Each week we feature a new puzzle that you
can print out in black and white on a single page and use as a
black line master with your students. Schools have reported great
success by encouraging families to work on the puzzles together at
home. Print out the PDF file, file the solution page and make
copies of the Challenge page to hand out to your students.
Percy has found a new word game. What single four letter word can be
placed before each of the words below to make four new words?
(Hyphenated words are allowed.)
_ _ _ _ TRAP, _ _ _ _ PLACE, _ _ _ _ BUG, and _ _ _ _ FLY
The stone cutter and his cat are trying to count the number of cubes
that have already been placed in this monument. Can you determine the
total number of cubes contained in this structure, based on seeing these
front and back views and armed with the knowledge that it is not in any
way hollow?
These young ladies are Rose, Daisy and Iris, but not necessarily in that
order. On prom night they gathered to get their picture taken. While
posing, the woman wearing the rose corsage said, "I just noticed that
the flowers in our corsages match our names, but none of us are wearing
a flower that matches our own name." "Wow!" said Iris, "You're right!"
Given these clues, can you identify who is who in the illustration
above?
Clarence's favorite joke is to switch the signs on the fish barrels.
Today he mixed up the signs on the carp barrel, the catfish barrel, and
the carp-and-catfish barrel, deliberately hanging each sign on the wrong
barrel. Clarence will let you see only one fish, but it can be from any
barrel you choose. Using only this information, can you restore the
signs to their rightful barrels? How?
Roland is making a bracelet... He has four sections of chain to link
together. It takes 15 minutes to cut open a link and weld it back
together, and thus he would like to cut as few links as possible. How
quickly can Roland complete the task?
Can Joan arrange a triangle of coins upside-down by moving only three
coins? The only rule is that every time she moves a coin to a new
position, it must touch two other coins.
Roland has sketched three different top views of a funny face for a
new building project. From these three sketches, can you select the
top view that Roland chose to make the three-dimensional head
illustrated above?
The stone cutter has been asked
by the Pharaoh to duplicate this monument at a new location. His first
task is to make an accurate count of the individual cubes within the
existing structure. How many cubes are there in the monument? (Note:
please assume that all rows of cubes are solid unless you can observe
gaps of endings.)
Buzzy showed up for work on
Monday only to discover that his delivery truck was in the shop for
maintenance. He was told it would be ready two days after the day before
the day after tomorrow. On what day can Buzzy expect the truck to be
back on the road?
The young sorceress is cooking up
a brew that needs to simmer for five minutes, plus or minus a few
seconds. All she has to measure with are a four-minute timer and a
three-minute timer. Using only these instruments, can she successfully
time her simmering? If so, how?
Blanche runs a quilting class.
She has asked her students to fold and cut a lavender square of fabric,
following the pattern shown on the chart above. The results are in.
Which of the four students' squares is the correct fold and cut as
indicated by the chart?
Al is getting ready to cut out these patterns and fold each of them
into a cube, assisted only by his roll of scotch tape. Do you think he
will be successful with this?
Frank and Helen's annual singles elimination
tennis tournament has drawn 18 players this year. How many matches
must be played before there is a winner for the year?
Roland has sketched three different top views of
a funny face for a new building project. From these three sketches,
can you select the top view that Roland chose to make the three
dimensional head illustrated above?
Hilda D. Rosen, Earl Wade, and Roy Kewn had a big
laugh at the convention when they realized that the letters of their
names, when rearranged, spelled out the names of each of their home
States. From what State does each of these delegates hail?
When
the monument is finished it will be an enormous cube, painted blue
on the outside walls but left unadorned on all inner surfaces. How
many of the remaining stones needed to complete the monument will be
painted blue on exactly two sides?
These young ladies are Rose, Daisy and Iris, but not necessarily in that order.
On prom night they gathered to get their picture taken. While posing, the
woman wearing the rose corsage said, “I just noticed that the flowers in our
corsages match our names, but none of us are wearing a flower that matches our
own name.” “Wow!”, said Iris, “you’re right!” Given these clues, can you
identify who is who in the illustration?
The young sorceress is planning a brew. The recipe calls for exactly 2
liters of liquid. To her dismay, she can only find a 5 liter and an 8
liter pitcher. Can she use these pitchers only to measure out the two
liters of liquid she needs?
