Puzzle Solvers and Gardeners When I interviewed at my current employer, some years ago, I solved puzzles for about three hours. The other three hours were spent chatting about who I am, how I see myself, and what I’ve done. But the focus was on the puzzle solving, with all but one interviewer asking me to solve a puzzle. The solutions needed to be expressed in code. And as I interviewed other prospects, I made them solve puzzles as well.