David Genter, a puzzle developer near Baraga, creates unique math puzzles that challenge every participant, from retirees to elementary school students.

“Although the logic to complete the puzzle is kind of like Sudoku, Sudoku doesn’t rely on math knowledge — it’s just purely logic. The puzzle here is a combination of logic skills through process of elimination and math capabilities,” Genter said.

To Genter’s knowledge, his is the first — and potentially only — puzzle to integrate squares, square-roots, factorials, sine, cosine and other powers, such a 1/3 power or 2/5 power.

“It’s not hard math, but it’s tricky math,” Genter said. “I’ve always liked puzzles, and I’ve always liked math and numbers. It has kind of come naturally to me.”

After David Genter returned to the Upper Peninsula, his math puzzles began being published in the Daily Mining Gazette in Houghton. Here is an example of one of Genter's puzzles, where the solution was 906 for 906 Day.

While Genter creates a puzzle with one solution in mind, he notes he cannot guarantee there’s only one solution. However, there is most likely one solution on the puzzles that Genter finds are more difficult to develop.

One major challenge that Genter encountered in his puzzle developing was making sure that he could sustain the creation of new puzzles.

“I found out I can not only make them, but I can continue to make them. That’s where the integration of squares and square roots and factorials came in. It not only adds a unique dimension to the puzzle, but it allows me to continue to make them at different levels.”

Genter first developed his puzzles about 20 years ago when he worked as an engineer, designing diesel engines for Cummins Inc. in Columbus, Indiana.

“It was in the middle of a big engine design problem, and I was going back and forth to Europe about every month,” Genter said. “I was spending so much time in the air, and I had so much time to kill at night — this puzzle idea came to me and I thought, ‘Oh yeah, I wonder if it’ll work.'”

For Genter, problem-solving was second nature, whether he was working across the country or developing puzzles in his leisure time.

“To me, designing engines was quite a bit like trying to put together a puzzle that didn’t have one solution. It was my job to figure out how to put it together better than our competition,” he said.

He and his wife, Michelle, decided to move back to the Upper Peninsula after Genter’s retirement in 2024, which is when Genter coincidentally rediscovered his puzzles.

“I kind of forgot about (the puzzles) for close to 15 years until we started packing everything up to move to the U.P. And then I found them,” he said.

After returning to the U.P., he asked staff at the Daily Mining Gazette in Houghton if they would be interested in printing his puzzles, to which they enthusiastically agreed.

Years ago, when Genter initially developed his puzzles, he hoped it would encourage his children to like numbers and math. He notes that “might have worked to some degree,” as his children both followed in his footsteps. Sam, 27, is an environmental engineer in Houghton, and Ben, 21, studies herpetology and statistics at the University of Florida.

Genter grew up in Saginaw before attending Michigan Technological University, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering in 1985. He then went on to earn a master’s degree in the same field in 1987.

Today, Genter continues to develop puzzles while working part-time for MTU as a mentor-in-residence. Additionally, he aspires to have his puzzles completed in a competition, whether that’s throughout the U.P. or in smaller environments like schools.

“It could really, I think, gain some excitement for math,” Genter said. “You could time completion of the puzzles and penalize people if they come up with the wrong answer.”

Another one of Genter’s long-term visions is to have his puzzles syndicated, which could introduce them to a broader audience.

Genter credits Michelle, who also works as an engineer with Cummins Inc., for encouraging his puzzle creating and solving endeavors.

Readers can be on the lookout for Genter’s puzzles every Tuesday, starting this week.