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.
A pentagon divided with five lines proposes us a grid where several
triangles are hidden. How fast can you count all of them? Is any method
required to do this?
Every piece in this set has two parameters: shape and color. And they both
are very important when you're placing the pieces within a square grid.
You'll see why.
Climb up a mountain in a little bit unusual way since all of the
mountain's rocks are colored in one of the four colors and your route to
the top depends on what color sequence you choose.
Two containers: 3L and 5L. An immense supply of water. And a "weighted" question: how to get exactly 4L of water with all of this? Can it be
solved at all?.. Yes, it can.
Complete six three-letter words with the missing middle letters in them so
that except these words a new six-letter word which would be a name of a
sea animal could appear.
Six shapes, each arranged of unit cubes, are
duplicated into a twin-set. Definitely, the twin-set at first glance
doesn't look like the original one, but it still contains the same
shapes. The goal is to discover all six pairs.
This is a 3x3 square grid where the rows are the most important. Nine
different digits to be arranged into three numbers observing a special
rule. Take a look at it to see the rule...
Imagine a steel belt is stretched tightly around a big planet. What things
can be possibly slipped under the belt, if a meter of steel added to the
belt raises it off the sphere's surface by the same distance all the way
around?
Four shapes. It is said each of them can be divided into two identical
pieces. The goal is to find the proper positions for the dividing cuts.
How complicated the dissection challenges can be?
There are several squares of different sizes hidden in a simple shape. You
goal is just to identify the exact number of them, not overlooking even a
little single square.
Which template for an orchard do you have to use when you want to plant
ten trees in five straight rows of four trees each? Is there any template
at all?
How many puzzling occasions are we exposed to in
our daily routine? This puzzle is one of such occasions when even a
minor observation can be converted into a nimble connotation.
Maybe it is easy to place four coins in such a way that each coin touches
every other one. But what would you say about five coins? Yes, it is
possible too.
A minimax problem: find the maximum and the minimum number of attacked
vacant cells of a standard chessboard when there are only two chess queens
on it.
It is known there is a rule connecting different patterns in each given
row of their array. The challenge is to figure out what is the rule and
then properly applying it complete the last row of them.
Exchange the positions of two cars and after that return the engine to its
initial position. And the exchange should be done with the smallest number
of couplings and uncouplings.
Solving this puzzle you can circle with a feeling that you're one step
before your goal or... one step behind. Is there any kind of joke to get
exactly on it?
A nobleman has complicated
for his gardener the task of planting ten roses in the garden
into five lines with four roses in every line. See what the
complication really is...
The title of the puzzle describes it quite well.
The additional information is that the letters are made of coins and
there is a limit on the moves. Go right to the rules to find out more!
Suppose you have an immense supply of wooden
cubes and several paint tins each containing a different color of
paint. How many differently painted cubes would you be able to produce
with such a toolkit?
Three colored strips have to be folded into three colored letters. The key
idea is to keep the number of the performed folds as low as possible. Is
it a challenge that would be TOY to you?
It is claimed the two patchwork quilts can be
successfully joined together in a new one with cutting along the
stitches in no more than four pieces in total. Would you dare to
complete such a needlework challenge?
The four bugs standing in the corners of a square start to crawl one
toward each other. Here comes the question: How far does each bug travel
before they all meet?
It's the visual one but it's not an illusion. Count how many
dot-per-corner squares are hidden in the given figure and don't let the
answer square your error.
Help each of the five men to reach their
respective houses without crossing the routes of the rest four.
Finding the proper routes leading to the aim is always a good
challenge itself.
It is known that a cylindrical hole six inches long is drilled straight
through the center of a solid sphere. Is this information sufficient for
calculating the exact volume remaining in the sphere?
Development of the chess queen theme. This time it's in the little shift
that no queen can attack another - simply let 'em live in peace on a small
chessboard.
Travel through all the cities on the Mars' surface so that you can spell a
complete English sentence at the end of your trip. There are some doubts if
such a trip is ever possible. What would you say?
The Postman's route runs through a dozen of houses, but this day he only
needs to visit half of them. The challenge for him is to choose the
shortest route. Can you help the Postman with that?
One of the proposed seven chocolate pieces can be copied six times in
order to fit them into a rectangular chocolate bar. The key questions
are what piece is it and what the final chocolate bar should look
like?
It is required to dissect an obtuse triangle into acute triangles
only. The first question is whether it is possible at all? If the
answer is "Yes", then the next question would be "How?"
It is required to dissect an obtuse triangle into acute triangles
only. The first question is whether it is possible at all? If the
answer is "Yes", then the next question would be "How?"
Two distances are associated with three coins. Could you find a
certain position of the coins so that the distances are equal? Is
there any way how the moving coins can distract you from the mission?
Unite the sixteen stars in the sky in a single constellation with just
six connected straight lines. It is not required to be an expert
astronomer to complete this starry task.
The three-in-one puzzle set. It contains a chessboard and two chess
Six's. Every shape has to be composed of the entire set of 12 pieces.
And... don't forget to alternate the dark and light cells.
The six numbers from 1 to 6 have to be placed along the sides of a
triangle so that to create some magic sum along each of its sides.
What magic sums can be there?
The circus is in town! Four families got tickets for a day of fun
under the big top. Each family brought a different number of children
and each family had a different favorite act of the day. Determine the
full name of each couple, how many children each had, and what each
family's favorite act was.
Cover a big circle entirely with the five smaller circles. But keep in
mind: when a smaller circle is placed on the big one you aren't allowed to
move it anymore.
Another classic puzzle gem that should bring you an "aha!" no matter, if
you solve it by yourself or go right to the solution page. Enjoy the
beauty of the logical proof!
It's the visual one but it's not an illusion. Count how many
dot-per-corner squares are hidden in the given figure and don't let the
answer square your error.
A trapezium is divided into five simple pieces. It is stated several more
shapes can be created when the pieces are rearranged. What are these
shapes? Can you create all of them?
The four intersecting circles have to be drawn in the traditional way -
neither taking a pencil off the paper, nor going over any part of the
line twice.
If several silhouettes are superimposed in a pile in some certain way a
silhouette of a rabbit can appear. Moreover two different rabbit's
silhouettes can be obtained. Can you find them both?
