Head Games | Mind & Brain Cover Image: October 2005 Scientific American Magazine See Inside

Head Games

Match wits with the Mensa puzzler



1 For each line, find a word that matches the definition at the left and, when it is reversed, matches the definition on the right.

vegetable	  	part of a ship

cooking utensils	important road sign

give off	 	"4th dimension"

2 Three sandwiches and five cups of coffee cost $20. Three cups of coffee and two sandwiches cost $13. What is the price of each sandwich and each cup of coffee?

3 An interesting question is coiled in the grid below. Start at the correct letter and move in any direction to find the question. (Start with a "D" and use each letter only once.)

A H O S D O B U R

S E U E N W R U N

D O B U R N O ? P

4 A candy store owner prices sweets according to his own system. A gumdrop costs 12 cents; a lollipop costs 13 cents; a chocolate bar costs 19 cents. Using the same system, how much will a jujube cost?

5 A restaurant, whose owner is a puzzle fiend, was going to close for vacation. The note on the door, composed by the owner, read, "This is being posted on Wednesday, July 1. We shall be closed for vacation from the day after two days before the day after tomorrow." What day of the week did the restaurant close for vacation?

6 A bottle with a deposit for its return costs you $1.10. The bottle cost $1.00 more than the deposit. How much money are you going to get back when you return the bottle?

7 On a strange planet, the numerical system is such that 12 is half of 20. In that case, what is one fifth of 25?

8 In the following set of words, which one is "odd man out"?

Canada Iceland Netherlands France

9 Fill in the missing number.

3 6 1 4

144 81 ?

4 5 2 5 6

10 Charles is now half as old as Pat was three years ago. In three years, Charles will be half as old as Pat will be then. If neither is yet a teenager, how old are they now?

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