October 24, 2023
A corn maze is a massive, walk-through puzzle carved into a cornfield. From above, its winding paths may form a picture — anything from Halloween monsters to fire-breathing dragons, flying saucers to pirate ships, or sports heroes to scary witches.
A farmer may enlist a designer to create these incredible images. The designer begins with a sketch, and the farmer plows the design into a cornfield. A Global Positioning System, or GPS, guides their cutting.
Although today’s corn mazes may get a boost from modern technology, people have been designing, building, and getting lost in mazes for thousands of years. For example, mazes first appeared in Greek mythology. Garden hedges in European castle gardens were to amuse the royal court. By the 19th century, mazes had become a popular form of entertainment.
In 1993, producer Don Frants and designer Adrian Flesher built the world’s first corn maze in Annville, Pennsylvania. Their dino-shaped creation sparked a corn maze craze. There are now approximately one thousand corn mazes across the United States, and they exist worldwide except in Antarctica.
Every adventurer has a different maze-solving strategy. Some people charge in, while others remember the location of a hill, a tall tree, or the sun. Another approach is to use the “right-hand rule. (Whenever you see a path going to the right, follow it.)” Sooner or later, you’ll find your way out eventually. 😉
Vocabulary
approximately (adverb): almost, almost exactly
craze (noun): An activity, object, or idea that is extremely popular, usually for a short time
enlist (verb): To ask for help or support from someone
indicate (verb): To show or point out
intuition: (noun): The power to know/understand something without thinking it through
navigate (verb): to find one’s way around or make one’s way through
proclaim (verb): to state for others to know; to announce