Test your Wits!

each day in December we will post a new minigame here for your enjoyment - post your answers in the link for your site at the foot of the main page you came here from. we will (try to) post each new puzzle around 12 noon EST - and will leave each puzzle up for those who started late. (let me know if you'd like the order reversed, with the newest one at the top)   DECEMBER FIRST PUZZLE :
If an elf and a half makes a toy and a half in a night and a half ... how long does it take one elf to make one toy?   DECEMBER SECOND PUZZLE : How many triangles are in this star?
DECEMBER THIRD PUZZLE : 
  find all the differences!    DECEMBER FOURTH PUZZLE : changing one letter at a time, turn a BELL into a STAR !   DECEMBER FIFTH PUZZLE :   You have 25 Christmas ornaments of various sizes and shapes. All of these ornaments, except for one which is lighter, have the same weight. If you had a balance scale, how would you determine which one of the Christmas ornaments is the lighter one by using the balance to weigh any number or combination of ornaments in either of the balance pans...but ONLY three times total?
DECEMBER SIXTH PUZZLE :  Click for Christmas Word Search!
DECEMBER SEVENTH PUZZLE :  In Menotti's beloved Christmas opera, what did Kaspar keep in the third drawer of his precious box?
DECEMBER EIGHTH PUZZLE :  Fill in this holiday Magic Square so that all rows both vertical and horizontal make actual words. (extra credit if all are seasonal words, and double credit if you can get the diagonals as well!)     NOTE: REALISED HOW TOUGH DIAGONALS ARE SO CHANGED THEM TO EXTRA CREDIT ONLY
DECEMBER NINTH PUZZLE :  Happy Chanukkah! arrange the eight days (numbers 1 through 8) so that no two consecutive numbers are in boxes that touch...even just at the corners.
 
DECEMBER TENTH PUZZLE :  What are your three favorite pieces of holiday music - with artist, please, most of them have dozens of versions.  (okay, this one HAS no right or wrong answers, lol - i will create a clickable Songbook of which all participants will get a copy at the end of the event.  these are mine : #1 Little Drummer Boy, duet by Bing Crosby and David Bowie - #2 Carol of the Bells, TransSiberian Orchestra - #3 Twelve Days of Christmas, Straight No Chaser) 
DECEMBER 11th PUZZLE : THE THREE WISE MEN Melchior is a truth teller (always tells the truth), Balthazar is a liar (always lies), and Kaspar sometimes answers truthfully and sometimes lies. All the kings know which is which. You may ask only three yes or no questions to determine who is who.  Each time you ask a question, it must only be directed to one of the kings (of your choice). You may ask the same question more than once, but of course it will count towards your total.  What are your questions, and to whom will you ask them? 
DECEMBER 12th PUZZLE : the Holiday Kitchen! share your favorite holiday recipe (your own or just one you really like), and we'll turn them into a mini-cookbook to be distributed to all participants at the end of the event.   DECEMBER 13th PUZZLE : SAINT +NICK GIFTS  substituting numbers for the letters, figure out the sum being done here.   DECEMBER 14th PUZZLE : SNOWFLAKE MAZE Trace a continuous path through the snowflakes! you may start in any space you wish, and you finish by connecting to your starting spot. your path must run through each space you connect to from one flat side to another, and cannot bend backwards (you can't go back out from a side right next to the one you entered on). you cannot use the same space more than once, or go through a numbered space. (HINT - each number indicates how many of the spaces touching it are part of the path)  DECEMBER 15th PUZZLE : HOLIDAY TREASURES share your favorite holiday memory or tradition. they will be collected and made into a clickable "book" which everyone will receive at the end of the event.   DECEMBER 16th PUZZLE : HOLIDAY SPECIAL TRIVIA II What did Hermy the elf REALLY want to be?    DECEMBER 17th PUZZLE : find 20 holiday words!

