As you may remember (and certainly will if you go back one entry, Mr. Lucky pronounced himself the �Smartest Man in the World�. Since Gabriel never heard of him, and, despite copious amounts of research, could find no one else that had heard of him, he was left to ask �PROVE IT�. And went on to supply a short, 11 question pop quiz (which should, in the grand scheme of things, be insignificant if you are the Smartest Man in the World. Right?)
Anna breezed into the family room on Saturday evening, two copies of the quiz in hand. �Gosh, you should see the cool thing Bobbi just sent me�, using as a partner in crime her best friend. �Wanna� try it?�
Ever up for a challenge of any sort, Mr. Lucky grabbed his pencil, and Anna grabbed a stopwatch, sitting far enough away so she couldn�t see the results. �Don�t tell me the answers�, she said. �I want to take it after you. Ready�..GO�. And at the end of each minute, as proscribed by the test, he was instructed to move on to the next question if he wasn�t done. The first eight completed, he picked up page 2 � the Word Squares. As the three minute time limit was reached on each of the first two he moved to the third � and said �I give up now on this one. I can�t do it in the five minute period so it�s no point in starting.�
�Now it�s your turn,� he said snarkily. He took the watch, and she turned over the second copy of the test she had printed and placed face down on the table. �Ready�..GO.� She could almost hear the �heh heh heh� under his breath.
Herewith, I present the results.
| Mr. Lucky�s Answers 1. Saturday 9. After 3 minutes CONE 10. After 3 minutes MIND 11. No Answer. �This is too hard.� | Anna�s Answers 1. Saturday 9. After 2 minutes CONE 10. After 3 minutes MIND 11. No Answer. �I need a clue to start??� |
Just for the record, it took Mr. Lucky (who regularly does Sudoku puzzles, including the big Sunday paper multi-square ones) seven minutes for the first eight, and three minutes each for 9 and 10. It took Anna (who had never seen a word square before) five minutes for the first eight, 2 minutes for 9 (she should have taken that extra minute and recounted her letters!!!) and 3 minutes for 10 (coming in just under the line!!).
And, how did the Smartest Man in the World do? Apparently he got two fewer correct than Anna. And Anna's score? She's eligible to take the test for Mensa - for this little quiz is, as it turns out, a pre-Mensa qualification test!!
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