Daily Brainteaser

[rokapoke]

March 6th
March 6 is a "perfect sum" day because if we write today's date in the form 03/06/09, the sum of the month and day equals the year (3 + 6 = 9). Including today, how many "perfect sum" days are there in the 21st century?


Answer:
I do believe the answer is 365. No matter what day you choose, the sum of the month plus the day is less than 100. Naturally, February 29 does not get included, because 2 + 29 = 31, but 2031 is not a leap year.

 

[turgy22]

March 8th
Put the same three-letter word in each of the blanks below to make three new words.

_____SIZE
_____LET
_____RICE


March 9th
Solve this small crossword:

_ 1 2 3
1 _ _ _ 5
4 _ _ _ _
6 _ _ _ _
_ 7 _ _ _ _

Across
1. Naval assent
4. Curbside shout
6. Saga
7. Hovel

Down
1. Downed a sub
2. Shrill barks
3. Out door
5. Very cold



March 6th Answer:

365


March 7th Answer:

. . P I P E
. . . . I . P O P
. P U P A . . O
P . P I Z Z A Z Z
A . . . Z . P E A
P I Z Z A . E . P
A . I
. E P E E

 

[rokapoke]

March 9th
Solve this small crossword:

_ 1 2 3
1 _ _ _ 5
4 _ _ _ _
6 _ _ _ _
_ 7 _ _ _ _

Across
1. Naval assent
4. Curbside shout
6. Saga
7. Hovel

Down
1. Downed a sub
2. Shrill barks
3. Out door
5. Very cold



Answer:

_ 1 2 3
1 A Y E 5
4 T A X I
6 E P I C
_ 7 S T Y

 

[DarthFerret]

March 8th
Put the same three-letter word in each of the blanks below to make three new words.

_____SIZE
_____LET
_____RICE

March 8th Answer:

CAPsize
CAPlet
CAPrice

 

[turgy22]

March 10th
Jamie secretly assigns values to each of the letters in the word TAPER and then provides Cindy with the sums of the letters in these shorter words:

TRAP 50
PEAT 38
RATE 33
PERT 48
REAP 43

Jamie challenges Cindy to determine the sum of the letters in TAPER, and she does it quite quickly. Can you?


March 8th Answer:

CAP


March 9th Answer:

A Y E
T A X I
E P I C
_ S T Y

 

[rokapoke]

March 10th
Jamie secretly assigns values to each of the letters in the word TAPER and then provides Cindy with the sums of the letters in these shorter words:

TRAP 50
PEAT 38
RATE 33
PERT 48
REAP 43

Jamie challenges Cindy to determine the sum of the letters in TAPER, and she does it quite quickly. Can you?


Answer:
Each letter is missing once from the presented words. Therefore, adding those together gets us 4x the total "points" in TAPER. The sum of 50+38+33+48+43=212; dividing that total by 4 gives us the answer:

TAPER 53

 

[turgy22]

Each clue below gives three different definitions for a word. Identify each one for a meaningful experience.

1. knock down to the mat, pack of cards, house add-on
2. wine, where to make a connection, left out on the ocean
3. vegetable, court game, put down
4. chart, type of manners, what Mensa means in Latin
5. door fastener, roll of fabric, flee



March 10th Answer:

53

 

[rokapoke]

March 11

Each clue below gives three different definitions for a word. Identify each one for a meaningful experience.

1. knock down to the mat, pack of cards, house add-on
2. wine, where to make a connection, left out on the ocean
3. vegetable, court game, put down
4. chart, type of manners, what Mensa means in Latin
5. door fastener, roll of fabric, flee



Answer:
1. Deck
2.
3. Squash
4. Table
5. Bolt

 

[DarthFerret]

Each clue below gives three different definitions for a word. Identify each one for a meaningful experience.

1. knock down to the mat, pack of cards, house add-on
2. wine, where to make a connection, left out on the ocean
3. vegetable, court game, put down
4. chart, type of manners, what Mensa means in Latin
5. door fastener, roll of fabric, flee

March 11th Answer:

1. Deck
2. I have no idea.
3. squash
4. table
5. bolt

 

[Ransac]

Each clue below gives three different definitions for a word. Identify each one for a meaningful experience.

