Brainteasers stimulate our sensory receptors with information that is at once familiar and perplexing. Take this sea of lowercase ds for example; we all know the letter “d,” yet it is not every day we see so many in close proximity.
It’s also not every day that an “odd-one-out” puzzle presents itself as the perfect pick-me-up for a tired mind. So take a look at this picture puzzle and see if you are able to locate the oddity in the midst of familiar letters.
Puzzle 1
Rumor has it that not many people are able to solve this picture puzzle in less than 10 seconds. For anyone who is up for the challenge, set a timer and take a look at the picture above; what is the “odd one out”?Did you beat the clock? If so, feel proud of your optical agility. If not, never fear; the solution is seconds away.
In the third row down and four letters from the right lies an imposter. A lowercase letter “b” is hiding surreptitiously in the forest of ds; did you find it?
Puzzle 2
If you enjoyed the first puzzle, here’s another, slightly harder, version courtesy of Quizz Worthy. This time, challengers are searching for an imposer among a maze of capital letter Ms.Once again, set a timer for 10 seconds and see what your brain is capable of. Without peeking at the answer below, can you find the “odd one out?”
Here’s the solution: three rows down and five letters from the right, a capital letter W hides among the Ms, perplexing the eyes with its visual similarity to a capital M turned upside down. Did you find the W?
Puzzle 3
For anyone wishing to nourish their neural connections even further, here is a third and final challenge.Why not try 20 seconds on the clock this time, as there are several lowercase bs hiding in the sea of ds. How many can you find?
This is a toughy. Interestingly, by not looking directly at the puzzle, your peripheral vision may detect the odd ones out better than when you look at it directly. Indeed, you may find the odd bs “disappearing” when you look directly where you think they may be. Using this method, or simply by sifting through each row, you may discover five bs hidden in the sea of ds.
Often, “odd-one-out” puzzles require the player to reason, or identify, the common features in a collection of shapes in order to deduce the one shape that stands out from the rest.
The ongoing popularity of “odd-one-out” puzzles may have something to do with the fact that they are both beloved by millions and light up the intersection of the brain’s two hemispheres, otherwise known as the back and outer surfaces of the frontal lobes.
These puzzles are brain fuel, uniting creativity with intellect. How did you fare?
