A Riddle!

What is full of holes but still holds water?

Answer:

Sponge

Fake Coin

You have 12 coins, one of which is fake. The fake coin is indistinguishable from the rest except that it is either heavier or lighter, but you don't know which. Can you determine which is the fake coin and whether it is lighter or heavier using a balance scale and only 3 weighings?

 

Answer:

One solution is to label the coins with the letters FAKE MIND CLOT and weigh the coins in the following three combinations:
MA DO -- LIKE
ME TO -- FIND
FAKE  -- COIN
Logic will now allow you to find the fake coin based on the three results. Bearing in mind we don't know whether the fake coin is lighter or heavier.
For instance, if the results were left down, balanced, left down, we could work out which coin is fake in the following way:
From the middle weighing we know that the coins METOFIND are all normal. So one of the coins ACKL is fake. Therefore looking at these coins one at a time in the other two weighings, we can see that:
A - appears on the left twice and could be fake.
C - appears only once, therefore can't be fake (otherwise the first weighing would be balanced).
K - appears on opposite sides, so it can't make the left side go down both times.
L - appears only once, therefore can't be fake (otherwise the third weighing would be balanced).
Therefore the only possibility is A, which must be heavier. Any other combination of ups and downs will allow you to use the same logic to find the fake coin.


 

12 Diamonds

Fill in the missing numbers with the digits 1 to 9. A diamond shape in the middle means that the four numbers around it add to 20.
Each uses a different way to add to 20, i.e. if there is already 1 + 3 + 8 + 9, then there will not be another using the digits 1, 3, 8 and 9 (in any order). The same digit isn't allowed to touch, even diagonally.

 

Answer:

 

Anagram of a 7-Letter Word

These words can all have a letter added and then be rearranged to make a new 5-letter word, e.g. noun union NOUN + I = UNION.

The 7 added letters are an anagram of a 7-letter word. What is the 7-letter word, and what are the new words?

MAIL
EXIT
GOSH
CITY
NEWT
DENY
MINI

 

Answer:

Chemist.
MAIL + C = CLAIM
EXIT + S = EXIST
GOSH + T = GHOST
CITY + H = ITCHY
NEWT + I = TWINE
DENY + E = NEEDY
MINI + M = MINIM
And the letters CSTHIEM spell CHEMIST.
 

Wired Grid

Can you complete the grid such that every row and column contains the digits 1 to 6. All squares that are connected contain the same digit.

 

 

Answer:

 

 

Brain Workout: Variety Puzzles to Boost Your Memory and Brainpower