Community Outreach

Brain Boosters

Each week, we share interactive challenges with members of MyAlliance for Brain Health.

Select the date for the most current Brain Booster. Past Brain Boosters are listed in 2023 or 2022.

Brain Boosters

Week of March 27:

Since 1933, March 30 of every year is designated as Doctors' Day, an opportunity for patients to show appreciation for physicians and the care they provide.

Besides boosting your brain, uplift your doctor by sending a thank you note!

Now, answer this brain booster. Which of the following is true about doctors?

A) A doctor first used anesthesia in surgery in 1842.

B) Doctors' Day is a legal holiday in the United States.

C) There are an estimated 700,000 doctors in the United States.

D) All of the above.

Answer:

D) All of the above!

Week of March 20:

Follow these steps and see if you can figure this out. Hint: read the directions thoroughly before starting!

1) Get a brown cardboard box.
2) Get purple, orange and turquoise paints.
3) Paint the box orange.
4) Paint on purple spots.
5) Paint on turquoise stripes.
7) Turn the box upside down.
8) Lie on your side.

What is missing from this sequence?

Answer:

Step 6!

Week of March 13:

This weekend we moved our clocks ahead one hour to spring forward into Daylight Saving Time. Boost your brain by determining if these statements are true or false:

True or False? Two US states do not observe Daylight Saving time.
True or False? Daylight Saving Time begins at the stroke of midnight on the appointed day.
True or False? Farmers and department stores find great benefits in Daylight Saving Time.

Answers:

True – Hawaii and (parts of) Arizona do not observe Daylight Saving Time.
False – Daylight Saving Time begins at 2:00 am local time – the idea is that most people will still be at home or even asleep for the night and most businesses will be closed.
False – While department stores have found that more daylight is good for business because more people go shopping, farmers opposed it from the beginning because it wreaks havoc with their schedules, they have to wait for the dew to evaporate off the hay in the morning, regardless of what time it is, and it throws the cows off!

Week of March 6:

A 3-letter word has been taken out of each of the following words. Can you figure it out?

_ _ _ AND

B_ _ _ Y

SI _ _ _ A

F _ _ _ ET

Answer: ERR

ERRAND

BERRY

SIERRA

FERRET

Week of February 27:

Tuesday, February 28 is National Science Day! Take on these Brain Boosters in honor of this momentous occasion:

Question:

If bananas were to have a chemical formula, what would it be?
What number do nickel and neon make when they're combined?
You will find me in Mercury, Earth, Mars and Jupiter, but not in Venus or Neptune. What am I?

Answer:

BaNa²
NiNe (9)
The letter R

Week of February 20:

Question:

During which month do people sleep the least?

Answer:

this one – February (it’s the shortest month!)

Question:

Four cars come to a four-way stop, all coming from a different direction. They can’t decide who got there first, so they all go forward at the same time. They do not crash into each other, but all four cars go. How is this possible?

Answer:

All of the cars made right turns.

Question:

You’re in a dark room with a candle, a wood stove and a gas lamp. You only have one match, so what do you light first?

Answer:

The match.

Week of February 13:

What did the volcanos say to each other on Valentine’s Day?
Why are artichokes such a loving vegetable?
Every student in a second-grade class sends a Valentine to each of the other students in the class, for a total of 306 valentines. How many students are in the class?

Answer:

I LAVA you!
Because they have hearts!
18 (Each student sends a Valentine to every other student, meaning each study sends 17 Valentines. 18 x 17 = 306).

Week of February 6:

Each group of three definitions describes three words that are spelled the same, except for one letter (each group describes a different set of words). Example: king, ring, wing.

Group 1: a round shape; spoken; a gemstone.

Group 2: highly skilled; to conform; to accept formally and to put in effect.

Answer:

Group 1: oval, oral, opal

Group 2: adept, adapt, adopt

Week of January 30:

A brain booster for cold weather:

It is known that water freezes from the top to the bottom. So, if you were to take a glass of water and put it in a freezer until it was half frozen, the bottom would not be frozen.

What would happen if you started to freeze the water in an upside-down glass?

Answer: You can't. The water would pour out of the glass long before it would freeze.

Week of January 23:

What is the common word among these four things?

1) 52 cards
2) Part of a ship
3) Popular Christmas song
4) Hit the _____!!

Answer:

the word deck

Week of January 16:

1. Why is Europe like a frying pan?

2. Forward, I am heavy; backward, I am not. What am I?

Answer:

1. Because it has Greece at the bottom.

2. A ton.

Week of December 19:

What 5-letter word typed in all capital letters can be read the same upside down?

