Puzzle Me Twice: 70 Simple Puzzles (Almost) Everyone Gets Wrong (Alex Bellos Puzzle Books)

Fun puzzles, great to keep a kid busy on a road trip.

I already struggle with math concepts like probability and this book has not improved my confidence. It’s meant to be fun (and it is interesting), but by the last few pages, I had stopped spending much time trying to figure out the answers and just made a guess and read on to the solution to see why I was wrong. Likewise, when some of the answers made no sense to me, I just had to shrug and move on. That’s not to say that I got all the puzzles wrong – some were straightforward even for me – but getting them wrong is sort of the point of the book. It highlights the instances when most of the population is too quick to rely on gut instinct and fall prey to various biases, or when the outcomes seem counter intuitive. If you’ve read books like “Thinking Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman, then some of these examples will be familiar.The intro explains that these are puzzles which are “simple…succinct, and for which there is a single clear answer.” The author also says he’s “avoided trick questions.” I think these statements are mostly true, though on a couple of occasions I wasn’t sure exactly what was being asked, and on another, I felt that I was “tricked” when it seemed only two possible answer choices were given, but the actual answer was “neither.” On the whole, though, there is a lot to be gained from learning how we tend to answer these puzzles incorrectly. If you see the pitfalls, you can guard against falling into them again in the future. It’s a book that can be shared and revisited when we need to sharpen our wits again. But I’m glad it wasn’t longer.

I love brain teasers so I thought this would be a really fun read. That wasn’t the case at all. I am not a “brainiac” but found myself bored with the book because I kept getting the answers correct. My 15 year old daughter did like the book though. Because it was such a hit with her, I still feel like it is deserving of 4 stars. I recommend anyone considering getting this book read the example puzzles. If you get them correct, skip this book.

Some of the puzzles in the book are quite interesting and the book itself teaches you a lot, but a great many of the puzzles were not interesting for me. The previous books I've read and solved by thia author were better.

Great idea for a book and deep learning and playing work that is just delightful.Good for math-types and anyone who likes puzzle books.

I love this little puzzle book! I think it's great for almost all ages. And it's OK if you guess the wrong answer! Part of the fun is learning the explanation and logic of the correct answer. Each puzzle certainly got my noggin thinking. I think this is a good value for an interesting collection of "bite-sized" puzzles.

This is a good collection of puzzles, mostly math-related with a few optical illusions thrown in. My kids really enjoy this book and are bringing up what they read to try and 'trick' others now lol.Most of these were new for me and my husband and we did indeed get most of them wrong! It's a fun book if you like digging into the details of things.

Interesting, a little different than I imagined. My scientist wife enjoyed it and thinks it'll suit people who want to exercise their brainpower, like solving a hard math problem. I'm not too mathy and not too good at these kinds of puzzles - I need more visuals so I was more frustrated than enjoying it. I recommend you look at a few of the pages and see if these puzzles are what you're looking for. If it is, I'm sure you will love it.