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Puzzles

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Brainteaser                                                         March 23, 2009

There are twelve identical looking balls except that one
ball weighs either less or more than the others.  You are
allowed three weighings on a simple balance where you
can weigh the balls against each other.  

You must identify the different ball and whether it weighs
less or more.

Solution in May.
Custom Search
Puzzle:                                                                April 10, 2009                      
                                  

Three tourists register at a hotel, pay $100 each, and go up to their rooms.  The
manager arrives later and notes they have been overcharged because the hotel
had advertised a discount.  He asks the desk clerk to take out $50 from the till and
return it to the guests.  Being a little light-fingered, and thinking he can get away
with it, the clerk takes out the $50 but returns only $10 each to the guests
pocketing $20 himself.

Now the guests have paid $90 each for a total of $270 and the clerk has kept $20.  
This adds up to $290.  But the guests had paid $300 to start with, so what happened
to the $10?

Answer in
Puzzle Solutions
Copyright © 2010 ofthisandthat.org.  
All rights reserved.
Brainteasers contributed by Zeenat Mansoor.             April 12, 2009   
 
                                                    
1. A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three
rooms. The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of
assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that
haven't eaten in 3 years - Which room is safest for him?

2. A woman shoots her husband. Then she holds him under water for over
10 minutes. Finally, she hangs him. But 5 minutes later they both go
out together and enjoy a wonderful dinner together - How can this be?

3. There are two plastic jugs filled with water. How could you put all
of this water into a barrel, without using the jugs or any dividers,
and still tell which water came from which jug?

4. What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray when
you throw it away?

5. Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?

6. This is an unusual paragraph. I'm curious how quickly you can find
out what is so unusual about it? It looks so plain you would think
nothing was wrong with it! In fact, nothing is wrong with it! It is
unusual though. Study it, and think about it, but you still may not
find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit, you might find out!
Try to do so without any coaching!

Answers in
Puzzle Solutions
Questions and Comments
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... for travel and leisure
Two-Person Game                                                           May 31, 2009   

Place 13 matches or toothpicks on a table.  A player can draw 1 or 2 matches;
then it's the opponent's turn who has the same choice.  The player left with
the last match to draw loses.  Have fun!

irrespective of the number of matches at the start of the game?

Click
Puzzle Solutions for answer.
Cryptic Crossword # 2                                      April 26, 2009
Meena Yust
Note that clues often contain anagrams,
double meanings, etc.  
Sample clue:  Wrong way to fly a plane.
Solution:  YAW (jumble of 'way')
Across
1. Rattling the rattle, not the former. (6)
3. The mat I see sounds related to a topic. (8)
5. "Lights, camera...," The bad cat joins a charged atom to perform. (6)
7. Hammering it partly is currency for the British. (5)
8. Going topless in silk? It's all the same. (3)

Down
1. A bad liar makes money. (4)
2. Your grandfather's Buick named after Orestes' sister. (7)
4. The French aunt loaded with liquor has a fit. (7)
5. The broken-down car has a strange tic in this cold region. (6)
6. The dealer turns to head. (6)

Click Puzzle Solutions for answers to puzzle.
Scrabble Score

What whole number adds up to its Scrabble score?

Answer in
Puzzle Solutions

Yarborough's Wager --- Contributed by Zeenat Mansoor

The Earl of Yarborough offers you a wager. He'll shuffle an ordinary deck and deal you 13
cards. If none of your cards ranks above 9, he'll give you a thousand pounds. Otherwise
you must give him one pound.
Should you accept?


Answer in
Puzzle Solutions
Cryptic Crossword # 3                                      May 9, 2009
Meena Yust
Note that clues often contain anagrams,
double meanings, etc.  
Sample clue:  Wrong way to fly a plane.
Solution:  YAW (jumble of 'way')
Across
1. Birds with liquor, perhaps, wrote "A Brief History of Time". (8)
5. The wrong tram for buying and selling. (4)
6. The Spanish girl will, in this land of fabulous wealth. (2,6)
7. Bury the seed, it sounds like, with mediatory results. (5)
8. The ruler has a ship's pole above the small emergency room. (6)

Down
2. The lass partly reverses, and splices with a male and the German, an amphibian. (10)
3. Where's the beef? It's just a bad team. (4)
4. The ships come in here to join the atom, in part. (7)

Click Puzzle Solutions for answers to puzzle.
Quick Quiz                                                           May 16, 2009


How many Scrabble letters carry two points?

Which vowel is not in the top row in a standard keyboard?

