Home > Categories > Books > Brain Teasers and Puzzles > Take 5 review

Got five minutes to spare? Why don't you sit down and Take 5.
These quick yet challenging puzzles have been entertaining readers of the New Zealand Listener for nearly ten years, and this book of 120 Take 5 puzzles fulfils the many requests from fans for a collection.
Give your brain a quick work-out - happy solving!
Box
Lizzie, love
Jigsaw Farm
Hammering Iron
Ella and Olivia - 4 - The New Girl
Ella and Olivia - 3 - Ballet Stars
Do Your Ears Hang Low?
Who's That Roaring?
Grandpa's Slippers
EJ Spy School Book 6: Hide and Peek
The Honest Truth
The Sin Eater's Daughter
Snow DayProduct reviews...
For the many fans of Take 5, and readers of the New Zealand Listener, these puzzles will not need any introduction. For those who do not buy the New Zealand Listener, or only skim through the hallowed pages of this New Zealand institution, I had better explain.
Imagine a mini crossword puzzle, with no clues, and only two letters given. From those two given letters, one has to solve the puzzle. Easy? Well, yes, I thought so.
These puzzles are the wordsmith's delight, a cross between crosswords, language and cryptography, the sort of puzzles Bletchley Park would solve in seconds, and would do in their tea-breaks from cracking the Enigma ciphers.
I never imagined that my seven year-old daughter would pick this book up, and attempt to solve the puzzles. She has attempted, and with a lot of help completing one, She managed to get a little more interest in reading and writing, even if I am solving the clues for her.
I feel whilst writing this, I should be leaving blank spaces for you to solve what I write. These puzzles are highly contagious, hard to put down and should be on every word-lovers bookshelf-if only temporarily whilst the puzzles are being completed. Highly recommended for those spare five minutes or so.
Random listing from 'Books'...
The Clouds think Sun and Rain would get along well, but Rain thinks Sun doesn't want to know her as Sun always vanishes when she turns up. Likewise, Sun feels that Rain stays away when Sun is around. The Clouds think they'd be a good match, however, and scheme a meeting, resulting in the most beautiful union... a rainbow!
Isobel Joy Te Aho-White's illustrations complement the text beautifully, making it possible for ... more...
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