I think it might have been 32 as well.....tons of puzzles today and no stat increases at all again so it seems like thats it.
That would be very good to know from the start

I wasted a decent number of skill points boosting my dex/int/quickness pre 32...but oh well.
Best bet for new players is to hold off on boosting them all together (just save the skill points or spend it on boosting gun/magic/sword/con/strength until you max everything you can from puzzles to 32.