What is the only word in English ending in mt?


Answers in
Puzzle Solutions
Cryptic Crossword # 4                                      May 23, 2009
Meena Yust
Note that clues often contain anagrams,
double meanings, etc.  
Sample clue:  Wrong way to fly a plane.
Solution:  YAW (jumble of 'way')

Across
1. and 5.   This Christmas carol is a quiet sort of thing. (6,5)
5. See 1
6. The mat is seen almost as a painter. (7)
7. The king is what the raven does, with a bad end. (7)

Down
2. Take ten, sonny, for the poet. (8)
3. The stronghold has a point in the loud music. (5)
4. The ships come in here to join the atom, in part. (7)

Click
Puzzle Solutions for answers to puzzle.
Quick Quiz                                                     May 24, 2009

  • Name the dot over 'i' .
  • Which sting --- male or female wasps?
  • How did the 'teddy' bear get its name?
  • Which country was the first to issue postage stamps?


Click
Puzzle Solutions for answers
Cryptic Crossword # 5                                      June 6, 2009
Meena Yust
Note that clues often contain anagrams,
double meanings, etc.  
Sample clue:  Wrong way to fly a plane.
Solution:  YAW (jumble of 'way')

Across

1. Self-propelled but not self-directed. (10)
2. Sounds like a light drink, but this mineral is not quite a solid bet gone bad. (8)
4. A runt's planet, perhaps. (6)
6. See 5 down
7. Claude paints an impression of Ray, gaining currency. (8)

Down

1. Pose a bit unusually for the fabled writer? (5)
3. Best pal turns back to head indispensable worker platform. (6)
5. and  6  across. Sounds like a furry one who throws at the wheel, but he's magical! (5,6)

Click
Puzzle Solutions for answers to puzzle.
Puzzle                                                                                 June 6, 2009

What do these words have in common?  Hint:  It's not two sets of double letters
                                                                  --- from Zeenat Mansoor


Banana
Dresser
Grammar
Potato
Revive
Uneven
Assess
Cryptic Crossword # 6                                      June 20, 2009
Meena Yust
Note that clues often contain anagrams,
double meanings, etc.  
Sample clue:  Wrong way to fly a plane.
Solution:  YAW (jumble of 'way')
Across
1. When you prohibit Jo, you have the means to make music. (5)
3. Sounds like a mother's darling, what a star! (3)
4. Bent tongs with the right head and tough as well. (6)
6. Levis all shook up. (5)
7. Bark without the head of a bite!  Noah's crowded dorm? (3)
8. Enzo was his first name; his last a fast-car legend. (7)

Down
1. You put your foot in it! The Brits put their bags in it when traveling by car. (4)
2. The end is in fish! (6)
4. So damn insane?  Damn sad?  No, reverse the words, though he remains insane. (6)
5. What  O'Keefe's friends called her; the peaches from here are famous. (7)

Click
Puzzle Solutions for answers to puzzle.
Note that clues often contain anagrams,
double meanings, etc.  
Sample clue:  Wrong way to fly a plane.
Solution:  YAW (jumble of 'way')
Cryptic Crossword # 7                                                  July 3, 2009
Meena Yust
Across

1. Mend the Spanish founder of genetics. (6)
4. Fish for a woman's jewelry! (7)
5. The fans were almost the solution to the question. (6)
6. A rose undergarment is unwelcome attention from an employer.  (4,4)

Down

1. Awkward Monte painted. (6)
2. The hazy shine of dawn is a school of dance. (9)
3. The carrying type! (7)
Quick Quiz                                                                                                    July 11, 2009

1. What type of flower is a pink dog?

2. What is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world?

3. What does the vintage on a bottle of wine show?

4. Which two planets in our solar system do not have moons?

5. Which year had only 354 days because of calendar change?

6. What is believed to be the oldest living animal on the earth?

7. Who did Nathuram Godse assassinate and when?

8. Which country's flag, still in use, is the oldest in the world?

9.  After Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, who was chosen to replace him as the twelfth apostle?

10.  What is the present name for Abyssinia?
Note that clues often contain anagrams,
double meanings, etc.  
Sample clue:  Wrong way to fly a plane.
Solution:  YAW (jumble of 'way')
Cryptic Crossword # 8                                                  July 18, 2009
Meena Yust
Across

1. and 6. Down.  
This grain on a foot can be sore, but atop a male swan is tasty. (4,2,3,3)
5. Take a rodent and its tail for a delicious dessert. (6)
7. Snagged hose for the foot. (4)
9. In Lagos, Iris became a god from the African continent. (6)

