Brainteasers and Mindbenders [Paperback]

Ben Hamilton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1981

Entertaining and Ingenious Puzzles and Problems for Every Day of the Year!

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 193 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall Trade; First Edition edition (May 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130809454
• ISBN-13: 978-0130809452
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,067,450 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Classic Collection from a Master Puzzlemaker, January 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Brain Teasers And Mind Benders (Paperback)

When I first opened this book of 365 puzzles (yes, one for each day of the year) back when it was originally published (1981), little did I realize that I'd still be reading it almost 20 years later! The puzzles (created by Ben Hamilton, one of Britain's most respected puzzlemakers and the former Puzzles Editor for the monthly "Games and Puzzles" magazine) are short and concise in presentation, and are fun to solve. There are a variety of word, math, and logic puzzles to keep you from getting bored. Similarly, the puzzles range in difficulty so readers of all ages can enjoy this collection. The only weak point to this book is that while all the answers are provided, they tend to simply state the solution without reviewing the logic or mathematical proof, so if you don't know HOW to solve the problem, the solutions won't help much. Still, it is an indespensible and enjoyable collection of marvelous puzzles -- one that will likely stay on your bookshelf as long as it has on mine.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good oldies by goodies, December 30, 2003

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Brainteasers and Mindbenders (Paperback)

Like climbing mountains, puzzle solving is all about the effort in getting there. Once you reach the top, it all looks so easy, especially when you can see the smooth slope on the other side that would have been so much easier. A puzzle is like that, in that after you have the solution, it is obvious.
This collection primarily contains puzzles of a type that can be considered oldies but goodies. The primary categories are letter rearrangements, finding words or names embedded in phrases, fill in the blank letters to create specific phrases, finding words, phrase recognition and number manipulation. There are 365 puzzles, one listed for each day of the year, although few if any are related to their day and solutions to all are included at the end.
The puzzles vary enormously in difficulty. Some I solved in seconds, and others totally stumped me, at least until I looked at the solution, which caused me to immediately whack my forehead. In general, I found the number manipulation problems to be easy and the word scramble puzzles to be hard. Your opinion of this collection will largely depend on your experience with puzzles. If you have a lot, you may fly through most of them, but if you are a novice, you most likely will struggle, although it will be well worth it.

9 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Challenging at first, yet gets curiously easier, December 14, 1999

By 

Tim Lack (St. Elizabeths Hospital, Wash, D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brain Teasers And Mind Benders (Paperback)

The first time I read this book, I found the puzzles very challenging; some, in fact, were very difficult. I re-read the book a few weeks later and found, however, the puzzles were not as difficult as I recalled. I was really disappointed by my third and fourth reading - the puzzles were not challenging at all!

A good book overall, but either I got a lot smarter during the three months I read and re-reread this book (I been taking flaxseed oil daily, which may explain this), or the publishers have devised some way to revise the book while it is in my possession.