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The Eccentric Billionaire
One day, an eccentric billionaire decided to give a destitute man a break. But not a total break, as we shall see. So, he invites him into a room in his mansion with seven doors. There is also a large-screen projector that projects the following five images, repeatedly, one at a time:
A human brain, Earth, the incomplete phrase: 'Fair and ____,' the letters AZCONMUT and a cheese sandwich on plain white bread with the edges perfectly cut off.
The poor man was allowed an entire day to study the images, after which he would have to choose the door that corresponded to the commonality of the images. The next day the man walked through the correct door, and the billionaire made him rich. ...
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Black to Play
From one of those wild King’s Gambits from the 19th century. This time, Black bites back. A great mating attack by Falkbeer in 1853.
View solutionHat Trick
The Situation:
There is an island with 10 inhabitants. One day a monster comes and says that he intends to eat every one of them but will give them a chance to survive in the following way:
In the morning, the monster will line up all the people - single file so that the last person sees the remaining 9, the next person sees the remaining 8, and so on until the first person that obviously sees no one in front of himself. The monster will then place black or white hats on their heads randomly (they can be all white, all black or any combination thereof).
The monster will offer each person starting with the last one (who sees everyone else's hats) to guess the color of his/her own ...
View full teaser and answerPetals Around the Rose
You roll five dice. The computer calculates the score. Your job is to find out what the computer based the score on.
If you roll 5, 4, 6, 3, and 5, the score is 10.
If you roll 1, 3, 3, 4, and 2, the score is 4.
If you roll 1, 6, 2, 6, and 4,the score is 0.
What is the method?
View full teaser and answerEinstein's Riddle
Einstein's Riddle: Einstein wrote the following riddle. He said that 98% of the world could not solve it. But several NIEHS scientists were able to solve it, and they said its not all that hard if you pay attention and are very patient. Give it a try:
There are 5 houses in 5 different colors in a row. In each house lives a person with a different nationality. The 5 owners drink a certain type of beverage, smoke a certain brand of cigar, and keep a certain pet. No owners have the same pet, smoke the same brand of cigar, or drink the same beverage. Other facts:
1. The Brit lives in the red house.
2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The green house...
Anagrams
Each sentence below contains a word that can be anagrammed to answer or describe the sentence.
Example: Craft that might tip in the ocean. Answer: Canoe (Anagram of ocean)
1. Bit of brush
2. Opposite of unite
3. Writings of a steno
4. They affix without paste
5. Having less reason for fears
6. Animal that may need a shoer
Oxymorons
Can you figure out which well-known oxymorons these words translate to?
Ex) Initial facsimile = original copy
1) Latest ritual
2) Average huge
3) Juvenile grown-up
4) Factual deceptions
5) Unwell fitness

White to Play
Queen sacrifices are always entertaining to chess players. This game, Potter v. Anonymous, London, 1870, is unique because Mr. Potter sacrificed his queen before the game started! Queen odds! His opponent may very well have been a beginner, and, at move7, our odds giver announced mate! Can you do the same? The game began: Potter - Anonymous ...
View solutionHinkie Pinkie
These word pairs are not in relation to each other, but if you find their synonyms, the two words will rhyme.
Example : Over-sized Feline = Fat Cat
Dog Kiss
Funny Cat
Monster Movie
Unusual Rabbit
Copper Teapot
Wedding Limo
Untamed Minor
More Story-grams
Below is a (very) short story with 10 capitalized words or phrases which are anagrams of words that all fit in a certain category. Can you find the anagrams and determine the category?
NOTE: One of the answers contains two words.
A recently PAROLED man named Ari was going to ROB A PEARL boat of all of its FIG FARE. The boat was just off of the SHORE. He put on his BALM and donned his TOGA to SNEAK aboard. ARI GOT ALL of the NEAT HELP he needed from a safety pin that kept his toga IN PLACE.
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Black to Play
From a 100+ year old game between two anonymous players in England. Still, a lovely finish.
View solutionWord Challenger
Find the correct words that fit with the following words:
Example: Air PORT Wine
1. Birth _ _ _ Light
2. Knock _ _ _ Line
3. Rock _ _ _ _ _ Bar
Operation Weapon-ectomy
Six words have had their weapons removed. The weapons have been placed into Group A. The remaining letters of each word have been placed into Group B. Your task is to reconstitute the words by merging each weapon with the proper set of letters. Other than merging the two groups together, there is no rearranging of the letters. Example: sand + pne = spanned (SpANneD).
Group A: bomb, gun, mace, rifle, saber, spear
Group B: ainale, ltto, niur, tiliz, toiat, urntual

White to Play
This is from a 5-minute game I recently played. I had about 20 seconds to make my move here, and there are some bad choices here.
View solutionStory-gram
Below is a (very) short story with 8 capitalized words or phrases which are anagrams of words that all fit in a certain category. Can you find the anagrams and determine the category?
An old car, which was REGAL BLACK, was traveling on a road named LONE OLD WAY. There were two people in the front seat. The man said, "We're going to the office. IT'S NEAR BRAD'S BAR. The new car gives A FASTER RIDE than normal, but I OWE DAN A LOT, as I've paid ONLY NORM, MARIE. I filled out the REBATE REPORTS, but they came back with a note that said, 'REDO FOR DR. BRET.'"
View full teaser and answerWord Swap
The following sentences have two blanks that can be filled with two words that are anagrams of each other. Can you figure out those words?
1. The burglar had __________ the entire apartment, and it seemed locating even one clue of his identity would be impossible. However, the skilled detective needed but a few __________ of the burglar's torn jeans to start the process of finding the perpetrator.
2. The construction boss sent Jim to the store for more __________. After an hour of Jim being gone, the boss remarked, "It's a good thing Jim is a hard worker because that boy is as slow as a __________.
3. What started out as a peaceful march turned into complete __________ and the National...
View full teaser and answerAbbreviations
Do you know what the following abbreviations mean?
COM DRA ADV ACT SPO MUS HOR SCI
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White to Play
A very important lesson on why you should not have weak dark squares.
View solutionBlank Change
In the four sentences below, are two blanks. You must fill them in with words that are either anagrams, synonyms, antonyms, or homonyms. You can only use each of these one time each sentence. Can you figure out each word?
1. The golfer has yelled out "____" ____ times today.
2. They began to ____ scones, and drink ____.
3. She used one ____ to look down at her wrist and see her ____.
4. He ran ____ the dog in order ____ not get bitten by it.
View full teaser and answerWord Clues
For each of the following clues, what is a synonym that contains the letters in the () consecutively?
1. A talk (LEC)
2. A challenge between 2 or more people (CON)
3. To sign up (REG)
4. An organization established to help the needy (TY)
5. To talk (CATE)
6. In charge (SPON)
7. Place (CA)