Puzzle 1
Below are seven clues to seven words.
When arranged in the correct order, longest to shortest, each word is an anagram of the previous word with a letter removed.
capital of France
snake
long root vegetable
single article
twisted ankle
coarse file
equally
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
The answer to 'long root vegetable' is the longest word.
Answers
parsnip = long root vegetable
sprain = twisted ankle
Paris = capital of France
rasp = coarse file
asp = snake
as = equally
a = single article
Puzzle 2
I am compiling the new BrainBashers world almanac, and it now contains lots more pages.
I know that it takes 333 digits to print the page numbers in sequence.
How many numbered pages does the book have?
How many times does the number 3 appear?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
Think of the pages from 1 to 9, and then 10 to 99.
Answers
There are 147 pages.
The number 3 appears 35 times.
Answer #1
For pages 1 to 9, there are 9 pages, which is 9 digits.
For pages 10 to 99, there are 90 pages, which is 180 digits.
This is a total so far of 189, therefore we require another 333 − 189 = 144 digits, which is another 144 ÷ 3 = 48 pages.
Taking us to 9 + 90 + 48 = 147 pages in total.
Answer #2
From page 1 to 147 we have 15 pages that end in 3:
3, 13, 23, …, 143
We also have the ten pages that start with 30:
30, 31, 32, …, 39
Plus the ten pages that start with 130:
130, 131, 132, …, 139
For a total of 15 + 10 + 10 = 35 number 3's.
Puzzle 3
Starting with any C, using the move of a chess knight, can you find the letters of Christmas in the correct order?
The moves of a knight are:
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
A knight moves in the shape of an L, two squares one way, one square the other.
Answer
Puzzle 4
Can you complete this grid of letters. Each line is a valid 5-letter word with its first and last letter missing.
The missing letters form a word when read downwards, and the same word appears both at the start and at the end.
What is the missing word?
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L |
U |
R |
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| |
A |
D |
A |
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A |
G |
L |
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| |
L |
P |
H |
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| |
R |
U |
I |
|
Note: this puzzle is not interactive, and the squares cannot be clicked.
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
workings
hint
answer
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www.brainbashers.com
/puzzle/zesk
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Hint
The missing word ends with the letter D.
Answer
The missing word is BREAD.
| B |
L |
U |
R |
B |
| R |
A |
D |
A |
R |
| E |
A |
G |
L |
E |
| A |
L |
P |
H |
A |
| D |
R |
U |
I |
D |
