Test Your Brain Power

Below is a grid of 5 letter words.  Each word is missing its first and last letter.  The last letter of each word is the same as the first.  No two words have the same first and last letter as each other.  When read from top to bottom, the missing letters spell another 5 letter word.

What are the missing letters?

Here’s the solution:

Move three toothpicks to make the fish swim in the opposite direction.

The Solution:

Five coworkers (Brad, Dana, Ingrid, Morris, and Walter) are taking vacations to get away from the cold winter weather.  The vacation dates are January 6th, January 13th, February 2nd, February 15th, and March 3rd.  From the clues below, can you determine where each person is going, when they are leaving, and in which department they work?

3×5 Grid

1. The five coworkers are Morris, the person leaving for vacation on January 13th, the coworker in the Accounting department, the coworker vacationing in Mexico, and Dana.
2. The coworker from Payroll leaves for vacation earlier than Walter.
3. The coworker leaving for Hawaii on February 2nd doesn’t work in the Human Resources department.
4. The person going to the Virgin Islands will be the first one to leave on vacation and is not the coworker in the Customer Service department.
5. Of Brad and the coworker in the Shipping department, one is leaving on January 6th and the other is leaving February 2nd.
6. Dana is going to either the Bahamas or Fiji but is not in the Shipping department.
7. The coworker leaving for the Bahamas on February 15 works in the Payroll department but is not Ingrid.
8. Walter, who is vacationing in Mexico, does not work in the Human Resources department.
9. Morris, who is going to Hawaii, doesn’t work in Payroll.

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The object of the puzzle is to connect the different points on the grid with paths.

Rules:

1. Each point contains a number - this is how many paths can connect to this point
2. Every point should be able to be reached from any other point
3. No more than 2 paths can connect any two points
4. Paths may go horizontally or vertically, not diagonally
5. Paths may not cross each other

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Click here for the solution.

Fill in the missing numbers using the following rules:

1. All the missing numbers are between 0 and 9
2. Each row adds up to the number on the right
3. Each column adds up to the numbers at the bottom
4. Diagonal lines add up to the numbers on the right

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Click here for the solution.

In the puzzle below, the letters that belong in each column are scrambled below it.  Put the letters in the correct order to find the words to the beginning of a song often heard this time of year.

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Highlight below for the answer.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and auld lang syne?

Fill in the missing numbers.

Rules:

1. Use the numbers 1 through 9
2. Each number is only used once
3. Each row is a math equation
4. Each column is a math equation
5. Remember that multiplication and division are performed before addition and subtraction.

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5 friends (Beth, Emily, Jill, Mary, and Sally) met at a coffee shop for coffee and dessert on New Year’s day.  They got around to talking about the resolutions they had made.  From the clues below can you determine in what order the friends arrived at the coffee shop, what dessert each one ordered, what resolution each made?

3×5 Grid

1. The five friends are Sally, the 1st friend to arrive, the friend that resolved to bike to work once a week, the friend that ordered an ice cream sundae, and Mary.
2. Beth, who was the 3rd to arrive, did not resolve to join a gym and did not order the parfait.
3. Of the friend that ordered Tiramisu and the friend that resolved to clean the attic, one arrived 2nd and the other is Mary.
4. Jill, who ordered pecan pie, arrived before the person who resolved to take a class at the community college.
5. The 4th friend to arrive did not resolve to quit smoking and the 5th friend to arrive ordered chocolate cake.
6. Emily, who resolved to bike to work once a week, was the last to arrive, but did not order the parfait.
7. Sally, who did not order the parfait, resolved to take a class at the community college.

Click here for the solution.

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3 cannibals and 3 anthropologists need to cross a river.  There is a canoe, but it can only hold 2 people at a time and one person has to bring the canoe back.  If the number of cannibals is ever greater than the number of anthropologists, the cannibals will eat the anthropologists.  How can all six get safely across?

Stumped? Here’s a hint:

The first two to cross the river are both cannibals.

Here’s the solution: