1]For his breakfast, Mr Stone likes an egg that has been boiled for exactly 9 minutes. He has two eg

1]For his breakfast, Mr Stone likes an egg that has been boiled for exactly 9 minutes. He has two egg timers (those with sand in them), one that runs for 4 minutes and one that runs for 7 minutes. How can he use these timers to boil his egg?

a]Start both egg timers. When the 4 minute timer runs out, turn it over. When the 7 minute timer runs out turn it over. When the 4 minute timer runs out again the 7 minute timer has been running for 1 minute. Turn it over once again. When it stops the egg is done.



2]During a recent Cluedo weekend, four games were played. In one game Miss Scarlet used the spanner, but not in the library. In another game the rope was used in the study, but not by Colonel Mustard. During one game the gun was used in the conservatory, whilst in another game Professor Plum was not to be found in the library. Colonel Mustard was never in the conservatory and Mrs White never used the rope. The lead piping may or may not have been used in the kitchen. Can you determine who used what and where?


a]Culprit Weapon Location
Miss Scarlet spanner kitchen
Professor Plum rope study
Colonel Mustard lead piping library
Mrs White gun conservatory



3]Below, 10 nine letter words have been broken into chunks of three letters. These chunks have been mixed up, no chunk is used twice and all chunks are used. Can you determine what the 10 words are?

rbr ent ard man tor rbo
and ban con erf dst dli
fly spa dra dif hai ght
per all fis ove ush hea
new gon fer wat her duc


a]Waterfall, overboard, bandstand, hairbrush, different, fisherman, conductor, newspaper, headlight, dragonfly.


4]How should GHOTI be pronounced?

a]FISH: the GH as in ENOUGH, the O as in WOMEN, the TI as in MOTION.



5]A man had to pack a sack of apples into packets but as each packet had to have exactly the same number of apples he was having difficulty. If he packed 10 apples per packet, one packet only had 9. If he packed 9 apples per packet, one packet only had 8. If he packed 8 apples per packet, one packet only had 7. If he packed 7 apples per packet, one packet only had 6. And so on down to 2 apples. How many apples did he start with?

a]2519 apples.


6]Below, 10 nine letter words have been broken into chunks of three letters. These chunks have been mixed up, no chunk is used twice and all chunks are used. Can you determine what the 10 words are?

rbr tim sag tel lig ent
hea dli ble whi htn fer
car age esc ing ind wat
til hai ush dif eta new
rlw all erf ope ent ght


a]Telescope, timetable, hairbrush, different, waterfall, lightning, headlight, whirlwind, cartilage, newsagent.


7]Using the BrainBashers E-commerce solution, James ordered a fishing rod, priced at $3.56. Unfortunately, James is an Eskimo who lives in a very remote part of Greenland and the import rules there forbid any package longer than 4 feet to be imported. The fishing rod was 4 feet and 1 inch, just a little too long, so how can the fishing rod be mailed to James without breaking the rules? Ideally James would like the fishing rod to arrive in one piece!


a]One solution is to use a box which measures 4 feet on all sides, the fishing rod will fit within the diagonal of the box with room to spare.


8]During a recent music festival, four DJs entered the mixing contest. Each wore a number, either 1, 2, 3 or 4 and their decks were different colours. DJ Skinf Lint came first, and only one DJ wore the same number as the position he finished in. DJ Slam Dunk wore number 1. The DJ who wore number 2 had a red deck and DJ Jam Jar didn't have a yellow deck. The DJ who came last had a blue deck. DJ Park'n Ride beat DJ Slam Dunk. The DJ who wore number 1 had a green deck and the DJ who came second wore number 3. Can you determine who came where, which number they wore and the colour of their deck?

a]# Name Wore Deck Colour
1 DJ Skinf Lint 2 red
2 DJ Park'n Ride 3 yellow
3 DJ Slam Dunk 1 green
4 DJ Jam Jar 4 blue


9]A man wants to transport a fox, a chicken and some corn across a river. He has a rowboat, but it can only carry the man and one other item. If the fox and the chicken are alone together, the fox will eat the chicken. If the chicken and the corn are alone together, the chicken will eat the corn. How does the man do it?


a]He takes the chicken and then comes back. He then takes the fox and brings the chicken back. He then takes the corn and comes back. Finally he takes the chicken.


10]Can you complete this grid of letters. Each line is a valid 5 letter word with its first and last letters 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?

*OMI*
*EVE*
*ROM*
*OAK*
*ATC*


a]CLASH.