n. & v.
n. 1 a difficult or confusing problem; an enigma. 2 a problem or toy designed to test knowledge or ingenuity.
v. 1 tr. confound or disconcert mentally. 2 intr. (usu. foll. by over etc.) be perplexed (about). 3 tr. (usu. as puzzling adj.) require much thought to comprehend (a puzzling situation). 4 tr. (foll. by out) solve or understand by hard thought. puzzlement n. puzzlingly adv.
[ 16th c.: orig. unkn. ]