Answer:

SWIMS

Week of December 12:

Two moms and two daughters went out for a holiday dinner. Each ate one portion, yet only three portions were eaten in total. How is this possible?

Answer:

It was a grandmother (who is also a mother), mother, and daughter who went out for a holiday dinner together.

Week of December 5:

The age of a man is the same as his wife's age with the digits reversed. The sum of their ages is 99 and the man is 9 years older than his wife.
How old is the man?

Answer:

The man is 54

Week of November 28th:

Four kids enter a classroom in Texas, each having moved there from a different state. The kids’ names are Allie, David, Gina, and Jake. Their last names are Forrester, Logan, Morgan, and Miller. They have moved from Nevada, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Arizona. Can you determine the first and last name of each kid and what state they moved from?

Here are the clues.
1. David is not from Arizona.
2. The kid who has the last name Forrester is from North Dakota.
3. Allie's last name is Miller.
4. Gina's last name is NOT Logan and she is from Wisconsin.
5. Jake's last name is NOT Morgan and he is NOT from North Dakota.
6. The kid with the last name Morgan is from Wisconsin.
7. The kid who's moved from Arizona last name is Miller.
8. Jake is from Nevada but his last name is NOT Forrester.

Answers:

David Forrester has moved from North Dakota.
Jake Logan has moved from Nevada.
Gine Morgan has moved from Wisconsin.
Allie Miller has moved from Arizona.

Week of November 14th:

Add together each of the defined words to get a whole new word.

Example: to shout + what you say when you feel pain = a color = yellow.

1) A light brown color + to leave = a dance.
2) A store's announcement + a type of women's clothing = a building's location.
3) A vehicle + an animal pal = a floor covering.
4) The ocean + a father's boy = part of the year.
5) Another name for dad + a yellow veggie = a white fluffy snack.

Answers:

1) tan + go = tango.
2) ad + dress = address.
3) car + pet = carpet.
4) sea + son = season.
5) pop + corn = popcorn.

Week of November 7th:

Jane is 34. Kevin is 11. Lucy is half as old as Jane but three years younger than Mike. Mike is 3 times as old as Greg. How old is Greg?

Answer: 6.7 years old.

Week of October 31st:

What’s more fun than a little riddle to put you in the Halloween spirit?!

How do you fix a damaged jack-o’-lantern?
What room will you never find in a ghost’s house?
What is a mummy’s favorite type of music?

Answers:
1. You use a pumpkin patch
2. The living room
3. Wrap music

Week of October 24th:

Here's a fun way to exercise different lobes of your brain. Count the number of times the number "6" appears below. Now count the total number of times a "3" or a "7" appears as you see them. (In other words, don’t just count all the “3“s, and then the “7“s; count both at the same time as you see either one.) For example, the number of times a 3 or a 7 appear is this sample, "763537" is 4 times.

1234467889974674657865876576576
3576573625432657346578436578342
2732188582735827456724687343828
7672878682768723682376783768267
2647648823178346432764876774653
7436574386581483627868653873465

The important thing here is not so much to get the right answer, but to exercise your frontal and parietal lobes by trying.

Answers: “6” appears 33 times, and the total times the numbers “3” and “7” appear is 59 times.

Week of October 17th:

Below are pairs of words, and your goal is to find a third word that is connected or associated with both words.

For example, PIANO and LOCK. The answer is KEY. The word key is associated with both the word piano and the word lock: there are keys on a piano, and you use a key to lock doors. Key is what is called a homograph: a word that has more than one meaning but is always spelled the same.

Try your luck with the following words.

SHIP and CARD
SCHOOL and EYE
PILLOW and COURT
BED and PAPER
Army and WATER

Answers:

DECK
PUPIL (EXAM OR PRIVATE WILL ALSO WORK)
CASE
SHEET
TANK

Week of October 10th:

No answer is required, but here are a few quick brain boosters to exercise your attention and your working memory - the ability to keep information in your mind while manipulating multiple units of information at the same time. Give them a try, it may not be as easy as it seems.

1. Say the months of the year in alphabetical order. Too easy? Well, try doing so backwards, in reverse alphabetical order.
2. Name two objects for every letter in your first name. Work up to five objects, trying to use different items each time.
3. Look around you, wherever you are, and, within two minutes, try to find 5 red things that will fit in your pockets and 5 blue objects that are too big to fit.

