confuse vs puzzle

confuse

verb
  • to puzzle, perplex, baffle, bewilder (somebody); to afflict by being complicated, contradictory, or otherwise difficult to understand 

  • To mix up, muddle up (one thing with another); to mistake (one thing for another). 

  • To mix thoroughly; to confound; to disorder. 

  • To be confused. 

puzzle

verb
  • To perplex, confuse, or mystify; to cause (someone) to be faced with a mystery, without answers or an explanation. 

  • To think long and carefully, in bewilderment. 

  • To make intricate; to entangle. 

noun
  • Anything that is difficult to understand or make sense of. 

  • A riddle. 

  • The state of being puzzled; perplexity. 

  • A game for one or more people that is more or less difficult to work out or complete. 

  • A jigsaw puzzle. 

  • A crossword puzzle. 

How often have the words confuse and puzzle occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )