Brainteaser puzzles giveaway

This summer, we'll be traveling in the UK and continental Europe -- which means we'll be spending quite a bit of time on airplanes, trains and cars.  The kids will be taking their usual arsenal of video games to keep them occupied, but batteries don't last forever, and there aren't always places to recharge on the road.  Besides, I don't want them to be staring at a screen the whole summer long -- so I'm eternally grateful to Alpha Books for clueing me into some great puzzle books to keep my kids' minds from turning into mush.  Yesterday I reviewed two Puzzle Baron books: Sudoku and Logic Puzzles Volume 2, and today I'll be reviewing The Complete Idiot's Guide to Picture Puzzles, Volume 2.

I think I love Picture Puzzles the best out of the 3.  This book is a pleasure to look at; the photos are visually compelling: interesting, colorful, and filled with detail.  I could flip through it for hours while on the plane or train (and let's face it, on the can!).

Most are "spot-the-difference"-type picture puzzles, although there are a few "which-one-is-different" kind of puzzles (5 identical photos and 1 slightly different photo, and you have to figure out which one is the odd photo out), as well as jigsaw puzzles, where you have to rearrange the photo on a grid to reassemble it, presumably without cutting up the book and physically rearranging the pieces.

Here's an example of one of the puzzles from the book:

You can spot the first few fairly quickly, then the differences get more subtle; the medium and difficult level puzzles look pretty much identical.  The puzzle above is an easy puzzle, but I have to admit, I haven't yet found all seven.  Does that make me a complete idiot? I guess it's a good thing this is The Complete Idiot's guide!

What's really nice about this book is that they give you a time limit (1 minute, 45 seconds for the easy puzzles) to solve the puzzle, so even regular puzzle solvers and the more cerebrally endowed are challenged. Even geniuses can enjoy this book by competing to see who can spot all the differences in the least amount of time.  And if you absolutely cannot solve the puzzles, there is an answer key at the back of the book.

The whole family -- Alfie, the kids and I -- love this book, and I have a feeling we'll be enjoying it throughout the summer! 

Win a Brainteaser Puzzle Pack
One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will receive a copy of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Picture Puzzles, Puzzle Baron's Sudoku, and Puzzle Baron's Logic Puzzles (check out my review of the Puzzle Baron's books here).




Required Entry
Leave a comment on this post and tell me where and when you enjoy solving puzzles, crosswords or other brainteasers.   This entry must be completed before any extra entries will count.

Extra Entries
For extra entries, you can do any or all of the following. Please leave a separate comment for each extra entry with a way to verify the entry (i.e. tweet link, blog post link, Facebook id, Twitter id, etc.).

1)  Try to spot the differences in the Oh, Buoy! picture puzzle above within the 1 minute, 45 second time allotment -- then leave a comment on this post and tell me how many you were able to find in that time! (1 entry)

2)  Follow Bonggamom Finds on Blogger (1 entry)

3) Follow bonggamom on Instagram (1 entry)

4) Follow bonggamom on Pinterest (1 entry)

5) Pin this giveaway on your Pinterest board (you can use the "Pin It" button at the bottom of this post -- 1 entry).

6) Like Bonggamom Finds on Facebook (1 entry).

7) Write this on the Bonggamom Finds Facebook page (1 entry):
I entered the Brainteaser puzzle giveaway! http://bit.ly/JmH4QF

8) Follow @bonggafinds on Twitter and tweet this (1 entry per day):
RT @bonggafinds Win a set of brainteaser puzzle books fr @Idiotsguide & @PuzzleBaron!  Enter by 6/1 at  http://bit.ly/JmH4QF #giveaway

9) Enter any open giveaway on Bonggamom Finds (1 entry for each giveaway you've joined)


The Rules
This giveaway ends at 11:59PM PST on June 1, 2012; I will draw a winner at random on June 2 and post his/her name after she/he confirms acceptance. Continental US residents only. For additional giveaway rules, click here.



PS: Now that you've tried to solve the picture puzzle, you can check out the answers here!  Did you get them all?


Disclosure:I received a sample of all 3 books to facilitate my review, but have not been paid to review the product or give my opinions. Giveaway prize and product information (in italics) is provided by the publishers. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

 
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