Week of October 3rd:

Quick! Count the number of times that the letter F appears in the following sentence:

“Finished files are the result of years of scientific study combined with the experience of years.”

How many did you find?

Answer: 6

“Finished files are the result of years of scientific study combined with the experience of years.” Most people will guess 3, missing all of the of’s.

Week of September 26th:

Rebus puzzles use letters, images and/or numbers to depict words, phrases or common expressions. Can you solve the puzzles below?

Puzzle 1: What phrase is represented by the following?

Look kool XtXhXeXrXoXaXdX

Puzzle 2: Can you decipher this phrase?

friends
standing
miss
friends

Puzzle 3: What phrase does the following represent?

@ (expenses > revenue) words words words words

Answers

Puzzle 1: Look both ways before crossing the road.

Puzzle 2: Misunderstanding between friends

Puzzle 3: At a loss for words

Week of September 19th:

There are five doors, one leads to the exit, the others lead to traps. They are in a line. The clues tell you which position the doors are in the line and where the door to freedom is. All the clues are true. Each door has a clue written on it. The clues read:

The blue door: This door is two spots away from the door to freedom.

The red door: This door is at the far right, and is two spots away from the blue door.

The purple door: This door is not next to the door to freedom.

The green door: This door is left of the blue door.

The orange door: This door is not next to the red or blue doors.

Which door leads to freedom?

Answer:

The orange door leads to freedom.

Week of September 12th:

Professor C. D. Rock ran out of teasers, so he went to Teaserville to buy some more. After arriving there he went to 6 different stores. He first went to the "Theater" to buy some teasers about movies. He then went to the "ER Hospital" to buy teasers about health, and the human body. Then he went to, in order, the "Art Center," the "Supermarket," and the "Energy Plantation." He then went to one last store. It was one of the following:

A. Library
B. High School
C. Dance Arena
D. Saloon
E. Dog Pound
F. Railroad Station
G. Petting Zoo
H. Carnival

Can you figure out which place Professor C. D. Rock visited lastly?

Answer:

F. Railroad Station

The first letter of each place he went to spells out the word "teaser."

Theater

Er Hospital

Art Center

Supermarket

Energy Plantation

Railroad Station

Week of August 29th:

Gretchen and Henry were looking to buy a house together, and finally found one with a beautifully landscaped yard, plenty of bedrooms, and a beautiful tree out front. They asked the owner how old the house was, and this was his reply:

"I planted that tree when the house was built. It was 7 feet tall at the time. It has grown 3 feet each year, and at the end of this past full year, it was four times its original height."

"But how old is the house?" asked Henry.

Gretchen said, "Don't be so dense. He just told us."

So, how old is the house?

Answer

The house is 7 years old.
The tree height is 28 feet, since it is four times its original height.

To figure out the age of the tree, let x = age of the tree in years. The height of the tree is then 7 + 3x. Since we know that the tree is now 28 feet, we can say:
28 = 7 + 3x
21 = 3x
7 = x

So the tree must be 7 years old, making the house just as old.

Week of August 22nd:

What do the following words have in common?

feminine
kindergarten
canine
overweight
threaten
cobblestone
height
done

Don’t give up yet…Need a hint? You might find the answer in the end.

Answer: They all end with the spelling of a number.

Week of August 15th:

I am something people usually love or hate. I change people's appearances and thoughts. If a person takes care of themselves, I will go up even higher. To some people, I will fool them. To others, I am a mystery. Some people might want to try and hide me, but I will show. No matter how hard people try, I will never go down. What am I?

Answer: Age

Week of August 8th:

Take the given words, and by moving a single letter from one word to the other, make a pair of synonyms, or near synonyms. For example, given: Boast - Hip, move the 's' from 'Boast' to 'Hip' creating two synonyms: Boat - Ship.

1. Inks - Tiles
2. Ride - Relive
3. Gaze - Freed
4. Snail - Pike
5. Snag - Cold

Answers:

1. Links - Ties

2. Rid - Relieve

3. Graze - Feed

4. Nail - Spike

5. Nag - Scold

Week of August 1st:

14 dogs in the kennel are poodles. Eight of the dogs wear blue collars. Two of the dogs are neither poodles nor wear blue collars. If five of the dogs are poodles that wear blue collars, how many dogs are in the kennel?

Answer: 19

14 poodles + (8 blue collars – 5 poodles with blue collars = 3 dogs with blue collars that are not poodles) + 2 dogs who are not poodles and are not wearing blue collars = 19 total dogs: 14 poodles and 5 dogs of other breeds.

