List: New Scientist's Brain Twisters | Curated by Shelvia

Jun 24, 2024
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New Scientist's Brain TwistersBrain twister problems from the New Scientist magazine (set weekly).
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New Scientist’s Brain Twister 18: The Arithmetical Two-StepCan you solve this interesting puzzle? You must take two steps to get from a given number to make 10. Each step must change the number by…
Jun 24
1
Jun 24
1
Shelvia
New Scientist’s Brain Twister 17: Semi-one NumbersCan you solve this brain twister from New Scientist? When you count up to 2, exactly half of the numbers contain the digit ‘1’. We can use…
May 5
May 5
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New Scientist’s Brain Twister 16: Order, Order!Can you solve this brain twister from New Scientist? Arrange the digits 1–9 in a line so that each pair of adjacent digits differs by…
May 1
May 1
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New Scientist’s Brain Twister 15: Domino StripsCan you solve this brain twister from New Scientist? There are three ways to cover a 3 × 2 grid with dominoes. How many ways are there to…
Apr 27
Apr 27
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New Scientist’s Brain Twister 14: Factor GraphsCan you solve this brain twister from New Scientist? To construct a factor graph, we dot numbers around a page and draw lines between pairs
Apr 8
Apr 8
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New Scientist’s Brain Twister 13: Number VennsCan you solve this brain twister from New Scientist? Numbers 1–30 are put in circle A if they are part of group A, in circle B if they…
Apr 2
Apr 2
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New Scientist’s Brain Twister 12: Factorial FactoryCan you solve this brain twister from New Scientist? Mathematicians write 9! to represent the number “9 factorial”, which means 9 × 8 × 7 ×
Mar 25
Mar 25
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New Scientist’s Brain Twister 11: Club ShufflingCan you solve this brain twister from New Scientist? I play golf with three of my friends, and we split into two teams for each game, one…
Mar 18
Mar 18
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New Scientist’s Brain Twister 10: Chairs in PairsCan you solve this brain twister from New Scientist? Abbie and Bryn are allocated places to sit at random in a row of four seats. What is…
Mar 17
Mar 17
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New Scientist’s Brain Twister 9: RectangulatorCan you solve this brain twister from New Scientist? Given a standard calculator keyboard, press — in order, going either clockwise or…
Mar 12
Mar 12
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New Scientist’s Brain Twister 8: Two CubesCan you solve this brain twister from New Scientist? A frame is made from two cubes joined together. All edges on each of the cubes measure
Mar 10
Mar 10
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New Scientist’s Brain Twister 7: Home PrimesCan you solve this brain twister from New Scientist? To find the home prime of a number, follow this procedure: first, find its prime…
Mar 6
1
Mar 6
1
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New Scientist’s Brain Twister 6: Factor FactoryCan you solve this brain twister from New Scientist? The factors of 12 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12. It has four even factors and two odd…
Mar 3
Mar 3
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New Scientist’s Brain Twister 5: Diagonal LinesCan you solve this brain twister from New Scientist? A square has two diagonals (lines that run from one corner to a different corner, but…
Feb 29
Feb 29
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New Scientist’s Brain Twister 4: Addition SubtractionCan you solve this brain twister from New Scientist? It is true that: 1 + 2 + 3 = 3 + 2 + 1, and the equation remains true if you remove…
Feb 26
Feb 26
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New Scientist’s Brain Twister 3: Page TurnerCan you solve this brain twister from New Scientist? When printing books, the page numbers are included in the corner of each page. If a…
Jan 22
Jan 22
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New Scientist’s Brain Twister 2: Piles of MoneyCan you solve this brain twister from New Scientist? You are given a heap of N tokens, which you may divide into any number of smaller…
Jan 22
Jan 22
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New Scientist’s Brain Twister 1: Digital SevensCan you solve this brain twister from New Scientist? 61, 14234, 25, 1111111 and 95 are all numbers whose digits add to a multiple of 7…
Jan 22
Jan 22