Word Puzzle

 It’s Tuesday, so here are some more Missing Word puzzles.  Today there are ten puzzles of varying difficulty.

As a refresher in each puzzle, a word or words are missing, replaced by their first letter.  In order to solve each puzzle, you need to find the missing words.  Here’s an example of how they work:

Puzzle1:       12 I in a F

The solution is     “12 INCHES in a FOOT”  (“I” stands for “INCHES” and “F” stands for “FOOT“)

Below are ten puzzles to try.

• 4 S in a D of C

• 12 N on a C

• 5 O in the W

• 7 W of the A W

• 13 S on the U S F

• 2 W on a B

• 12 M in a Y

• 9 L of a C

• 15 B on a P T

• 2 E on a F

These are not original puzzles, but I still like to share them.  Good Luck and pass the puzzles onto others who may enjoy them! 

“Why is a raven like a writing desk?” – Lewis Carroll

Today’s puzzle is another set of fun riddles called Associative Riddles.  Associative riddles look for how two ideas are associated.  This association is often with a word they have in common.  For example, carpet and carport  have “car” in common.  Making an associate riddle, one may ask “what do a rug and a garage have in common“?  The answer would be “car” as a “carpet” is a rug and a “carport” is a garage.

The idea is really simple – all of the riddles have answers that are a single word that the two themes of the riddle have in common.  For example, “What’s a cow behind the wheel?”  – a“Steer” is the answer because a “steer” is a cow and to drive, one “steers” the wheel.  That’s the idea – not too crazy hard, but still thought provoking.

Below are nine associative riddles for you to try – all of them can be answered with a single word that two parts of the riddle have in common.

• 1. What tree can you hold in your hand?
• 2. What is an angry word puzzle?
• 3. What is not yet a frog in the farthest north?
• 4. What color is a designers plan of the moon?
• 5. What’s legal with “in” and illegal with “out”?
• 6. What’s a box on the waves?
• 7. What does a knitting nurse use?
• 8. What’s a measuring Monarch?
• 9. What does a hitchhiking baby use?

Good Luck and pass the puzzles onto others who may enjoy them!

“Simplicity is the glory of expression.” – Walt Whitman

Today’s puzzle is fun for everyone – Letter Riddles.  I came up with these riddles years ago while sitting at a restaurant with my family while waiting for the meal.  I was challenging my oldest daughter with these and in return she came up with a couple to challenge me!

The idea is really simple – all of the riddles have answers that are words that are pronounced the same as a single letter or a combination of letters.  For example, “What letter did Columbus cross?”  – the “C” is the answer because the letter C is pronounced the same as the word “sea“.   That’s the idea – not too crazy hard, but still thought provoking.

Below are ten letter riddles for you to try – all of them can be answered with a single letter or a combination of two or three letters.

• 1. What two letters are shifty?
• 2. What two letters does a banana have?
• 3. What two letters are four score?
• 4. What two are sick?
• 5. What two letters play cards?
• 6. What letter is a bird?
• 7. What two letters are slippery?
• 8. What two letters are a report?
• 9. What two letters are not hard?
• 10. What two letters are a girls name?

Good Luck and pass the puzzles onto others who may enjoy them!

“Be quick, but don’t hurry.” – John Wooden

As promised, Tuesday’s will be Missing Word Puzzle day, so here’s another set of missing word puzzles.  Today there are ten puzzles of varying difficulty. The first five are easier than the second five which are much more challenging. Please keep this in mind when you attempt the puzzles.  

As a refresher in each puzzle, a word or words are missing, replaced by their first letter.  In order to solve each puzzle, you need to find the missing words.  Here’s an example of how they work:

Puzzle1:       12 I in a F

The solution is     “12 INCHES in a FOOT”  (“I” stands for “INCHES” and “F” stands for “FOOT“)

Below are ten puzzles to try – remember the first five are easier than the last five.

• 2 H in a W

• 3 F in a Y

• 5 F on each H

• 10 D in a D

• 4 S on a S

The next five puzzles are more challenging!  Good Luck!