Down

2.
Off-key tones are what students take. (5)
3. God-in-chief--- for the Romans, that is; for us a massive planet. (7)
4. A Masai man carries the wrong spare. (5)
6. See 1 Across.
8. The computer doesn't seem to get anywhere without a bad skid. (4)
Quick Quiz                                                                                                       July 25, 2009

1. Who was the first man in space and which country was he from?

2. Who was the first woman in space and which country was she from?

3. Which is the only city in the world that is on two continents?

4. What was the Roman name for London?

5. What is the largest city in the world by population?
Across

1.
Oddly, Bake St. is not for bread alone, especially at Easter. (6)
2. The plan, I might add, is quite ordinary. (5)
5. The bad ram downed enough gin to get to the edge. (6)
7. Wrongly votes for the cook. (5)
8. The beggar has an Easter surprise. (3)
9. Alternatively consumed, flamboyantly speak. (5)

Down

1.
Musical group getting old?  Their injuries are wrapped. (8)
3. See 4 Down
4. and 3 Down.  Steer a hare badly and it might lose some eggs in the bushes. (6, 5)
6. To some males an adornment requiring careful trimming, but sounds like instructions to a
golfer! (6)

Click Puzzle Solutions for answers to puzzle.
Note that clues often contain anagrams,
double meanings, etc.  
Sample clue:  Wrong way to fly a plane.
Solution:  YAW (jumble of 'way')
Cryptic Crossword # 8                                                  August 8, 2009
Meena Yust
Cryptic Crossword # 9                                             September 12, 2009
Meena Yust
Note that clues often contain anagrams,
double meanings, etc.  
Sample clue:  Wrong way to fly a plane.
Solution:  YAW (jumble of 'way')
Across
2. Range from nothing to nothing and turn to an Italian herb. (7)
4. The German beginning to follow a spirit, is led to a strong spice. (6)
6. Turn the ion on to make your eyes water. (5)
7. Ate the wrong way and got a drink. (3)
8. In short, Margaret has a crazy head. (6)
9. Sounds contemporary but sweeter. (7)

Down
1. A cookie with a filling or a seedy physicist in motion. (3,6)
3. AC current shocks the girl, a pungent spice.  (6)
5. Unusually non-manic, it might even restore an oatmeal breakfast. (8)
Quick Quiz                                                                        October 3, 2009

1.  What monument did the Roman Emperor Hadrian build in Britain?

2.  What dance is performed by bees to indicate sources of pollen?

3.  What is psephology?

4.  Which famous British monument has hands 23 feet in length?

5.  Who was Leonardo Da Vinci's teacher?

6.  What was Christopher Columbus' nationality?

7.  Who was the first man to fly across the English Channel?
Cryptic Crossword # 11                                          October 10, 2009
Meena Yust
Note that clues often contain anagrams,
double meanings, etc.  
Sample clue:  Wrong way to fly a plane.
Solution:  YAW (jumble of 'way')
Across
1. Bad supply at down under.  I may be billed as a duck, but I'm unique! (8)
3. It must ache to grow one, or is it there already? (8)
5. This good land is endless -- bad too; so it plies the canals. (7)
7. Dainty me just got messed up; nitrocellulose plus ammonium nitrate. (8)

Down
2. Let a lass dance; it's hot! (5)
3. The gay ram turns into a cat. (6)
4. Man, this cat's burnin' bright, according to Blake. (5)
6. Alternatively sunk one's teeth; the earth did the same to the sun! (5)
Cryptic Crossword # 12                                          October 24, 2009
Meena Yust
Note that clues often contain anagrams,
double meanings, etc.  
Sample clue:  Wrong way to fly a plane.
Solution:  YAW (jumble of 'way')
Across
1. Bertie Wooster's man, according to P.G. Wodehouse. (6)
5. Oddly takes a slice of meat. (5)
6. Aladdin goes to rub his lamp, and reveals a dog. (5)
9. Alfred the rooster has a snag ahead of him, but is a master of suspense. (9)

Down
2. Sat in some lustrous fabric? (5)
3. Auto country set to flower. (9)
4. Brad, I might add, has a girl's hair style. (5)
7. Gee, oats for this frisky quadruped! (5)
8. Having a bath redesigned keeps the Thai happy. (4)
Quick Quiz                                                            November 7, 2009

