Chapter 1: Brain Stretches.

Without the aid of any measuring device, how can you use a transparent 16-ounce mug to measure a volume of water that is exactly 8 ounce?  

You are in a candy store, and you want to buy a jumbo jawbreaker.  You notice that there is a contest currently being run on jawbreakers.  One in every five jawbreakers has a hollow center.  If you get a hollow jawbreaker, you will win $10.  Without breaking open any of the jawbreakers, how can you cheat and make sure you only purchase a hollow one?

Bobby is having a birthday party in the back of a limousine.  He has a helium balloon that he holds by its string.  Suddenly, the driver swerves to the right to avoid hitting a dog.  As a result of the sharp turn, Bobby is flung to the left.  Which way does his balloon go?

A scientist in his lab brings pure water to a boil.  Then, without cooling the water or donning any kind of protective clothing, he immediately pours the water onto his head without scalding himself.  How does he do it?

You are on a boat in the center of a circular lake.  There is a robber at the edge of the lake.  He runs four times faster than you row. You run faster than he runs.  Your objective is to escape from the lake.  This means that you must row to the edge of the lake without the robber being there to greet you (because as long as he is not waiting for you at shore, you can outrun him to freedom.)  The robber will always move in an optimal direction - i.e., he will always run in the direction

on the lake's edge that moves him towards you.

Can you escape?

if so, how?  If not, why not?

Two ferryboats start at the same instant from opposite sides of a river, traveling across the water on routes at right angles to the shores.  Each travels at a

constant speed, but one is faster than the other.  They pass at a point 720 yards from the nearest shore.  Both boats remain in their slips for 10 minutes before starting back.  On the return trips they meet 400 yards from the other shore.

How wide is the river?

Each clue below describes two words that differ by only one letter.  The extra letter has been either added to the beginning or the end of the second word - all the rest are in the same order.  For example "Writing on the wall of Noah's boat"

would result in Ark mark."  Can you guess the rest?

1.  Complaint about a golf club part

2.  Insect being angry and vocal

3.  Angry buccaneer

4.  The second of two dishes

5.  Scrawny unidentified object

 

What is the next letter in this series?

H, B, C, N, O, F, P, S, ?

Finishing this series of percentages is relatively easy, but what do these values represent?

30%, 20.3%, 16.3%, 8.9%, 8.9%, 6.7%, 5.2%, ?

The letters of the alphabet have been split into two groups.  In which group would you put the letter Z?

1.  AEFHIJLPRSUVW

2.  BCDGKMNOQTXY

If you have a container of air and you double the amount of air in the container, the new pressure will be double the old pressure.  Let's say you measure the air pressure in your tires.  The gauge reads with the standard pressure, 32 pounds per square inch (psi).  If you were to double the amount of air in the tire without causing the tire to expand in any way, what pressure would your tire gauge read

then?  The answer is NOT 64 psi.

Chapter 2: Mind Puzzles

If you multiply the number of toes on each foot of each person in Australia , what number do you get?

Here is a 10-digit number in which the numerals have been replaced with different letters. Each letter always represents the same numeral.  From the clues, can you

figure out what the 10-digit number is?

ABCDDDCDDD

 

1.  A is the number of zeros in the full number.

2.  B is the number of ones in the full number.

3.  C is the number of twos in the full number.

4.  D is the number of threes in the full number.

Paul is at his local newsstand, looking at the various magazines on display.  He picked up a copy of Pretzels and Me, a copy of Wooden Puzzles Digest, and a

copy of Indoor Hang Gliding.  He passes the magazines to the shopkeeper, who enters the amounts of each magazine into the cash register.

"Hang on a minute!" says Paul.  "You just pressed the multiplication button each time between amounts instead of the addition button."  The shopkeeper smiles

with new false teeth and replies, "It doesn't matter.  Either way, it comes to $5.70."

What were the prices of the magazines?

The king is at a fundraiser, and he must shake a lot of hands.  Depending on the guest, a hand shake can take either 30 seconds, one minute, or two minutes.  The

king greets people at random.  If there are 30 guests, what is the probability that he will finish shaking hands with all of them in 15 minutes or less?

There are nine cards.

[1] The cards are arranged like this:

    

   

   

[2] Every ace borders on a king and on a queen.

[3] Every king borders on a queen and on a jack.

[4] Every queen borders on a jack.

[5] There are at least two aces, two kings, two queens, and two jacks.

What kind of card is in the center?