H	N	R	S	R	E	E	D	N	I	E	R
D	E	C	O	R	A	T	I	O	N	S	E
T	I	D	Q	F	A	M	G	S	M	T	K
S	T	F	I	G	N	E	U	E	A	O	C
S	E	E	R	T	G	S	H	L	N	C	A
S	G	N	I	T	E	E	R	G	G	K	R
E	A	J	A	J	L	L	R	P	E	I	C
L	C	N	O	H	S	K	U	A	R	N	T
D	N	A	T	I	V	I	T	Y	T	G	U
N	D	E	B	A	L	I	G	H	T	S	N
A	B	E	L	L	S	N	O	W	M	A	N
C	A	R	O	L	S	H	T	A	E	R	W

   DECEMBER 18th PUZZLE : Santa's Visit  Santa is at the last house on his list, but the wet falling snow has blurred the children's ages. since it's Christmas eve and the animals can talk, Santa asks the dog - How old are the children?
- Well, Santa, there are three of them and the product of their ages is 36.
Santa says,  that is not enough...let me ask the cat.  - Santa, the sum of their ages is exactly the number of cookies they left out for you and your reindeer - four for you, and one for each deer.
Santa says, that is still not enough...let me ask the parrot.
- Santa, the oldest child asked for a baseball cap. Santa smiles, as he now knows exactly how old each child is.
How old were each of the children?    DECEMBER 19th PUZZLE : HOLIDAY  TIME  What is always in time, and occurs once every minute, twice every moment, every single Christmas, yet never in a thousand years?    DECEMBER 20th PUZZLE : A Hand For Each Hand what beloved actor lent his voice and signature character to the animated version of Dickens' holiday classic?    DECEMBER 21st PUZZLE : Trim Up Your Tree   You are invited to a tree-trimming party! each person gets to put 4 ornaments on the tree. 100 ornaments are stored in the box - 20 are red, 14 are blue, 15 are green, 16 are silver, 17 are gold, and 18 are white.  All of them are wrapped in holiday tissue.   What is the minimum number that you must remove from the box so that you are sure that you have at least 2 pairs of matching ornaments to hang on the tree?   (For example, 2 red ornaments and 2 blue ones.  You can also have 2 gold ones together with another set of 2 gold ones.)   DECEMBER 22nd PUZZLE : Up On the Rooftop There are three switches on the porch. Each corresponds to one of the three light sets on the roof, but you don't want them all on all the time...and have forgotten which is which. How can you tell which switch corresponds to which light set by using less than all three switches, and making only one trip up the ladder to the roof to check?   DECEMBER 23rd PUZZLE : SING, SING, SING!  Find the names of the carols listed below!

O R S C W V A L N W V G S D R

J C E G K U W V S H D O L E A

H T H G N M B J D I S D L C T

S H M R N I B E J T J I E K S

I G C M I A K Q I E G S B T L

L I B S R S M E M C W L E H U

E N E Y X Y T A E H D O L E F

N Y U N X A Y M N R W V G H I

T L R L Q C K J A I H E N A T

N O C G O K N Q R S Y T I L U

I H O A U S A X J T T A J L A

G O I L M M S E Q M D R W S E

H M Z D B Z A S R A M U E A B

T V J I Q M F I R S T N O E L

T I S C H R I S T M A S D A Y

Away In a Manger  ~  O Christmas Tree ~  Beautiful Star O Holy Night   ~ Silent Night ~ Deck the Halls First Noel ~ Three Kings ~ Tis Christmas Day God Is Love ~ White Christmas ~ Jingle Bells
  DECEMBER 24th PUZZLE :  (courtesy of Giraki from Aywas!)  What popular Christmas carol was originally written to be performed on Thanksgiving?   DECEMBER 25th PUZZLE : HERE WE GO A-WASSAILING!  okay, these are ALSO for the contest songbook - write your own holiday carol! it can be short or long, funny or serious, whatever you like. this is the last puzzle and i will be assembling the books etc and sending out everyone's prizes in a day or so.  thanks to all for participating, and happy holidays!  ( click us to return to main page )