Diversions

1. What phrase does the arrangement below represent?

HE HE HE

BASE

2. Unscramble the letters in the grid into eight words of bad advice. You may move one letter in any direction and use each letter only once. There is one null and one contraction. (Hint: Begin with a letter in the middle of the first column.)

3. What three words, formed from different arrangements of the same eight letters, will complete the sentences below?

The chess player said, “I’m usually good at being able to ____________ a situation in which my opponent ____________ my next move and then falls into my trap. Unfortunately, this opponent ____________ me quite frequently by being better at it than I am.”

4. The following 13 letters can be rearranged into a three-word phrase used to describe someone who’s been forces by circumstances into illegal action.
   
   EEIIODCMNRTVR

5. It was the day of the big furniture sale. “Oh,” said Gina, “this chair was $350, reduced by 20 percent, then by $80, and then by 80 percent. It should be free!” But how much was it?

6. Lori likes toys, but not quizzes. She likes beans, but not carrots. She likes to play with Gil, but not Scott. Following the same rule, will she like bicycles or puzzles?

7. Janet has fours times as many brothers as she has sisters, but her brother James has one less sisters the he has brothers. If there are no more than 10 children in the family, how many boys and girls are there?

8. Fill in the following word square using one letter L, two each of letters A and R, one letter E, and three letters Ss, so that each word can be read across and down.

9. Each word has been scrambled, and then the word order has been scrambled. Unscramble both and create a sentence that’s Tom Swifty.

10. The following sentence has been done in a simple substitution code. Work out the code and find the “quote”.
    
    4-19-2 18-8 2-12-6-9 15-18-13-22 26-15-4-26-2-8 25-6-8-2, 4-26-7-8-12-13?

Answers:

Answers

1.      Three men on base 

2.      If at first you don’t succeed, give up.

3.      Construe, counters, trounces

4.      Driven to crime

5.      $40. $350 - $70 (20%) = $280, - $80 = $200, - $160 (80%) = $40

6.      Bicycles. No double consonants for Lori.

7.      Four boys and two girls.

8.     

9.      “Do you really like living in France?” asked Tom ruefully.

10.  “Why is your line always busy, Watson?” (Code: Alphabet backward – A = 26, B = 25, etc.)