September « 2007 « winstonbreen.com

Archive for September, 2007

And now, this brief commercial announcement

Friday, September 28th, 2007

If you’re anywhere near Connecticut, come meet Eric Berlin on Saturday, September 29th, at Borders Bookshop in Fairfield, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. He’ll be challenging one and all with fun word puzzles, and giving out prizes. He’ll also be signing books, of course.

(You do know that the book is now out, right?)

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

A real lightweight

Friday, September 28th, 2007

I’m going to give you eight one-pound weights, each about the size of a baseball. I’ll also give you a simple balance — the kind where you place objects in two different trays, in order to find out if one weighs more than the other.

One of the weights, while identical to the others, is actually lighter than a pound. Your task is to figure out which of the eight weights is the light one. You may use the balance… but you can only use it twice. How can you figure out which weight is the light weight?

Answer

Posted in Logic | Comments Off

Your mileage may vary

Wednesday, September 26th, 2007

My friend’s car just reached 100,001 miles. That’s a palindromic number — it reads the same both backwards and forwards. What is the next palindromic number he’ll reach?

Answer

Posted in Numbers | Comments Off

Puzzles You Can Wear

Monday, September 24th, 2007

1. What article of clothing can you make by scrambling the word THIRST?

2. What word can you make by placing the word TIE somewhere within the word PANTS?

3. How many things that you wear on your feet can you name that begin with the letter S?

4. Which two words below form a new word when placed next to each other?

SHOE VEST HAT SUIT BRA SCARF COAT

Answer

Posted in Wordplay | Comments Off

Are You In Or Out?

Friday, September 21st, 2007

Each of the seventeen words and phrases can be found in the grid below, but every time the letters IN or OUT appear, they’ve been replaced with a picture of a door. You’ll have to figure out which doors go IN and which doors come OUT. Can you unlock the entire word search before you become unhinged?

BOUTIQUE
CHAIN
CHILL OUT
COMBINE
DEVOUT
HANDOUT
INKPAD
INSIDE OUT
MOUTHWATERING
OBTAIN
PRINTOUT
RAINBOW TROUT
SHOUTING
SINE CURVE
SOUTH CAROLINA
SUBROUTINE
THINK ABOUT

For easier solving, you can download this puzzle here.

Answer

Posted in Word Seeks | Comments Off

Happy Birthday, Smiley Face!

Wednesday, September 19th, 2007

The online smiley face…

:-)

…was sent for the first time 25 years ago this week. (It was created by a computer scientist named Scott Fahlman.) Since then, all kinds of emoticons have been invented. Can you match up each emoticon with its meaning?

1. P-(

2. <:0)

3. @@@@ :-)

4. ~:0

5. O-\-<]:

6. ~(_8^(|)

7. C=:-)

8. 0=)

9. ==):-)=

10. ——>-<o

a. angel
b. baby
c. bungee jumper
d. chef
e. clown
f. Abraham Lincoln
g. Homer Simpson
h. Marge Simpson
i. skateboarder
j. pirate

Answer

Posted in Multiple Choice | Comments Off

Three For Me and Three For You

Monday, September 17th, 2007

Name two signs of the zodiac that contain the consecutive letters COR.
Name two board games that contain the consecutive letters CHE.
Name two kinds of fruit that contain the consecutive letters PEA.
Name two countries that the consecutive letters DEN.
Name two kinds of metals that contain the consecutive letters RON.

Answer

Posted in Something in Common | Comments Off

Mutts

Friday, September 14th, 2007

Five mutts can be seen below, each made from two different breeds of dogs. You can only see the top half of the letters from one breed, and the bottom half of the letters from the other. Nonetheless, can you identify the two different breeds in each mutt?

Answer

Posted in Name It | Comments Off

New Math?

Wednesday, September 12th, 2007

$ + # = &

% ! + @ $ = & %

^ @ ! + # & * = ???

What should take the place of the question marks?

Answer

Posted in Numbers | Comments Off

Oo-Ee, Baby

Monday, September 10th, 2007

The word FOOT is singular, but becomes plural when you change all its Os to Es. What other body part also goes from singular to plural when you change all its Os to Es?

Answer

Posted in Wordplay | Comments Off

Archive for September, 2007

And now, this brief commercial announcement

A real lightweight

Your mileage may vary

Puzzles You Can Wear

Are You In Or Out?

Happy Birthday, Smiley Face!

Three For Me and Three For You

Mutts

New Math?

Oo-Ee, Baby

Archives

Categories