What is the fewest number of colors you can use to color in a map of the United States without using the same color on any adjoining states?

What is the next letter in this series?

H, B, C, N, O, F, P, S, ?

You are at a party with 11 other people.  The announcer asks everyone to pick a number between 1 and 100.  What are the odds that each person selected a

different number?

Bobby has just gotten a new watch from his wife.  He looks at the watch and sees that it is already set to the correct time of 8:00 p.m.  Over the next few hours, he notices that his new watch is losing six minutes per hour.  When will his watch

again read the correct time?

Normally, when you put an ice cube into a glass of water it clings to the edge of the glass.  How can you make the ice cube float near the center of the glass?

How would you pick up exactly one teaspoon of sugar using only your fingers and no measuring instrument?

Chapter 3: Mind Teasers

A bunch of dogs is called a pack, and a bunch of cows is called a herd.  Do you know what a bunch of the following animals are called?

1. Buzzards 2. Cobras 3. Turtles 4. Sharks

What is the next name?

John, John, Chester, James, George, George, Jimmy,

Which word of the following is different from the rest and why?

island wrongburn salmonforeign hourcocoa lambknee plumbercalf ghost

Change one letter in each of the 10 words given below that will transform the word into an entirely different word.

1. slant 6. remove2. produce 7. insert3. until 8. quill4. flatten 9. repair5. gallon 10. search

Two clues to each of ten well-known compound words are given below.  The first clue is a hint to the first portion of the compound word and the second is a hint to

the second portion.  determine the ten compound words.

Example:  body part, illuminate     Answer:  headlights

1.  skillet, dessert2.  lawn, pogo stick3.  dairy product, insect4.  ocean, dandelion5.  adult male, gentle6.  musical instrument, twig7.  resting place, extend8.  mind, blizzard

9.  fracture, quick10.  fun activity, soil

Identify the name of each candy bar suggested by the clue.

Example:  outer space     Answer:  Milky Way

1.  a planet2.  a street3.  miniature hills

4.  a sound

5.  compensation time6.  plump7.  a bird8.  suppressed laughs

Some very clever aliens have captured you.  As a test of your intelligence, they have poisoned you and placed the antidote in one of two vials, with the second vial containing more of the same poison.  They won't tell you which is which. 

Instead, Vial A has a label that reads "The label on the other vial is true, and this is the antidote."  Vial B has a label that reads, "The label on the other vial is false,

but it contains the antidote."  Which vial should you drink?

What do the following words have in common?

CONQUERED, ALSO, FRONT, DEVOURED, ATTACKS

Name all states of the United States that are spelled using only four letters of the alphabet.  The names may be more than four letters long but contain only four

different letters.

What are the missing items in this series?

?, 15, 30, 40, ?

 

A particular object is associated with each category given below.  The four objects are common to a single item.  Determine the four objects and the item.

 

garden toolsbody organs

gemsweapons

Chapter 4: Mind Warps

If the puzzle you solved before you solved the puzzle you solved after you solved the puzzle you solved before you solved this one was harder than the puzzle you solved after you solved the puzzle you solved before you solved this one, was the

puzzle you solved before you solved this one harder than this one?

Below  are two clues for words that are Homonyms (same sound but different spelling).  Can you guess all of the words?

1.  Uninterested...panel

2.  Permitted...spoken

3.  Walked...adhesive

4.  Cries for help...satisfy

5.  Small bag...strut or flounce

The following numbers are all related in some way.  Can you figure out how?

39.37

3.281

1.0936

0.00062

Substitute each underlined clue with a word that will form a well-known saying.

Example:  fracture the frozen solidAnswer:  break the ice

1.  strike the street

2.  transfer the dollar

3.  big stone the watercraft

4.  scrape the exterior

5.  punch the accumulated money

6.  rotate the dining furniture

7.  beyond the mound

8.  12" the check

9.  go higher the stream

10.  clothe the slacks

 

Fill in the blanks in each sentence with a word that is pronounced the same (but spelled differently) as the name of a creature.

Example:  A lot of shouting can make you ___________.

Answer:  hoarse (pronounced the same as "horse")

 

1.  His ____________ came to the family reunion.

2.  He was only 30 but had very little ___________.

3.  She cried when her pet died because it was ____________ to her.

4.  he went on a hike _______________ from the waist up.

5.  The infant would often _______________ all night.

6.  Everyone ignored him because he was a ______________.

The following words, when modified according to the same general rule, will each fit one of the definitions listed below.  Can you figure out how to properly modify

each word and then match it with the proper definition?

 

PICKLE, KNIGHT, CHOIR, PAN, TIRE, TREE, FIN, TENT

1.  Peace-talks goal

2.  Man's title

3.  Fairylike

4.  Join

5.  High-pitched flute

6.  Garden flower

7.  Whole

After you have dealt about half the cards for a bridge game, the telephone rings.  You put down the undealt cards to answer the phone.  After you return, neither you nor anyone else can remember where the last card was dealt.  No one has touched any of the dealt cards. Without counting the cards in any hand, or the

number of cards yet to be dealt, how can you finish the deal rapidly and

accurately, giving each player exactly the same cards he would have received if you hadn't been interrupted?

Determine what two letters, when pronounced, fit the descriptions given below.

Example:  not difficult        Answer:  EZ (easy)

1.  a vine 5.  a tent2.  extra 6.  a composition3.  a number 7.  to rot4.  a void 8.  surpass

 

Which abbreviation is different from the rest and why?

wt. wk.oz. Lt.Mr. jr.ft. ht.St. vs.

A chessboard has eight rows and eight columns.  In chess, a rook can move any number of squares at a time, either sideways or forward, but it cannot move

diagonally.  What is the smallest possible number of moves the rook would have to make to pass over every single square on the board and finish in the same

position where it began?  The rook can start anywhere.

 

It is said that Immanuel Kant was a bachelor of such regular habits that the good people of K�nigsberg would adjust their clocks when they saw him stroll past certain landmarks.

One evening Kant was dismayed to discover that his clock had run down.  Evidently his butler, who had taken the day off, had forgotten to wind it.  The great philosopher did not reset the hands because his watch was being repaired and he had no way of knowing the correct time.  He had walked to the home of his friend Schmidt, a merchant who lived a mile or so away, glancing at the clock in Schmidt�s hallway as he entered the house.

After visiting Schmidt for several hours Kant left and walked home along the route by which he came.  As always, he walked with a slow, steady gait that had not varied in twenty years.  He had no notion of how long this return trip took.  (Schmidt had recently moved into the area and Kant had not yet timed himself on this walk.)  Nevertheless, when Kant entered his house, he immediately set his clock correctly.

How did Kant know the correct time?

 

Chapter 5: Brain Benders

A contest is fixed.  Everyone knows it, including the contestants.  One of the contestants, however, makes it to the final playoff level.  

The master of ceremonies presents the following challenge:  "This box contains two slips of paper.  One slip has the word 'winner' printed on it, the other has the word 'loser.'  Your task is to select the winning slip - without looking of course."

The contestant knows that this challenge is fixed.  He realizes that both slips have the word 'loser.'  How can he select one slip and win the challenge?  By the way, the contestant can't declare this contest is a fraud or he'd lose his current

winnings.

One of these spirals is formed with a single piece of rope that has its ends joined.  The other is formed with two separate pieces f rope, each with joined

ends.  Can you tell which is which by using only your eyes?  No fair tracing the lines with anything!

 

Five people want to share a square pizza.  The first person (who is really hungry) removes a quarter of the pie.  When the others find out, they are annoyed and try

to divide the remaining three-fourths into four equal and identically shaped slices.  The cuts must be straight.  How must they cut the remaining pizza in

order to produce four identical slices?

Five adults were in a play.

[1] The five adults were Tyrone, his sister, their mother, his son, and his daughter.

[2] Each adult had a different one of five dressing rooms arranged like this:

[3] The dressing room of the lead in the play and the dressing room of the lead's sibling bordered on the same number of rooms.

[4] The dressing room of the lead and the dressing room of the lead's parent were the same size.

[5] Tyrone's dressing room did not border on his daughter's dressing room.

[6] Everyone's dressing room bordered on at least one man's dressing room and one woman's dressing room.

Who was the lead?

Below is a 10x10 grid of squares into which the solutions, which alternate across and down, to the cryptic clues should be inserted.  The solutions are to be found in a sequence and can be placed anywhere on the grid, with one letter to a square - but each new solution must overlap with some previous word(s) placed on the grid, except for the first word, which can go anywhere.  On placing a new word,

no non-valid words can be created from letters already on the grid.

When the ten solutions have been positioned (and there may be several ways of doing it), it should be possible to fit the extra word AXE into the word pattern, and

this can be done in only one way.

The aim of the Complex Crossword is, therefore, to answer the question:  Where does the AXE fall?

