizes extreme mental confusion: "The old know what they want; the young are sad and bewildered" (Logan Pearsall Smith). To confound is to confuse and astonish: God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise (I Corinthians 1:27).