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Print-and-Play Brain Teasers
February 2005
Keep your mind sharp with these puzzles from Ivan Moscovich’s Mastermind Collection
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Innovator Ivan Moscovich's puzzles are as spectacular-looking as they
are stimulating. He has been designing and inventing inspired puzzles, games,
toys, teaching aids, and hands-on science museum exhibits for the past 50
years. For the Mastermind Collection of books, Moscovich has gathered many of his
ingenious inventions, as well as imaginative mind-bogglers created by other
remarkable puzzlemakers.
Put your mind to work with the free print-and-play challenges below. (Note:
They'll open as PDF files.)
from The Shoelace Problem and Other
Puzzles
Flashpoint
Four hikers who walk at different speeds must cross a bridge before it
collapses. No tricks are allowed—do the math to find one of two possible
solutions.
Order Puzzle-Packed Books From the Mastermind
Collection
The free puzzles offered here are just a sampling of the dozens of challenging
brain teasers in Ivan Moscovich's Mastermind Collection. Order them today
from Borders.com:
The Shoelace Problem and Other Puzzles
The Hinged Square and Other Puzzles
Leonardo's Mirror and Other Puzzles
The Monty Hall Problem and Other Puzzles
from The Hinged Square and Other Puzzles
Circle Lotto
Fit the circles into the appropriate empty spaces on the grid to reveal some
good advice.
Ladybug in Hiding
Given some general rules about the ladybug's travels, determine which leaf
is hiding the insect from its predator.
Soccer
A simple but challenging pencil-and-paper game for two players. Play it again
and again.
Racetrack
A car-racing simulation game for multiple players. Drive as many laps as you
wish!
from Leonardo's Mirror and Other
Puzzles
Rampant Rabbits
This rabbit-breeding puzzle is perhaps the most famous recreational mathematics
problem concerning number sequences.
Ant-ics
Three criss-crossing lines divide an ant colony into seven regions. Your
challenge is to rearrange the seven groups of ants in the seven regions so that
the number of ants on each side of each line is the same.
Knight Lines
A pencil-and-paper game for two players who make moves across the game board in
the same fashion that the knight moves on a chessboard. Play it again and
again.
from The Monty Hall Problem and Other
Puzzles
Deliver the Goods
Determine the best route for making deliveries from the pizza shop at
point 1 to five other locations on the grid.
Flea Circus
How many jumps must these trained fleas make to cross the circular arena, pole
by pole? Keep a compass and ruler handy.
Island Hopping
Figure out how many different approaches there are to connecting these six
islands by bridges—with certain rules, of course.
Used with permission of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., New York, NY.
Copyright 2004 by Ivan Moscovich.
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