Eight Sticks
You have 8 thin sticks; 4 of them have length 1 and the other 4 have length 2. Arrange the sticks so that they form exactly 3 identical squares, without any leftovers.
SOLUTION
The solution is shown below.
Find the Mistake
CAN YOU FIND THE
THE MISTAKE?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
SOLUTION
The word “THE” appears twice in the question. Read carefully!
Topple Magazine
Review
Topple is a new online magazine that can be printed out and solved with pen and paper, the old-fashioned way. The price of each issue is just a meager $1, and for that amount you get a PDF of about 10 pages and up to 20 puzzles.
The magazine authors have worked hard to offer a wide range of puzzles for everyone to enjoy. There are interesting trivia questions, rebuses, grid logic puzzles, as well as some unique challenges I have never encountered before. The number of puzzles in the magazine keeps increasing with each next issue:
Issue 1: 7
Issue 2: 7
Issue 3: 10
Issue 4: 10
Issue 5: 10
Issue 6: 12
Issue 7: 16
Issue 8: 18
Issue 9: 18
The quality of the puzzles keeps improving as well, as you can see from these two identical puzzles, the second one of which has updated artwork.
To catch a glimpse of the activities you will encounter in Topple, you can check the 4-page sampler provided below. Regular issues are much longer and feature proper formatting, complete with front and back covers. It’s just like purchasing any magazine from a newsstand.
If you enjoy these puzzles as much as we do, we recommend you get the latest issue of Topple and then start collecting the previous ones in reverse order. At just $1, it will be hard to find something that provides better value for the money.
- appropriate for all ages
- PDF booklet for easy printing
- about 10-20 puzzles per issue
- fun old-school vibes
- just $1
GET TOPPLE MAGAZINE HERE
Trotsky’s Killer
August 20, 1940
Leon Trotsky, an enemy of Josef Stalin, had been in exile for 11 years. On this day, a Soviet assassin entered Trotsky’s house in Mexico City and hit him in the head with an ice axe. He died the next day.
Here is a group of suspects who were rounded up. Each wrong suspect has one different feature from the correct suspect. Who killed Trotsky?
SOLUTION
The killer of Leon Trotsky was Ramón Mercader.
Canaries in Space
NASA was considering sending canaries into space to study them under zero gravity. The project was scrapped when someone realized that in spite of having sufficient water supplies, they could die of dehydration within a few hours. Why?
SOLUTION
Unlike humans, birds need gravity in order to swallow. Thus, in space they wouldn’t be able to drink and will die of dehydration.
Movie Conundrums 8
Can you recognize which famous movies are depicted by these images?
SOLUTION
- Manhattan
- Joan of Arc
- Open Range
- Inception
- The Odd Couple
- In the Loop
- Sin City
- The Exorcist
- Transformers
- Absolute Power
53 Bicycles and a Dead Man
There is a room with a table, 53 bicycles, and four men. One of the four men is dead. How did he die?
SOLUTION
The “bicycles” are the (famous) Bicycle playing cards. The four men were playing poker, but one of them was cheating with an extra card, so he got killed.
The Ark
How many species of animals did Moses take on the Ark with him?
SOLUTION
None. It was Noah’s ark, not Moses’.
Raise Me None
Raise me none and I am unbeaten.
Raise me once and I am excessive.
Raise me twice and I am forward.
Raise me thrice and I am eaten.
All said right, but wrongly spelled.
Who am I?
SOLUTION
The answer is the NUMBER 2:
2⁰ = 1 (“one”), which is unbeaten;
2¹ = 2 (“too”), which is excessive;
2² = 4 (“fore”), which is forward;
2³ = 8 (“ate”), which is eaten.