1. knock down to the mat, pack of cards, house add-on
2. wine, where to make a connection, left out on the ocean
3. vegetable, court game, put down
4. chart, type of manners, what Mensa means in Latin
5. door fastener, roll of fabric, flee

Answer:

1. Deck
2. Port
3. Squash
4. Table
5. Bolt

Ransac, cpa trash man

 

[turgy22]

Make your way from LACE to SILK in only four steps, changing one letter at a time to make a common English word at each step.

L A C E
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
S I L K


March 11th Answers:

1. deck
2. port
3. squash
4. table
5. bolt

 

[Ransac]

Make your way from LACE to SILK in only four steps, changing one letter at a time to make a common English word at each step.

L A C E
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
S I L K

Answers:

L A C E
L I C E
L I C K
S I C K
S I L K


Ransac, cpa trash man

 

[rokapoke]

March 12

Make your way from LACE to SILK in only four steps, changing one letter at a time to make a common English word at each step.

L A C E
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
S I L K


Answers:

L A C E
L A C K
S A C K
S I C K
S I L K

 

[Ransac]

OOooooo! Multiple Answers!


Ransac, cpa trash man

 

[DarthFerret]

Make your way from LACE to SILK in only four steps, changing one letter at a time to make a common English word at each step.

L A C E
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
S I L K

March 12th Answers:

L A C E
L A C K
L I C K
S I C K
S I L K

or

L A C E
L I C E
L I C K
S I C K
S I L K

or

L A C E
L A C K
S A C K
S I C K
S I L K

 

[BigBlue]

Make your way from LACE to SILK in only four steps, changing one letter at a time to make a common English word at each step.

L A C E
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
S I L K


Answer:

Lace -> Lack -> Sack -> Sick -> Silk

Or

Lace -> Lice -> Lick -> Sick -> Silk

Or

Lace -> Lack -> Lick -> Sick -> Silk


Someone said Multiple answers... so I tried.

 

[turgy22]

March 13th - Key Exchange
Use a keyboard to decipher this simple coded message that answers the question, "What did the secretary say to the coworker who asked her out for a date?"

"AIEET, TIY'EW BIR NT RTOW."


March 14th
What two words, formed from different arrangements of the same six letters, can be used to complete the sentence below?

I was downstairs in the ________, so I could not hear the ________ at the front door.



March 12th Answers:

Three possible solutions are:
lace, lack, sack, sick, silk
lace, lack, lick, sick, silk
lace, lice, lick, sick, silk

 

[rokapoke]

March 13th - Key Exchange
Use a keyboard to decipher this simple coded message that answers the question, "What did the secretary say to the coworker who asked her out for a date?"

"AIEET, TIY'EW BIR NT RTOW."


Answer:
The "code" is that the letter in the coded message is one spot to the left of the original message. Strangely, punctuation has not been changed.

Original message:
"Sorry, you're not my type."



March 14th
What two words, formed from different arrangements of the same six letters, can be used to complete the sentence below?

I was downstairs in the ________, so I could not hear the ________ at the front door.



Answer:
CELLAR, CALLER

 

[Ransac]

March 13th - Key Exchange
Use a keyboard to decipher this simple coded message that answers the question, "What did the secretary say to the coworker who asked her out for a date?"

"AIEET, TIY'EW BIR NT RTOW."

Answer
sorry, you're not my type


I stronly dislike you and your puns....


Ransac, cpa trash man

 

[turgy22]

March 15th - Ides of March
Fill in the answers to the clues below.

1. Oakland team ......... _ _ I D E _ S
2. Iowa's locale ........ _ I D _ E S _
3. Horrible to see ...... _ I D E _ _ S
4. Perm-anent worker? ... _ _ I _ D _ E S _ _ _
5. Take the wrong way ... _ I _ _ _ D E _ S _ _ _ _
6. Uninhabited land ..... _ I _ D E _ _ _ S _
7. Animal stuffer ....... _ _ _ I D E _ _ _ S _


March 16th
Add the same letter (represented by a question mark) to the letters in each group below and then rearrange them to form a common English word for each slice. What are the four words?

T E C A ?
A E ?
I C M A L ?
A S I ?



March 13th Answer:

Sorry, you're not my type.


March 14th Answer:

cellar, caller