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Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens
My own definition doesn't use the word 'puzzle' because many of us have this tendency to epistomologically identify it with very limited specimens. I prefer to use 'challenges that require and emphasize thought and logic reasoning' because it allows more flexibility and points more to paradigms.
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I'm not sure "emphasize" thought and logic reasoning is strong enough. That still leaves space for the challenges to involve difficulty in executing them. For instance, the challenge someone posted earlier in the thread about shooting a boss monster with the right kind of ammo in the right circumstances does fall under your definition, I think, but I believe a lot of us would want to exclude it because, you know, you'd be running around, dodging bullets and lobbing grenades at the enemy.
Challenges that test your reflexes, dexterity, and general arcade skills, are not in the spirit of adventure games, I think most will agree. Adventure games may have them, but if they constitute the bulk of the gameplay it won't be an adventure game any longer.
The other difference I see between a puzzle and a challenge is that a puzzle has a Right Solution (or a number of Right Solutions), while a challenge may be solved in innumerable ways, some never considered by the designer of the challenge. I think that difference makes for a very different experience when playing.
Traditionally, adventure games have had a lot of puzzles and relatively few other challenges. I'm not yet sure whether that's a defining characteristic of adventure games or not.
(And finally, I wanted to point out that "thought" is a nicely vague term for how people solve puzzles/challenges. Whether it's through applying knowledge, recognizing patterns, creative inspiration, punning, comic-book logic, story meta-logic, or any other method, it's all neatly encapsulated by that one word, "thought".)