Warm up for the new school term with our brainteasers – quiz

It’s not just students who struggle to switch their brains back on after the summer break, teachers also have to shake off the summer haze and think in education terms again.

So, to help you shift from holiday mode to teacher mode, and to test whether your brain power has totally dissipated over the summer, we’ve collected some taxing teasers from across the internet, covering everything from spelling to maths.

We’re going old school (pardon the pun) so you’ll need a pen and paper to jot down your answers. The correct answers can be found at the bottom of the page (no cheating please).

Questions

1. What word in the English language is always spelled incorrectly?

2. A man takes his car to a hotel. Upon reaching the hotel, he is immediately declared bankrupt. Why?

3. Which is it correct to say, “The yolk of the egg is white” or “The yolk of the egg are white?”

4. Count the num­ber of times the let­ter F appears in the fol­low­ing sentence:

Fin­ished files are the result of years of sci­en­tific study com­bined with the experience of years.

5. I’m as light as a feather yet an average person can’t hold me for more than one minute. What am I?

6. A farmer has 17 sheep. All but nine die. How many sheep does he have left?

7. Ten candles stand burning in a dining room. A strong breeze blows in through an open window and extinguishes three. Assuming the wind doesn’t extinguish any more candles, how many candles are left in the end?

Answers

1. Incorrectly

2. The man is playing Monopoly. He lands on a property with a hotel and doesn’t have enough money to pay the rent.

3. Neither. Egg yolks are yellow.

4. Six – Fin­ished Files are the result oF years oF sci­en­tiFic study combined with the experience oF years.

5. Your breath.

6. Nine

7. Three. The seven candles that stay lit will melt down completely. The only candles in the end are the three that are extinguished by the wind and therefore stay intact.

How did you do?

Five to seven: Go straight to the front of the class. Of course, as the teacher that’s where you always are anyway.

Two to four: Not bad, but you may need a few more early nights before you step back into the classroom.

Less than two: Dear, oh dear, the holidays really haven’t been kind. We recommend an extreme cramming session before term.

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