1. Weight of the biggest pig ever recorded (in lbs)

a) 2552
b) 1004
c) 1549
d) 2011

2.  What is pomology?

3.  What is the collective noun for larks?

4.  What is a jeepney?

5.  What is the collective noun for moorhens?

6.  What is unique about the hooded pitohui bird?

7.  Approximately how many people are bitten by snakes in the US each year?
a) 150
b) 1700
c) 7000
d) 4500
Cryptic Crossword # 13                                          November 14, 2009
Meena Yust
Note that clues often contain anagrams,
double meanings, etc.  
Sample clue:  Wrong way to fly a plane.
Solution:  YAW (jumble of 'way')
Across
3. Sounds weather like, if... (7)
4. A friend's attempt is meager. (6)
6. A rat disturbed eating pies will amble off. (7)
7. Talks with Spanish lines of poetry. (9)
8. A steroid can send it hurtling into space. (8)

Down
1. The fish net is jewel like. (6)
2. A wrong step and you become a nuisance. (4)
4. Ape reordered a jacket! (3,4)
5. Virginia steamship heads to Arkansas and a college in Poughkeepsie. (6)
Cryptic Crossword # 14                                          December 12, 2009
Meena Yust
Note that clues often contain anagrams,
double meanings, etc.  
Sample clue:  Wrong way to fly a plane.
Solution:  YAW (jumble of 'way')
Across
1. Latex forms a music ensemble; holds things together. (6,4)
5. A storm raging is part of the chloroplast. (6)
7. Dill rearranged on your head provides pastoral contentment. (5)
8. A bad bream turns yellow. (5)

Down
2. Spread it on toast and soar for a lepidopteran. (9)
3. Am created, broken because I draw the line. (9)
4. O! without this classical poet uses ire to form jewel. (8)
Quick Quiz                                                             December 19, 2009

1.  Name the first steam locomotive

a) Blucher
b) Rocket
c) Flyer

2.  Speed of travel

a) 2 mph
b) 4 mph
c) 8 mph

3.  Name of the inventor

a) George Stephenson
b) James Watt
c) Robert Louis Stevenson

4.  George Stephenson's first job was as a

a) coal miner
b) cowherd
c) blacksmith's apprentice

5. George Stephenson was born in

a) 1751
b) 1801
c) 1781
Cryptic Crossword # 15                                          January 9, 2010
Meena Yust
Note that clues often contain anagrams,
double meanings, etc.  
Sample clue:  Wrong way to fly a plane.
Solution:  YAW (jumble of 'way')
Across
1. 4807 m, this highest mountain in the Alps. (4,5)
5. Rum I gather, a whirling dervish poet. (4)
6. Third rock from the sun. (5)
8. A cat's way is to become a survivor even when thrown out. (8)

Down
2. The ass is so wild it catapults. (6)
3. A quantity I find disturbing and ancient. (9)
4. Angry discourse is obviously your pastime. (10)
7. It's a bird! No, it's a fruit! Well anyway, it's from New Zealand. (4)
Cryptic Crossword # 16                                          February 6, 2010
Meena Yust
Note that clues often contain anagrams,
double meanings, etc.  
Sample clue:  Wrong way to fly a plane.
Solution:  YAW (jumble of 'way')
Across
1. Spur a muddled Karl on to flower. (8)
3. Gee! gives almost your greens. (7)
6. A hospitable Australian asking to pay the bill, or the final move in chess! (9)
7. The rat and the cat act together without a tee to construct a waterfall. (8)

Down
2. Pa's sport can take you places. (8)
4. Throw out Charlie! (5)
5. Ma'am, getting a B is venomous. (5)
Picture Puzzle                                                        February 20, 2010       
                                                          
Fun game!  Regifting Robin     Why does it work?


Cryptic Crossword # 17                                          March 13, 2010
Meena Yust
Note that clues often contain anagrams,
double meanings, etc.  
Sample clue:  Wrong way to fly a plane.
Solution:  YAW (jumble of 'way')
Across
2. Joint mothering knocks one out. (4)
4. Twist with Spanish wrongful act. (7)
8. Uri tags, arranges, and they make music. (7)
9. Consume black bird in surrender. (3,4)

Down
1. Joan gets a B, for instrumental music. (5)
2. The disturbed cat's goal is to rearrange into systematic lists. (8)
3. The game is competitive but economists insist it's no competition. (8)
5. Sounds dark but was actually nice and protective of ladies especially when canned. (6)
6. Disfigured coal turns to drink. (4)
7. The little tike is upset enough to take off. (4)


Solution Next Week under Solution tab