Note - Hints accompany each clue, but must be read very closely in order to understand the hint.

 

CLUES:

Across:  Shows pressure, back from more temporary business, don't pry (9)

Down:  Fragment, in lice trap (8)

Across:  Steam, can launder oily clothes, dirty socks...that's just the beginning! (6)

Down:  Temperamental, returning from scary doom (5)

Across:  Boats, coy star has, without oars (6)

Down:  Disinterested, returns with modern object, no novelty at first (7)

Across:  Dress, some fur object, without jacket initially (4)

Down:  Towards, forefront of alternative technology (2)

Across:  Unwell, General Reilly lacks real energy (3)

Down:  Yield, in morose internment cell, no comment lone sir (6)

 

.. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

.. . . . . . . . .

.. . . . . . . . .

.. . . . . . . . .

.. . . . . . . . .

.. . . . . . . . .

.. . . . . . . . .

.. . . . . . . . .

.. . . . . . . . .

Two identical bolts are placed together so that their helical grooves intermesh.  If you move the bolts around each other as you would twiddle your thumbs, holding

each bolt firmly by the head so that it does not rotate and twiddling them in the direction shown, will the heads (a) move inward, (b) move outward, or (c) remain

the same distance from each other?  The problem should be solved without resorting to the actual test.

Can you make one cut (or draw one line) - of course it needn't be straight - that will divide the figure into two identical parts?

 How fast can you think?  Faster than a speeding bullet?  Faster than electricity?  For most of us, thoughts race around our brains between 3 to 300 mph.  Who

knows, this puzzle may break your brain's speed record.

The square encloses a 4x4 grid.  There are five different ways this grid can be divided into identical quarters.  Each way uses a different shape.  Can you

uncover the layout of all five patterns?

 

.. . .

. . . .

.. . .

. . . .

One letter is missing from the end of this series.  What is it and why?

A, E, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, U, ?

 

Mr. Smith is trying to figure out how he can knock over one bowling pin at a time and always leave pins standing that will spell a word.  He has just knocked down the second T and the remaining letters spell STARLING, which is the name of a bird.  How can he bowl over a pin at a time and each time leave a familiar word,

until only one pin that makes a word all by itself is left?

Eight married couples live in the same neighborhood.  The women (Charlotte, Christine, Elizabeth, Estelle, Getrude, Rebecca, Rosalyn, Veronica) and the men ( Edward, Emmanuel, Eugene, Frederick, Gerald, Norbert, Robert, William) call

each other person by a nickname which is commonly used for that given name.  Each couple grows only one kind of flower (English daisy, marigold, nasturtium, phlox, rose, sweet pea, tiger lily, zinnia), and each  couple has been married for a

different number of years than the other couples (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 13, 20).  The couples� last names are Archer, Bradley, Drake, Humboldt, Ingersoll, Jamison,

Kendall, and Lopez. 

Use the clues below to match up everything.

1. The tiger lily is not grown  by any of these six people:  Lottie, Bob, Mr. Lopez, Ronnie, Ted, Trudy.

2. Each of the people in clue 1 was married to someone not mentioned in 1.

3. The Drakes and the couple who grow tiger lilies have been married longer than the zinnia growers, who have been married longer than the Bradleys and the Kendalls.

4. Bob has not been married as long as Gene.

5. The Archers invited Ronnie and her husband, Jerry, to their summer cottage in Michigan .

6. Bob, Beth, Lynn, and the Drakes all took turns visiting Bob�s wife when she was in the hospital two weeks ago.

7. The Ingersolls and the phlox growers have been married longer than the Humboldts, who have been married four years longer than Trudy and her husband. 

8. Stella, who has been married two years longer than Bob, is and old friend of the couple who has been married four years.

9. Becky, her husband, and the Ingersolls all went to the beach last Saturday.

10.Neither the Lopezes nor the marigold growers have been married as long as the Bradleys.

11.Becky has been married longer than Gene but not as long as the couple who grow tiger lilies.

12.Trudy and Tina went shopping yesterday with Mrs. Archer and Mrs. Kendall.

13.The Zinnia growers live between Bob and the Bradleys.

14.Gene knew Lynn and the Lopezes before he moved into the neighborhood last year.

15.Bert has been married twice as long as Manny but not as long as Rick.

16.Trudy has been married longer than the English Daisy growers but not as long as Rick.

17.The nasturtium growers have been married longer than Manny and the English daisy growers.

18. Beth does not grow sweet peas.