• 3 H on a C

• 2 S to every S

• 12 S of the Z

• 3 B in the “L of the R”

• 4 S and 7 YA

These are not original puzzles, but I still like to share them.  Good Luck and pass the puzzles onto others who may enjoy them! 

“Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming” – John Wooden

It’s the start of another December and that means Holiday Puzzles!  Last year’s Holiday Puzzles were a big hit with a lot of puzzlers.  I hope to repeat the fun and challenge again this year!  Much like last year, this year I am starting off with Missing Word Puzzles.  I plan on making Tuesday “Missing Word Puzzle” day.  So each Tuesday in December, there will be a new set of Missing Word puzzles.  I’ve received a lot of great feedback from everyone about last year’s Missing Work Puzzles.  Today we will start with some straightforward Missing Word puzzles, that even younger puzzlers can figure out..

As a refresher, just like the last year, in each puzzle, a word or words are missing, replaced by their first letter.  In order to solve each puzzle, you need to find the missing words.  Here’s an example of how they work:

Puzzle1:       12 I in a F

The solution is     “12 INCHES in a FOOT”  (“I” stands for “INCHES” and “F” stands for “FOOT“)

Below are ten puzzles to try

• 2 P in a P

• 3 W on a T

• 3 BM

• 4 Q in a D

• 5 N in a Q

• 4 Q in a G

• 24 H in a D

• 12 I in a F

• 3 F in a Y

• 7 D in a W

These are all beginner puzzles to get the holiday season started and they’re just fun puzzles to ponder.  They are not original puzzles, but I still like to share them.  Good Luck and pass the puzzles onto others who may enjoy them! 

Here are some clues, in no specific order – Time, Money, Sightless Rodent, Vegatable, Shapes, Letters and Measurement.

Here’s the 14th SAT Math Blast for those preparing for the SAT this Fall. Today’s questions are all Systems of Linear Equationsin the easy to moderate difficulty range. Some of the problems are word problems and some have the equations provided.

Remember, just select “START” to give it a try. Use the “NEXT” and “PREV” buttons to navigate and when you’ve answered all of the questions, select “COMPLETE”. You’re results will be posted. Also, you will be able to return to any of the questions to review (just select the question number in the results window).

As always, I hope you enjoyed this post. Please pass it onto others who may enjoy and please click LIKE below if you like it! (you need Adobe Flash in order to interactively run the above exam)

“When you come to a roadblock, take a detour” – Mary Kay Ash

Lateral Thinking puzzles are often referred to as “Thinking Outside the Box” puzzles.  They are similar to riddles in that their solutions are very simple, yet often very difficult to obtain.  Additionaly, Lateral Thinking puzzles are very easily stated.  Believe me, they can be very difficult.  Lateral Thinking puzzles rely on your thinking a certain way, typically the way that does not lead to the solution.

You can ask “yes” or “no” questions (no open ended questions allowed).  Using the answers, you try to narrow in on the solution.  This sounds easy, but most Lateral Thinking puzzles seem contradictory and seem not to have a solution.

I love to solve and make Lateral Thinking puzzles.  Below are two original Lateral Thinking puzzles.  I made a flash program that allows you to select five questions, each of which is accompanied by its answer.  Just click the Question and it will appear.  Good luck with the puzzles and email me your solutions.  I will gladly respond.

As always, I hope you enjoyed these puzzles. Please pass them onto others who may enjoy them and please click LIKE below if you like them!

“She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it).” – Lewis Carroll

183 years ago, on January 27th, 1832, Lewis Carroll was born.  Lewis Carroll was just a pen name.  His actual name was Charles Dodgson.   Although he is best known for two books – “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking-Glass“, he was actually a mathematician at Oxford.  In addition to his writings and math, he loved nonsense.  Nonsense in the form of puzzles, riddles and poems, all of which he loved to develop and pass along to others.

