Smart Games: Mind Marathon Word Games: Wordplay, Strategy and Perception Puzzles from Beginner to Expert Level [Spiral-bound]

The Editors of Smart Games Inc (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2004 | Series: Smart Games

This critically acclaimed collection of word puzzles ranging from satisfyingly simple to fiendishly difficult will challenge and delight would-be word wizards. Word Melt, Scramblegrams, Word Hunter, Crossed Words and Word Blocks puzzles are presented one to a page, but the puzzler has more to do than just fill in the blanks. Many of the puzzles have more than one solution, and the puzzler gets points depending on how many steps it takes to arrive at the answer.

Recent scientific research recommends that people play challenging games to keep their minds sharp. These books are personal trainers for the hungry hordes of fanatic puzzlers.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Smart Games, Inc., develops mentally stimulating, technology-based entertainment products which emphasize intelligence, achievement, and public recognition.

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 128 pages
• Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579123635
• ISBN-13: 978-1579123635
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,541,380 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Exercise your mind, April 17, 2004

By 

Eileen Rieback (Coral Springs, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Smart Games: Mind Marathon Word Games: Wordplay, Strategy and Perception Puzzles from Beginner to Expert Level (Spiral-bound)

In the introduction to this puzzle book, the editors of Smart Games, Inc. say that when it comes to your mental acuity, you must use it or lose it. This collection of word puzzles is intended to help you with your mental exercises. There are four types of puzzles in the collection:

- Scramblegrams, where you unscramble words in themed sets
- Word melt, which is a word ladder where you replace one or two letters at a time to change from the starting word to the ending word
- Word blocks, where you arrange 2 letter blocks to form letters, using each block only once
- Word hunt, which is a word search grid where you locate themed words hidden in any direction in the grid, including in a snaking path

The puzzles range from easy to hard. There's not much variety here compared to other word puzzle books, though, so I give it only 3 stars. The book is spiral bound to lie flat while you solve. A CD ROM is included with bonus word puzzles to solve.

Eileen Rieback

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for fans of word search puzzles, hard for the rest, December 21, 2007

By 

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

This review is from: Smart Games: Mind Marathon Word Games: Wordplay, Strategy and Perception Puzzles from Beginner to Expert Level (Spiral-bound)

In general, I found the word puzzles in this book to be very hard. Most of them are in the category called "Scramblegrams." The structure of these problems is that a series of words are scrambled, with the letters above a series of dashes to be filled in. Some of the letter positions are highlighted and those letters will then be used to create a final phrase. Another type of problem is the "word melt", where you start with a word and change one letter at a time to end with another word. Each intermediate step must also be a valid word. There are also a few "word search" puzzles.
In general, I am not a fan of word puzzles; I do them on occasion for a change a pace and challenge. In this case, for me, the emphasis is on challenge.