weekend-genius-challenge

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Gasp... Is This the End of the Weekend Genius Challenge?

It's been a struggle to come up with mental exercises that are difficult enough for the many, many brilliant folks who read mental_floss and visit mentalfloss.com. It's difficult to develop puzzles that are (1) safe from Web searches, but (2) not impossible to solve. After seeing many difficult contests won in a matter of minutes, I'm taking this weekend off to reassess the Weekend Genius Challenge. We get the most entries in creative-type challenges... having you write haikus using the two words from... READ ON

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Weekend Genius Challenge #30: Unwritten Rules

We got SO many entries for last week's WGC that it may take us the rest of the weekend to sort through all the responses... but we'll choose a winner before Monday arrives. In the meantime, since you all seem to enjoy being creative, let's give away another T-shirt by unleashing Weekend Genius Challenge #30! Many "unwritten rules" guide our planet. Here are a few I've jotted down over the years: 1. All really good architects must go by three names. 2. The number of leaves that end up in your yard in... READ ON

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Weekend Genius Challenge #29: The Writer in You

About two years ago, I got the idea of compiling some works of poetry or prose using the subject lines from the scores and scores of spam emails I receive every day. Many of them use random-word generators, so you end up with some nonsensical (but interesting-sounding) phrases. One email that I got was labeled "A Twirl of Wheezy," and I was so gung-ho on the project that I actually reserved that domain name thinking that I'd use it as the title of said book. Alas, as with many of my ideas, I learned that I... READ ON

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Weekend Genius Challenge #28 Winner

In WGC #28, we asked you to complete a sequence of numbers that began: 5, 6, 6, 6, 3, 5... It took several hours, but Buddz finally came up with the correct answer. Congratulations! To see it, click here. The final numbers in the sequence are ...5, 7, 11, 9, 8, 6. They reflect the number of letters in each sign of the Zodiac, beginning with the first: 5 = ARIES 6 = TAURUS 6 = GEMINI 6 = CANCER 3 = LEO 5 = VIRGO then... 5 = LIBRA 7 = SCORPIO 11 = SAGITTARIUS 9 = CAPRICORN 8 = AQUARIUS... READ ON
  1. FIND THESE T-SHIRTS AND MORE IN THE STORE!

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Weekend Genius Challenge #28: By the Numbers

It's time for Weekend Genius Challenge #28, and we're doing things by the numbers. All you have to do is correctly complete ALL the rest of the numbers in this series. Sorry, no hints as to how many numbers there are in total; you'll have to figure that out for yourself. And here it is: Complete ALL the numbers in the remainder of this sequence: 5, 6, 6, 6, 3, 5... Rules: ONE GUESS PER PLAYER, please. Submit your answer by commenting to this post. PLEASE remember that comments are held in queue... READ ON

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Weekend Genius Challenge #27 Winner

Congratulations to Jack da Bomb, who won WGC #27 by figuring out that the answer was "forty." Nice job, Jack! We'll be in touch via email soon to get your T-shirt on its way. In the meantime, scroll down and check out what you may have missed last week. A new Weekend Genius Challenge will appear very... READ ON

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Weekend Genius Challenge #26: Are You Ready for Some Football?

Yesterday, I read an article on the new rules imposed by the NFL for the upcoming season, and I realized how much I missed the sport. Sure, it's been only two months since Super Bowl XLII, but it was an exciting game that rekindled my interest in pro football. So I decided to come up with my own "pretend 2009 playoffs" and create a Weekend Genius Challenge that would test your logic ability. Here it is: It's January 2009, and the NFL playoffs are down to the conference finals to see which two teams make... READ ON

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Weekend Genius Challenge #25 Winner!

Last Saturday was my birthday, so I asked readers to guess my age in lieu of a typical WGC. It took a few tries, but John was the first to determine that I am indeed now 41 years of age. Congratulations, John! And thanks to all of you who kindly suggested that I was still in my thirties (or even twenties). I'll post a new Weekend Genius Challenge a bit later today, after I head out to the drugstore for some Grecian Formula and a bottle of Geritol. See you... READ ON

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Weekend Genius Challenge #25: Another Year Older

Today's my birthday, so I'm relaxing. Okay, not really... I'm going over proofs for the next issue of the magazine, and will be most of the weekend. But since it's still technically my day, I'm going to make this Weekend Genius Challenge as painless as possible. All you have to do is guess how old I am as of today, March 29, 2008. Send your guess via comment to this post - ONLY ONE GUESS PER PERSON, PLEASE. The first person to correctly identify my age will win a special prize we've never before... READ ON

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Weekend Genius Challenge #24 Winner!

A hearty "thanks!" to all those who participated in WGC #24. As is often the case, mental_floss readers are very sharp, so the puzzle was solved fairly... READ ON

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