Lorayne feels we are less likely to fall for certain ideas or sales pitches if we increase our vocabulary. He feels an increased vocabulary means greater 'mind power'. He says that when we think we are talking to ourselves. When we think we produce pictures in our mind and talk to ourselves about them.

Scientists have proven that our lips and larynx move with our thoughts.

Lorayne believes that the more words we are familiar with the easier it will be for us to think accurately. Make the effort to look up words that you hear or read to enlarge your vocabulary and thus improve your thinking. Reading can expand your mind if you are selective with your reading material.

Lorayne jokes, " If you are going to talk to yourself, you might as well make it an intelligent conversation!"

In his book he suggests different ways to exercise your mind. Reading, of course, but also he lists different problem solving activities, such as; crossword puzzles, cryptograms or as I stated in the last article his 'solvems'. The one example I gave was about 'John' who couldn't sleep in his hotel room.

Here is another one:
Cleo is lying dead on the living room carpet. She is surrounded by broken glass and water. Tom is asleep in the bedroom. Why?
The answer to this one is kind of silly; but it still takes some thinking to latch on to it. Cleo is a goldfish; the broken glass and water are her former home -- the fish tank. Tom is a cat who knocked the whole thing over! That's all.

Now that one I will make my own observation: To me Cleo would not be lying on the carpet. Tom maybe would be sleeping but not until after he ate Cleo!

Lorayne also gives some examples of cryptograms and then goes on to what he calls a 'brain twister to set your thinking straight':

You're lost in a forest which is inhabited by Red men and Green men only. The Red men always tell the truth; the Green men always lie. You come to a fork in the road; you have to get to a town called "Umgowa," but you don't know whether to take the right or left road. There is a man standing at the fork, but it is too dark to see if he's Red or Green.

The problem is this: Can you ask just one question of this man, which calls for a "yes" or "no" answer, and find out which is the correct road to take?

You don't know if he is Red or Green and even if you asked two questions, one being; "are you the Red man?". The Red man would have to say "yes", the Green man would have to lie and say "yes" as well so you wouldn't be any further ahead. I will give you the answer in another area of the ezine but if you are so inclined, get a piece of paper and write down different ways of stating the question. Lorayne's hint is that it is immaterial whether he is the Red or Green man, as long as the question is worded in the right way.

Here is a simpler one which I won't give the answer to because if you can't get it you really aren't interested in puzzles. Fill in the three blank spaces in the following sentence, using the same seven letters, in the same order, and make it a logical sentence.

The _______ Surgeon was ___ _______ to operate, because he had __ ______.

This is the last one I will give for it is as Lorayne says, 'for the really smart' person. Or as I will suggest for those who really enjoy trying to find answers to puzzles.

You have twelve pennies. One of them is a bad penny, and is either heavier or lighter than the others -- you don't know which. You have a jewelers balancing scale-- no pennies will be weighed; there are just two sides that will either balance or not, according to which pennies you put on each side.

The problem: Within three, and only three, weigh ins or balancing, you must find out which of the twelve is the bad penny, and whether it is heavier or lighter than the others?

Your solution must take in all contingencies. In other words, no matter how you break down the weigh ins, you must have a solution if the scales balance or if they don't balance.

For example, though not how you should start: If you started by putting two pennies on each side, for your first weighing, there are three possibilities:

(1). The scales will balance. (2). The left side will go down, while the right side goes up. (3). The left side will go up, while the right goes down.

I will leave the answer for another ezine publishing. The reason for putting these puzzles in here is because Lorayne feels that if you exercise your 'thinking ability and reasoning powers' you will be better able to handle any urgent problems that may arise in your life. To my way of thinking it is always a good idea to be prepared for the unexpected.

Patricia Downing: member of the GJW Family of Programs.