Chimera Returns

By William F. Bultas
These 10 puzzles are in general very difficult & I encourage you to use any reference materials you think might help. I have placed the answers on a separate page to keep you from looking until you're ready. The titles of the puzzles sometimes provide a useful hint, but in some cases are either useless or even misleading. The ranking scale below was created to give you competitive types something to shoot for. If you enjoy these puzzles, try the other tests & puzzles at PUZZ.COM Happy hunting!


Number Correct             RANK
     0-1                   Novice
     2-3                   Dilettante
     4-5                   Puzzler
      6                    Puzzle Expert
     7-8                   Puzzle Master
     9-10                  Puzzler Par Excellence         


Stupid Is
Q1. What word or words are hidden below?

ENQQDRS FTLO
GPSSFTU HVNQ


....But I Did Not Shoot the Deputy
Q2. The sheriff of Tinseltown has been murdered. An investigator questions 4 suspects who have not been told anything about the case. He approaches each of them separately, & none of them can hear what the others say. The investigator says to each "The sheriff was attacked tonight. What can you tell me about this?"

John: I didn't hurt the sheriff, & I wish you would leave me alone.

Melissa: I consider the sheriff to be a good friend. I would never do anything to hurt him.

Chris: I didn't have anything against the sheriff, so why are you bothering me?

Paul: I may not like the sheriff, but I didn't do anything wrong.

Who seems like the most likely suspect, & why?

The Beginning & the End
Q3. Which of these words does not belong with the others?

pull male run lash era head pal


Monster Mash
Q4. Are you up for a spooky puzzle? Which of these monsters does not belong with the others? Hint: it is something that requires no knowledge of the creatures at all.

vampire mummy ghoul troll witch ghost goblin


Wise Bird
Q5. Will words fool you? If you question what I'm up to, it's a small wonder. Exactly five times it'll worm its way through this paragraph. It's not tall, wooden, green, or metal. Would you like to know what it is? Look carefully, & think about it.

Chimera's Enigma
Q6. How many of these statements are true?

A. Bill Clinton was first elected President of the United States in the year 1992.

B. George Washington was assassinated.

C. Abraham Lincoln is the President of the United States of America.

D. Three of these statements are false.

ONCE REMOVED
For the last four puzzles, you have two words on either side of a set of dashes. Each dash represents a letter of the word that is the answer, & the word on the left is a synonym of the word. The word on the right is a synonym of the word if one of the word's letters are removed. Determine what the two words are for each puzzle.

EXAMPLE: break ---- sleep

The answers would be SNAP & NAP.

Q7. clash ----- disturb

Q8. gap ------ realm

Q9. forward ----- stronghold

Q10. disguise ---- inquire

Answers