You're not weird. Puzzles can definitely be fun, but, in my experience, it doesn't mean you're a lousy programmer if you can't solve one/some. Everyone likes t

You're not weird. Puzzles can definitely be fun, but, in my experience, it doesn't mean you're a lousy programmer if you can't solve one/some. Everyone likes to use Google as the example of the elite programming company. I've read the books about them, used the products, followed their progress over the years. So, sure, a part of their big success is hiring the 'smartest' college grads. However, I've also worked with Ph.D.'s and even interviewed them for positions lower than ones I've held (I have not yet finished college - some day...). And I can tell you that book smarts != execution smarts. I feel the same way about puzzles. I have never used puzzles or asked 'small' one off programming questions. Instead I've always been interested more in grep'ing the concepts and if the personality is the proper fit. In my mind, anyone can open up a book and read about specifics about O(log n). But how does a person persist at solving a problem and how do they (can they?) change direction if their solution sucks? I feel like I value creativity over anything and they can creatively solve a puzzle, cool. But if they can creatively solve a task on the system I'm building and are a great fit to the team, then better.