Fun & Games

Brian Teasers

OK, my fine “Brainiac” friends…think you can figure these out?

1. What do the following words have in common?

(It’s really not difficult if you chip away at them for awhile.)

Sheath Pirate Ashamed Brandy

2. Mr. Groves purchased two clocks from Dougie’s Repair Shop and set them at the same time. He soon discovered that one clock was two minutes slow per hour and the other one was one minute fast per hour. The next time Mr. Groves looked, one clock was exactly one hour ahead of the other. How long had it been since he last set the clocks?

3. What’s the closest relation the son of your father’s brother’s sister-in-law could be to you?

4. Uncle John was in the reading room when he came across a word puzzle in the daily newspaper. After some active thinking, he solved it. Can You? It read, “Which is the odd word out and why?” Here’s the word list:

Brush Taste Shampoo Stench Flush Wash Seat

ANSWERS:

1. By continuously removing one letter from either the beginning or the end of each word, you create new words until you are left with a single letter

Sheath, heath, heat, eat, at, a

Pirate, irate, rate, ate, at, a

Ashamed, shamed, shame, sham, ham, am, a

Brandy, brand, bran, ran, an, a

2. Twenty hours later, the faster clock was ahead by one hour. With every passing hour, the quicker clock gained three minutes on the slower one.

(3 mIn. per hr. x 20 hrs. = 60 min., or 1 hr.)

3. You or your brother

4. Stench is the odd word out because all the other words can be used as both nouns and verbs. Stench can only be used as a noun.