noun

• An intricate puzzle consisting of many interlocking pieces.

  ‘they shuffle the images about like the squares in a Chinese puzzle’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The change in level across the site is intelligently exploited to create a series of living and sleeping spaces that lock together with the pleasing intricacy of a Chinese puzzle.’
  • ‘The various spaces interlock with the elegant complexity of a Chinese puzzle.’
  • ‘The main theatre is set back behind a generous foyer space, its permeability and luminance contrasting with surrounding blind boxes of the two cinemas, which lock together in section like Chinese puzzles.’
  • ‘Simple but effective is the best way to describe the Tangram, a Chinese puzzle that's cut into 7 different shapes.’
  • ‘He's like a Rubik's Cube in a Chinese puzzle in a Russian nesting doll hidden in a maze with no exit.’
  • ‘It's like a big jigsaw or Chinese puzzle,’ Schmidt says, describing the jam-packed play as ‘terribly lyrical and very atmospheric, moody and a little creepy’.’

  Synonyms

  puzzle, conundrum, brain-teaser, Chinese puzzle, problem, unsolved problem, question, poser, enigma, mystery, quandary, paradox