Head Games

March wits with the Mensa puzzler

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1 All the digits from 1 to 9 are used only once in the multiplication example below. Two digits have been filled in. Fill in the others and solve the equation.

? ? 3 X ? ? = ? ? ? 6

2 Fill in the grid below with four words. The answer will contain a total of four As; two each of Ds, Es, Ns and Rs; and one each of L, P, W and H.

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H A N D
A
N
D

3 There was a spelling contest at school. Rachel was neither first nor last. Rachel topped Ryan. Ann beat Jane. Charles ended up lower than Jane and higher than Rachel. Who was first?

4 The following eight letters can be arranged into a three-word phrase meaning “almost helpless.”

A C E E K P R U

5 A nine-letter word is hidden in the box below. Unscramble the letters, find the missing one, and solve the puzzle.

D S L O ? S I S E

6 Which of the following words is least like the others?

CANDLE HOPPING JEALOUS ENDING CARELESS

7 What is the five-digit number in which the first digit is the second digit squared; the third and fourth digits are the sum of the first and second; and the last digit is the sum of the second, third and fourth digits? The sum of all the digits is 21.

8 Add each line horizontally and vertically. What is the missing sum, and what are the values for each letter?

A B C D 10 A C D D 12 A C A A 6 B D B B 10 5 12 10 ?

9 Jane is now as old as John was three years ago cubed. In two years, she will be twice his current age. If you double their ages today, John will be five eighths of Jane’s age. How old are they now?

10 The same seven letters can be arranged to form two different words to fill in the sentence below.

Because of a series of _______ security alerts, the plans for the big rally were _______.

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