The MenteBrillante blog
Curiosities, history and science behind the puzzles that make you think.
Six math riddles with answers (and why you'll get the first one wrong)
September 2, 2026
Six classic math riddles with the answer explained step by step. Almost all of them share the same trick: the answer that pops into your head first is the wrong one, and there's a known reason for that.
How to learn the flags of the world: families, not all 195
September 2, 2026
Nobody memorises 195 flags one at a time. You learn them in families — the Nordic cross, the pan-Arab colours, the Southern Cross — and then separate the handful of pairs everyone confuses.
The memory palace: how it works and how to build your own
September 2, 2026
The technique memory champions use is 2,500 years old and requires no special talent. How to build a memory palace step by step, plus the four mistakes that ruin it.
Printable puzzles: what works on paper and what doesn't
September 2, 2026
Not every puzzle survives the jump to the page. Which ones work on paper, which lose the point, how to pick the difficulty for whoever is going to play, and how to put together a weekly booklet.
Mental math tricks: seven shortcuts people actually use
September 2, 2026
Fast mental arithmetic isn't about calculating faster, it's about picking a shorter route. Seven shortcuts with the reason each one works, and how to practise them in two minutes a day.
Who invented sudoku: the real story of a classic that is not Japanese
August 31, 2026
Its name is Japanese, but an architect from Indiana invented it in 1979. The full story, from an 18th-century Swiss mathematician to the judge who took it to The Times.
Memory games for adults: which ones work and how to play them properly
August 31, 2026
Which memory games make sense past thirty, why the trick is grouping rather than repeating, and how to tell whether you are actually improving.
Hard sudoku: the techniques you need when the basics run out
August 31, 2026
Hidden pairs, pointing pairs, X-Wing, forcing chains and a method for when you are stuck. The techniques that crack a 26-clue sudoku, explained without jargon.
Aptitude tests: how to prepare without wasting your time
August 31, 2026
Which types actually come up, which ones can be trained and which cannot, and the time-management mistake that fails people who knew the answers.
How to solve logic riddles: the grid method
August 30, 2026
The technique that turns «five people, five houses and ten clues» puzzles into something mechanical. With a worked example, step by step.
Exercises to improve your memory: which ones work and which are hype
August 30, 2026
What working memory is, why it is the first to slip past a certain age, and which exercises are worth doing daily. No miracle promises.
Guessing the word in six tries: the strategy that actually works
August 30, 2026
Why the first word matters so much, which letters to spend early, and the mistake almost everybody makes on the third guess.
Logic games for children: what to give at each age and what not to
August 30, 2026
Which puzzles make sense at 6, at 9 and at 12, why a 4x4 sudoku beats a 9x9 as a starting point, and the mistake of giving a hint too soon.
Free online puzzles: what there is and which to pick for the time you have
August 30, 2026
A guide to the puzzles you can play in a browser without signing up, grouped by what they train and how long they take.
Puzzles for older people: which to choose and how to adapt them
August 30, 2026
What to look for in a puzzle when eyesight tires or hands are less steady, which work better on paper and which on screen, and what to avoid.
Number sequences: how to solve them and the patterns that come up most
August 30, 2026
What comes next in 2, 6, 12, 20, 30… The eight patterns that cover almost every sequence in an aptitude test, with the order in which to try them.
How to solve a murder sudoku, step by step
August 27, 2026
A real case solved from start to finish, with every deduction explained. Includes the trick for naming the murderer before you have placed anybody.
Murdoku, Murdle and logic grid puzzles: what the difference actually is
August 27, 2026
Three formats that look alike on the shelf and solve very differently. Which is harder, which suits how you think, and where to try each one free.
What a murdoku is and why it hooks you
August 27, 2026
The puzzle that crosses sudoku with a crime scene: where it came from, exactly how it works and why it is different from a normal sudoku. With free cases to play.
15 riddles with answers to think about for a while
August 26, 2026
Fifteen classic riddles with their solutions at the end, ordered from easy to hard. The old favourites plus a few logic ones that resist more than they look.
How to solve Connections: the four-category strategy
August 26, 2026
Sixteen words, four hidden groups and the traps the setters lay. The strategy for not burning guesses: start with the most rigid category and distrust the most obvious one.
How to solve a sudoku: six techniques that actually work
August 26, 2026
From cross-hatching to intersections. The techniques that really solve a sudoku, explained in order, from the easiest to the one that gets you out of a deadlock.
What's new in MenteBrillante: three new puzzles, unlimited training and much more content
August 26, 2026
Where MenteBrillante stands right now — fifteen puzzles, three unlockable by streak, five difficulty levels, unlimited training and four languages. Free to play in the browser today.
Do puzzles train your brain? What the science actually says
August 26, 2026
Near transfer, far transfer, cognitive reserve and what the population studies really show. The honest version, without the brain-training marketing.
What an anagram is and how to solve them fast
August 26, 2026
What exactly an anagram is, English examples you can check letter by letter, and a concrete method for untangling scrambled letters in seconds instead of minutes.
Ten minutes a day: how to build a puzzle routine you will not abandon
August 26, 2026
Most brain-training routines are dropped within a fortnight. How to build a ten-minute one that survives, what to mix, and when to raise the difficulty.
Crossword tricks: how to finish one instead of filling in half
August 26, 2026
Start with the short ones and the plurals, read the clue twice looking for the trick, and the letter patterns that narrow a word down in English.
Word search tricks: seven that actually change your time
August 26, 2026
Why you should hunt a letter and not a word, which letters to anchor on in English, and the diagonal sweep that finds in two minutes what you missed for ten.
The history of the crossword: a typo gave it its name
June 22, 2026
Arthur Wynne invented it in 1913 to fill a Sunday supplement. A printing error renamed it, and a publisher's first book turned it into a national craze.
Five real benefits of puzzles (and what they do not do)
June 20, 2026
What a daily puzzle genuinely gives you, from working memory to sustained attention, and the small print about what it cannot deliver.
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