One of his favorite type of puzzles was called a Doublet.  In a Doublet, you start with a word and try to form a second word by changing one letter at a time.  Each time a letter is changed, the new word must be a real word (and not just gibberish).  Here’s an example that changes FLOUR to BREAD

FLOUR
FLOOR
FLOOD
BLOOD
BROOD
BROAD
BREAD

Each new word has just one different letter than the previous word in the list.  Here are four puzzles for you to try in celebration of Lewis Carrol’s birthday.   

1. change SHIP to DOCK
2. change OPEN to GATE
   
3. change CRY to OUT
   
4. change LIES to TRUE
   

These four puzzles are difficult and not necessarily for younger puzzlers.  I hope you enjoy this post. Please pass this onto others who may enjoy it!    Also, click “Like” below if you like it!

“The solution often turns out more beautiful than the puzzle.” – Richard Dawkins

Following the Monday theme for my 2014 Holiday Puzzles, today’s puzzles are another set of Missing Word Puzzles. I’ve received a lot of great feedback from everyone about the the Missing Work Puzzles #1 and #8.  Today’s are a bit more challenging.  I have provided some clues at the end to hopefully prompt or guide you in the right direction.

Just like the last two Monday’s, in each puzzle, a word or words are missing, replaced by their first letter.  In order to solve each puzzle, you need to find the missing words.  Here’s an example of how they work:

Puzzle:       12 I in a F

The solution is     “12 INCHES in a FOOT“

Below are ten puzzles to try

• 2 P in a P

• 3 H on a T

• 3 S (M, L and C)

• 3 N of DD (H, L and D)

• 3 A in every T

• 2 O in a DP

• 6 F on a C

• 10 M in a C

• 12 D in a G

• 5 V in the A

These are just fun puzzles to ponder.  They are not original puzzles, but I still like to share them.  Good Luck and pass the puzzles onto others who may enjoy them! 

Here are some clues, in no specific order – Dinosaur, Metric, Baseball, Disney, N’yuk, 3D, Vegatable, Shapes, Letters and Measurement.

“Eliminate all other factors, and the one that remains must be the truth.” – Sherlock Holmes

Inspector Galois was stumped. He had yet to solve his most recent case, the murder of the wealthy Oil Magnate Phil M. Mupp. There were five suspects in the murder, all of whom seemed to have an airtight alibi. The famous thoroughbred jockey, Horace Racer, was racing at Saratoga. The world famous physician, Karen Rejab, was at her health clinic in Africa. The popular DJ, Mike Refone, was hosting a 24 hour dance marathon in Los Angeles. The real estate mogul, Iva Lott, was closing on properties she recently purchased in Russia. The world famous explorer, Ben Therenbak, was mountain climbing in South America. All had numerous witnesses that eagerly corroborated their whereabouts.

While reviewing the evidence once again, there was a knock at the inspector’s office door. Without looking up, the inspector responded “Come in”. The door opened and entered Junior Inspector Abel. “It’s just the mail sir, only a single letter for you today.” said Abel as he handed the envelope to Galois. Galois took the letter and examined it curiously. It was addressed to Galois, Inspector of Police. Additionally, on the front of the envelope, at the bottom, was neatly printed “Correctly fill in each circle using only the numbers 1 through 5 – Good Luck”. The inspector curiously opened the envelope and removed a single sheet of paper. He unfolded the paper and examined it. Within seconds, he refolded it, looked at Junior Inspector Abel and said “The case is solved. I know the murderer”. The suspect was apprehended and within days the Inspector was proven to be correct. He did indeed know the murderer. What was on the sheet of paper? Look for yourself, it’s replicated below. Can you too solve the case and determine the murderer?

This is an original self-referential puzzle.  To solve the case, complete the puzzle by entering a number (1,2,3,4 or 5) in each circle that correctly matches the clue.  The number in the gray circle will be the murderer.  Remember the nature of self-referential puzzles, when one number is changed, it will likely effect other numbers.  Good Luck and please pass this puzzle and others onto others who may enjoy them!  Also, feel free to select the Facebook Like button below.