Brainteasers

Levels:

Easy: no hintsHard: no hintsVery Hard: a few with hints

Easy

Count Down… Maurice the bull swallowed a time bomb

that’s about to go off in 5 minutes! What is the best word to describe the situation? Awful, Abominable, Dreadful, or Shocking?

Answer: Abominable (a-bomb-in-a-bull)

Chow time…The pups dug into dinner. Polaris ate more than Sirius; Castor ate less than Pollux; Pollux ate less than Sirius but more than Rigel. Which pup ate the second most?

Bonus question: What do the names of the five dogs have

in common?

Answer: Sirius ate the second mostBonus: They are all names of stars

Word Thoughts…Percy has thought of a new word game. What single four letter word can be placed before each of the words below to make four new words?

_ _ _ _TRAP _ _ _ _ PLACE _ _ _ _ BUG _ _ _ _ FLY

Answer: Firetrap, Fireplace, Firebug, Firefly

Hard

Cutting the Cheese…Chef Ferdinand claims he can cut a round of cheese into eight identical pieces with only three straight cuts. Can it be done? How?

Answer: Yes. It can be done. Here’s how:

Word Cogitation…Sylvia the check-out girl is trying to solve a word game in one of the tabloids. It reads, “Loops is to spool as drawer is to… A. contents, B. reward or C. bureau.” What is the correct answer?

Answer: reward (loops is spool backwardsand reward is drawer backwards)

Ball maze…Assuming that all three colored balls will roll freely through this maze, what is the color of the ball that will exit from chute number two?

Answer: the yellow ball

Very Hard

Convention Chuckle… Dora K. Hatton, A.K. Barnes, and J.R. Sweeney had a big chuckle at the convention when they rea-lized that the letters of their names, if rearranged, spelled out the names if each of their home States. From what State does each of these delegates hail?

Quick hint if you’re stuck:North _ _ _ _ _ _, Ne_ _ _ _ _ _, and _ _ _

_ _ _ _ey

Answer: North Dakota, Nebraska and NewJersey

The Riddler…Clarence would like to share his newest riddle with you. “The day before two days after the day before tomorrow is Monday,” he confides. “What day is it today?”

No hint

Answer: Sunday

Big Family…Chad and Blossom (brother and sister) come from a large family. Chad has as many brothers as he has sisters, but Blossom only has half as many sisters as she has brothers. How many brothers and sisters total are in the family?

Hint: in total (all brothers and sisters counting Chad and Blossom) there are 7.

Answer: There are four boys and three girlsin the family.