Week of July 25th:

Can you determine what each group of three words has in common?

Group 1:

doughnut

notebook

golf course

Group 2:

turtle

peanut

oyster

Group 3:

brown

polar

Kodiak

Group 4:

cough

tear

rain

Group 5:

soap

granola

candy

Answers:

Group 1: they all have holes

Group 2: they all have shells

Group 3: they are all kinds of bears

Group 4: they are all types of drops

Group 5: they can all come in bars

Week of July 18th:

The fish market is selling several kinds of fish. But there aren't any prices listed. You ask about the prices, but the seller only tells you this:

A pound of salmon and a pound of bass are $12.
A pound of bass and a pound of swordfish are $10.
A pound of salmon and a pound of swordfish are $8.
A pound of swordfish and a pound of catfish are $5.

Each price per pound is a whole-dollar amount. How much is the price per pound for each find of fish?

Answer:

Salmon = $5 per pound
Bass = $7 per pound
Swordfish = $3 per pound
Catfish = $2 per pound

Week of July 11th:

What is the only city with 3 dotted letters all in a row?

Answer:

Beijing

Week of June 27th:

Unscramble each grouping of letters below to make individual words.

BYRETIL
UHOTRF
CEBRUAEB
RISWEKFOS

Not great at spelling and/or need a hint? Think upcoming holiday!

Answers:

Liberty

Fourth

Barbecue

Fireworks

Week of June 20th:

Three people bought a pet one day. Their names were Zach, Rachel, and Hubert. The animals they bought were a snake, a parrot, and a guinea pig. They bought their pets for $100, $50, and $25.

Can you figure out which person bought which animal for which amount of money using these clues?

Zach is allergic to birds

Hubert Couldn’t get the $100 pet, so he bought the snake.

Rachel saved $10 a week for ten weeks so she could get her pet.

The mammal was $25

Answers:

Zach – Guinea Pig - $25

Rachel – Parrot - $100

Hubert – Snake - $50

Week of June 13th:

An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. Unscramble the 4 different anagrams below to form other words. The theme is sports.

En Snit
Scams Tying
Flog
Gob Nix

Answers:

Tennis
Gymnastics
Golf
Boxing

Week of June 6th:

Can you determine what word is missing from those listed below?
begin inch chapel elastic ____ cellar arisen end

Answer: ice - each word begins with the last two letters of the previous word

Week of May 30th:

Use the clues given to find two words that rhyme and fit the description. For example, "an obese feline" would be a "fat cat."

1. a good piece of pizza
2. a weird ape
3. a dinner party for wild animals
4. a paw cover for a young cat
5. a robber in charge
6. a wealthy Halloween gal

Answers:

nice slice
funky monkey
beast feast
kitten mitten
chief thief
rich witch

Week of May 23rd:

A fly and a flea are trapped in a flue.

How far must the fly and the flea fly to flee the flue?
Said the fly to the flea 'to flee is some number times 3.'
Said the flea to the fly 'but 3 squared is too high.'
Responds the fly 'but it'll also do to have some number times 2.'
'Agreed' said the flea. 'Then so it shall be.'
So now it is up to you. How far must the fly and the flea fly to flee the flue?

Answer: 6 units (pick your own)
3 squared is too high, so we know it is less than nine. Since 3 and 2 are factors there is only one number less than 9 with that property.

Week of May 16th:

Roman numerals IX equate to the modern numeral 9. Roman numeral X is 10, and I is 1. When a smaller Roman numeral comes before a larger Roman numeral, it is subtracted from the larger.

How can you make 6 out of the Roman numeral IX with one stroke?

Answer: SIX

Week of May 9th:

What word(s) or phrases are represented by each of the 3 puzzles below?

Puzzle 1:

S
T
ONE

Puzzle 2:

JG
UN
MI
PP
IM
NU
GJ
Good
New
New

Puzzle 3:

Called Called Called Called
Called Called Called Called
Called Chosen Called Called
Called Called Chosen Called
Called Called Called Called

Answers:

1. Cornerstone

2. Jumping up and down over good news

3. Many are called but few are chosen

Week of May 2nd:

Inside each of the following sets of words, there are a pair of smaller words. By putting “&” between them, lo & behold, you'll make a familiar phrase. For example, "Thighbone/Swallowtail" conceals "High & Low."

