Stay sharp

Try these fun workouts for your brain.

1 CRYPTOGRAM

In a cryptogram, or secret code puzzle, each letter in the original message is replaced by another letter in a specific pattern. (For example, the word YES can be encrypted to XDR by replacing each letter with the one before it: Y with X, E with D, and S with R.)

To start, figure out which words are logical in the grammatical structure of a sentence (THE, ON, OF, and so on).

Solving this puzzle will reveal a famous quote composed of 11 words, plus the author’s name.

2 WORD LADDER

The two words below constitute the first and last rungs of the ladder, and

the goal is to “evolve” one into the other by changing only one letter at a time, forming a legitimate new word with each change. This type of puzzle was invented by Alice in Wonderland

author Lewis Carroll.

3 PHRASE MAZE

This puzzle involves a rhyming verse that’s been divided into two parts. The first portion is written above the grid, and the second is hidden inside. The verse can be read by starting at the star in the centre and connecting letters in any direction, using each letter once. (Hint: The first word is a verb.)

4 CRYPTARITHM

In this type of puzzle, some of the digits in a mathematical problem have been removed from the equation. You can test your knowledge of mathematical relationships by figuring out the missing numbers.

5 LIST IT

Boost your recall power by writing down as many different dog breeds as you can think of in 1 minute. We got 15. How did you go?