mental_floss Blog » Sandy Wood

Brain Game: Autumn Foliage

Sandy Wood — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:30:58 +0000

Here’s hoping that you enjoy today’s Brain Game word ladder. By changing one letter at a time to form new words, and leaving all other letters in their original positions, convert the word GREEN into the word BROWN in seven (or fewer) steps:

G R E E N
_ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _
B R O W N

Here is a six-step SOLUTION.

Brain Game: Math Square #3

Sandy Wood — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:30:59 +0000

Readers requested a more difficult Math Square challenge, so we reduced the “free” numbers in this puzzle from two to only one. Let’s see if this one fits the bill for today’s Brain Game!

The nine squares inside the main red grid should be filled with the digits 1 through 9. Each digit should appear only once in the mail grid. One of these numbers (the 5) is already provided for you. Place the other digits in the correct spots so that the mathematical equations work both across and down. (Remember your algebraic rules when solving the problems… multiplication and division should be solved first, then addition and subtraction.) Good luck:

Here is the SOLUTION.

Brain Game: Deliriously Raw

Sandy Wood — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:30:20 +0000

Thanks for trying today’s puzzle.

In this age of the Internet, devout fans often refer to multi-word titles of albums, films, and TV shows by their abbreviations. Please Please Me becomes PPM, just like Revenge of the Nerds becomes ROTN and The Next Generation becomes TNG.

Today’s Brain Game offers 10 Eddie Murphy movies abbreviated this same way. Can you identify all of them? Good luck!

. . . . . CTA . . . . . DDC . . . . . HM . . . . .
HN . . . . . MD . . . . . TGC . . . . . THM
. . . . . TNP . . . . . TP . . . . . VIB . . . . .

Here are the ANSWERS.

Brain Game: Mrs. Sasse’s Class

Sandy Wood — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:30:24 +0000

Local elections are being held in many areas in the country today. If you care about your community, do yourself and your neighbors a favor and get out there and vote. And while we’re on the subject of casting ballots, here’s today’s Brain Game.

Five of the 31 students in Mrs. Sasse’s homeroom ran for class president: Wally, Wendy, Willy, Woody, and Wyatt. Given the following facts (and the knowledge that every student in the class voted), figure out both the winner of election and how many votes each candidate received. Good luck!

Clue #1: Wyatt earned twice as many votes as Wendy, three times as many votes as Wally, and six times as many votes as Woody.

Clue #2: Only one candidate received an odd number of votes.

Here is the SOLUTION.

Brain Game: The European Seven

Sandy Wood — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:30:14 +0000

Feel free to consult a European map to assist you with today’s Brain Game; a quick examination may help lead you to the answer. Good luck!

Geographically, what do these seven independent European
nations - but no others on the continent – have in common?

Denmark, Holy See (Vatican City), Republic of Ireland,
Monaco, Portugal, San Marino, United Kingdom.

Here is the SOLUTION.

Brain Game: Bill & Ted & Cal & Gerry & Jim’s Excellent Adventure

Sandy Wood — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:30:40 +0000

Admittedly, today’s Brain Game may prove difficult. If you don’t know the answer offhand (I wouldn’t have), a bit of research may make it clear. And this is just the type of trivia that seems destined to crop up on a game show someday. Good luck!

What do the names of these five presidents
- but no others – have in common?

William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter.

Here is the SOLUTION.

Brain Game: Math Square #2

Sandy Wood — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:30:35 +0000

We offered our first Math Square last week, and the positive response led us to bring it back again for today’s Brain Game. Enjoy!

The nine squares that make up the main grid should be filled with the digits 1 through 9. Each digit should appear only once in the mail grid. Two numbers (5 and 7) are already provided for you. Place the other digits in the correct spots so that the mathematical equations work both across and down. (Remember your algebraic rules when solving the problems… multiplication and division should be solved first, then addition and subtraction.) Good luck:

Here is the SOLUTION.

Brain Game: Ceramic Dog

Sandy Wood — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:30:58 +0000

Wheel of Fortune was one of my favorite game shows for years; I remember watching it back in the 1970s, when Chuck Woolery was the host (and one of the regular prizes was a large ceramic dog). The game changed in later years, and one addition was the Bonus Round. In the extra frame, winners were spotted six letters – R, S, T, L, N, and E – and given a shot at guessing a short puzzle. This concept leads us to today’s Brain Game, which has no single correct answer. Just do your best!

What is the longest English word
you can come up with that does NOT
contain any of the letters R, S, T, L, N, and E?

Here are some possible ANSWERS.

Brain Game: R.I.P. Pluto

Sandy Wood — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:30:22 +0000

The astronomy instructor offered to give extra credit to eight students – Jack, Jane, Jeff, Jess, Jill, Jodi, John, and Judy - if they’d help the rest of the class learn about the Solar System. Each student would choose one planet – Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune Saturn, Uranus, or Venus - and write a special report to be presented in front of the class.

Based on the following clues – and feel free to do online research as necessary to figure out the clues - determine which student chose which planet for his or her report. Good luck!

Clue 1 = The name of Jess’ planet ends with an “S.”

Clue 2 = Jane’s planet is smaller than Venus.

Clue 3 = Jack’s planet lies just beyond the Asteroid Belt.

Clue 4 = The orbit of Judy’s planet is smaller than Earth’s orbit.

Clue 5 = Jill’s planet lies further from the Sun than any other.

Clue 6 = Jeff’s planet has multiple moons.

Clue 7 = Jodi’s planet is widely known as ”the Red Planet.”

Here is the SOLUTION.

Brain Game: Really, Really Bad Rebus #14

Sandy Wood — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:30:49 +0000

It’s been a while (not long enough for some) since we’ve done a Really, Really Bad Rebus for the Brain Game, so enjoy this one. It lives up to its name:

HERE is the solution.