1. Skyrocketing/Trolley
2. Thermometer/Apoplexy
3. Delaware/Bordering
4. Surprised/Trashiness
5. Throughout/Stumblebum

Answers:

1. Rock & Roll

2. Mom & Pop

3. Law & Order

4. Rise & Shine

5. Rough & Tumble

Week of April 25th:

It’s baseball time! Three men (Manny, Moe, and Jack) with last names Buchalter, Bowser, and Burkhart each play a different position on the baseball diamond (centerfield, catcher, and pitcher).

Can you figure out the last name and position of each player?

Clues
1. Manny is the furthest away from the plate.
2. Jack's last name has a repeated letter in it.
3. Moe has to wear a lot of equipment.
4. Manny has one letter in his last name that is within five letters from the end of the alphabet.

Answer:

Moe- Buchalter- catcher
Jack- Burkhart- pitcher
Manny- Bowser- centerfield

Week of April 18th:

Fiona is 4 years old. Hannah is 4 times as old as Sasha. Sasha is 5 years older than Fiona's cousin Andrew, who is 1 year older than Nick, Fiona's twin brother. How old is Hannah?

Answer: Hannah is 40 years old.

Week of April 11th:

We start with what a pen can write
Then add an "s" for a tool of lesser might

Change "d" to "n" for an oath professed
Remove letter one for a condition no longer the best

Change "w" to "t" for something forced apart
Reverse my ends, then add an "h" for what's atop a chart

Change "n" to "w" to learn how much an item can fetch
Finally, anagram me for what in baseball may follow a stretch

What did we start with?
What do we end up with?

Answer:

Each line of this riddle is explained as follows:

1. word - We start with - A "pen can write" a word.
2. sword - Then add an "s" - "for a tool of lesser might" - This alludes to the adage: "The pen is mightier than the sword."
3. sworn - Change "d" to "n" - "for an oath professed"
4. worn - Remove letter one - "for a condition no longer the best" - If something is worn, then its condition has deteriorated.
5. torn - Change "w" to "t" - "for something forced apart"
6. north - Reverse my ends, then add an "h" - "for what's atop a chart" - Switch the first and last letters of "torn" giving "nort", then add an "h" giving "north". "North" (or "N" representing "North") is usually found at the top of a chart.
7. worth - Change "n" to "w" - "to learn how much an item can fetch" - The worth, or value, of something will determine how much money it can get in exchange for it.
8. throw - Finally, anagram me - "for what in baseball may follow a stretch" - "Throw" is an anagram of "worth". In baseball, the pitcher may throw the ball after a certain windup known as a stretch.

Week of April 4th:

There are 4 clues below. Each clue is related to a type of candy. Try to figure out what each candy is. Good luck!

1. The average worker loves this day.
2. When actors or actresses get a little break.
3. Think of the 4th planet from the sun.
4. Also referred to as “geeks”.

Answers:

PayDay
Take 5
Mars Bar
Nerds

Week of March 28th

A group of children is standing in a circle. They are evenly spaced, and the 7th child is directly opposite the 18th child. How many children are there altogether in the circle?

Answer: 22; in half of the circle there are 11 children because 18-7=11. Multiply 11x2=22!

Week of March 21st

There is a word in the English language in which the first two letters signify a male, the first three letters signify a female, the first four signify a great man, and the whole word, a great woman. What is the word?

Answer: Heroine.

Week of March 14th

Below are two Rebus puzzles, which use letters, images, and/or numbers to depict words, phrases, or common expressions. Can you solve them?

1) What are you, as represented by this Rebus? (All temperatures are Fahrenheit):

You: 49 degreesCarrot: 87 degreesBroccoli: 31 degreesCucumber: 49 degreesCauliflower: 20 degreesLettuce: 56 degrees

2) What phrase is represented by the following?111=EGROTG

Answers:

Cool as a cucumber
Last one is a rotten egglast "1" (one) "=" (is) a "ROT" in "EGG" (rotten egg)

Week of March 7th

Can you decipher the 3 musical instruments represented below?

1. P O

2. BA BA

3. @ # $ %

Answers:

Piano (P and O)
Tuba (Two BA)
Cymbals (Symbols)

Week of February 28th

A firefighter stood on the middle rung of a ladder, spraying water on a burning house. He then climbed up 6 rungs before the heat of the flames caused him to come down 10 rungs. After some minutes he was able to climb 18 rungs to the very top of the ladder. How many rungs did the ladder have?

