Mensa 365 Brain Puzzlers Page-A-Day Calendar 2018 Calendar – Day to Day Calendar, August 3, 2017

These daily calendars are great. I give my husband the book lovers one every year, which is his favorite Christmas gift. Last year I got myself the art one (loved it) and this year I gave an art one to my friend who raved about it. They are the "gift that keeps on giving" every day for a year! So this time I decided to challenge myself a little every day, especially since I think I'm so smart. So, we'll see. So far I have worked through the first half of January because once I got started they were kind of fun. One was annoying so I quit. I would imagine if you are a person who is not so good at unscrambling words or so sudoku-type puzzles or word meanings or logic, that you might find it more frustrating than fun. But if you enjoy a challenge and want to stay sharp, I suppose this could help. It used to be said that one should do crossword puzzles to stay sharp, but then after a time the research showed that people who did them only became good at doing crosswords and it really did not help overall. Supposedly mixing it up helps. Cross your fingers.

I bought this calendar because my usual puzzle calendar was tragically out of stock (my fault for waiting so long). My usual puzzle calendar is full of logic puzzles and brain teasers that anyone can solve using logic and problem solving skills. This calendar however, has been a major disappointment. You can't just solve these puzzles with logic; almost all of them require extra knowledge that the average person may not have in order to solve. In one puzzle, I was expected to know the name of "an 18th century poet" in order to get the answer right; I don't know the names of any poets, let alone the one they were hinting at. Another time I was expected to know a series of songs from the 90's in order to get the puzzle right. Other puzzles require specific math skills in order to solve them (many of us know algebra, but if you're rusty in any of these math structures you're screwed) as well. Using logic or problem solving skills are only half the battle with these puzzles. You have to know history, pop culture, and various other factoids as well in order to solve them, which is totally not what I wanted. Also, you're going to need a verbose understanding of the English language in order to solve the word puzzles; they often use obscure or weird words in order to make it more challenging (so if you know English as a second language, you may want to stay away!). I just wanted logic puzzles and brain teasers, and this product does NOT offer that. If you're someone who knows a lot of random stuff and reads wikipedia for fun, and is a math whizz, you may enjoy this product. I am neither of those things and therefore was bitterly disappointed in this product. Nowadays I don't even bother with the puzzle and I just use it as a regular calendar. Such a waste of money.

I enjoy these puzzle calendars, and receive one each year as a gift. This year's version, however, seems inferior to years past. The puzzles are not as clever or challenging and the instructions are less adequate. Some puzzles have multiple solutions. I still enjoy doing them, but they are not as enjoyable this year. Also, I wish there was a month-view on each page.

I bought this one before when I started struggling to remember the simplest things (where I sat things down mostly- keys, my phone, anything I picked up that is small). Most of the puzzles are hard to solve, but after I get started with a few, it get easier. It also really improved my memory. Lastly, I keep it at my desk at work. It is perfect for a mental break and appears to help me lower stress.

We've been buying these calendars for many years and my wife and I enjoy doing them after breakfast. Most of the puzzles are entertaining and not overly difficult. Some days however the puzzles are little more than exercises in following instructions or math problems that require simple algebra skills.

A nice variety of puzzles--different ones this year as opposed to previous years. I was dissatisfied with the 2017 puzzles which needed editing in some cases, so did not order the 2018 puzzles until March of this year--when I realized I couldn't live without them!

I buy this every year. Every puzzle gets passed around the office. A convenient way to pass some time while keeping your mind engaged.

Go-to gift for certain hard to please people every Christmas--can't imagine how anyone wouldn't enjoy these clever and fun brain puzzlers on a daily basis! Good variety of different types of puzzles, so if one particular day doesn't appeal to you, just wait for the next one. Have been buying this for years (literally!).

The Mensa calendar always makes a good Christmas gift for 'thinkers'! It comes in an easily wrapped box and has a good variety of puzzle styles to keep you amused and to keep your mind working.

We, my wife and I, not forgetting the dog, have been doing a daily dose of these for years and they liven up the morning tea and biscuits in bed. Good stuff to wake up the brain.

Some good puzzles BUT this is very American and some of the answers you cannot get unless you really know/have lived in the USA.

Page-a-day... No it's not! Saturday & Sunday on same page! Its also American! American spelling for anagram puzzles, quarters / dimes / dollars for some maths problems and yet its sold in Britain?

Christmas gift, brought every year for 5 years for my in laws, helps to keep them busy and their brains young!!