to offer or represent to (a person or their mind) a problem that is difficult to solve or a situation that is difficult to understand or resolve
a schoolmaster puzzled by a hard sum — Ralph Waldo Emerson
to exert (oneself or one's mind) over a problem or situation; to make (oneself) think hard
They puzzled their brains to find a solution
(usu + about/over) to be uncertain as to action, choice, or meaning
We puzzled for days about whether or not to go
puzzled adj
puzzlement noun
puzzling adj
puzzlingly adv
[origin unknown]