Answer:

29 rungs
The firefighter is standing on the middle rung. He climbs up 6 rungs, so he is now at Middle+6. He then goes down 10 rungs, so he is now at Middle-4. He goes up 18 rungs, so he is now at Middle+14=Top. 14 rungs from the top, 14 rungs from the bottom and the middle rung. 14+14+1=29!

Week of February 21st

Reveal the quote by eliminating the letters of the alphabet that are not part of the quote. The unused letters go in alphabetical order from A-Z.

ATBAKCEDCAERFEOGFHTIHEJMINKUTELSFOMRTHNEOPHOURQSWRILLTSATKEUCAVREOFWTHXEMSYELVZES

Answer:

TAKE CARE OF THE MINUTES FOR THE HOURS WILL TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES

Week of February 14th

Here’s a fun Valentine’s Day booster! Can you figure out the word behind each clue below by using only the letters found in the word VALENTINES to form the clue’s answer? (We’ll give you the first answer.)

1. number between 8 and 10 = NINE
2. To express anger or a heating duct opening
3. A type of beverage served in a pub
4. Lacking noise
5. Foreign Language
6. Goes away
7. Opposite of odd
8. Necessary to existence or well-being of something

Answers:

1. NINE

2. VENT

3. ALE

4. SILENT

5. LATIN

6. LEAVES

7. EVEN

8. VITAL

Week of February 7th

Someone has stolen Beethoven's Wig and has put it in one of four locked boxes. The boxes are numbered from 1,2,3,4 in that order. There are four different keys that each has their own color. Use the clues below to figure out which key goes in which box and to find the box where Beethoven's wig is being kept.

1. The green key goes to the third or fourth box
2. The wig is to the left of the fourth box
3. The wig is to the right of the first box
4. The yellow key is to the left of the wig
5. The blue key is to the right of the yellow key and to the left of the green key
6. The red key goes to the first box

Answer:

The wig is in the third box
The red key goes to the first box
The yellow key goes to the second box
The blue key goes to the third box
The green key goes to the fourth box

Week of January 31st

A homophone is one of two or more words that sound the same but have different definitions, for example new and knew. Can you determine the five pairs or trios of homophones using the clues given?

1. turn over and over / part in a play

2. sunlight / lift up / destroy

3. catch waves / feudal laborer

4. you climb these / looks fixedly

5. comes from the sky / controls a horse / period of rule

Answers:

roll / role
rays / raise / raze
surf / serf
stairs / stares
rain / rein / reign

Week of January 24th

Below are 6 sets of numbers, with each set consisting of 3 numbers. The relationship between the first two numbers is the same throughout every set. The relationship between the last two numbers is also the same throughout every set, but it is a different relationship than the one the first two numbers share. Try and find the missing numbers:

2 5 10
3 10 20
4 17 34
5 __ __
__ 37 __
__ __ 100

Answer:

2 5 10
3 10 20
4 17 34
5 26 52
6 37 74
7 50 100

Relationship for first two numbers: square it, add 1 (2 squared=4, 4+1=5)
Relationship for last two numbers: double it (5 doubled = 10)

Week of January 17th

The five words in the group below have something special in common. They can be transformed into five new words by applying the same exact change to each word. What is the change and what are the resulting five new words?

action
allow
lawless
lower
rail

Answer: The special thing these words have in common is that when each word is prefixed with the letter "f", the result is a new word that is completely unrelated in meaning to the original word, as follows:

f + action becomes the word faction
f + allow becomes the word fallow
f + lawless becomes the word flawless
f + lower becomes the word flower
f + rail becomes the word frail

Week of January 10th

Rebus puzzles use letters, images and/or numbers to depict words, phrases, or common expressions. Can you solve the three puzzles below?

1) ALLworld
2) 023456789 lives ever ever ever ever
3) ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQUSTRVWXYZ

Answers:

Small world after all
No one lives forever.
You are out of order (the letters "U" and "R" have traded places; U R out of order).

Week of January 3rd

Four people arrive at a river with a narrow bridge that can only hold two people at a time. It’s nighttime and they have one torch that must be used when crossing the bridge. Person A can cross the bridge in one minute, B in two minutes, C in five minutes, and D in eight minutes. When two people cross the bridge together, they must move at the slower person’s pace. Can they all get across the bridge in 15 minutes or less?

Answer: Yes, they can cross in exactly 15 minutes. The group of four must follow these three steps.

First, A and B cross the bridge and A brings the light back. This takes 3 minutes.
Next, C and D cross and B brings the light back. This takes another 10 minutes.
Finally, A and B cross again. This takes another 2 minutes.