Curio Cabinet / Teaser Curio

Did you know that the average square inch of human skin has 650 sweat glands, 20 blood vessels, 60,000 melanocytes (cells that produce melanin that give skin its color), and more than 1,000 nerve endings? You did? Wow... Well, then today's teaser is dedicated to you and the latent dermatopathologist in all of us.
 
Remember: a word square is similar to a square crossword puzzle, but the same words appear across and down. Here's an example of a 3x3 word square:
 

CAT
AGO
TOY

 
Below are four clues, not in order. Can you make a 4x4 word square out of it?

The skin
It will puncture the skin
It will heal the skin
To find it, look deep beneath the skin

Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #178" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Cindy got a glitzy new watch for Christmas last year. It was an analog watch (ya know, the one with the hands). Shiny, metal band, what looked like a diamond in the face, very special. Unfortunately, despite it being so fancy, it wasn't great at actually keeping time. In the first week she had it, she noticed it gained exactly 6 minutes smoothly over the course of the day, but lost 2 minutes over the course of the next day, and kept alternating gains and losses on alternating days like that.
 
Not wanting to return the gift, she reset the watch to the correct time at exactly midnight at the beginning of New Year's Day 2019 (just before downing her champagne). And just as she thought it would, it gained 6 minutes on January 1. If she doesn't reset the watch again, when will the watch show the correct time again?
 
Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #177" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Carl Sagan was a astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist, and, more than anything else, a great communicator of science. He made a science accessible, inspiring, and exciting for generations, and turned countless children to a future in science. But did you know he also researched hawks and donkeys?
 
OK, maybe he didn't. In this quote about science from Carl Sagan, two phrases have been scrambled. The phrases of the original quote have the number of words and letters shown below. The phrases were scrambled independently (i.e., the letters from the first phrase aren't scrambled into the second phrase). Can you figure out the original phrases?
 
Remember, no Googling for help!

Science is a tiny hawk in fog much more than it is a glob of donkey dew.
 
Science is a (3) (2) (8) much more than it is a (4) (2) (9).

 
Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #176" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Everyone needs a little support sometimes, especially when you're jumping brain first into a Saturday Teaser. Call your friends, your family, or your local barista. Ya know, the one with all the piercings who seems like they would be totally into word riddles. Whomever you call, we just want you to get the support you need in noodling on this word riddle.
 
This is a common 7-letter English word.

(The original word) Supported the host.
(Remove the second letter) Supported a mom & pop.
(Remove the second and last letters) Supporter of a baby, but a bad one.
(Remove the first and last letters) Supporter of a golf ball, but a bad one.

What's the original word?
 
Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #175" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Sorry! We messed up Teaser #172, making it impossible to solve. It has been fixed, so feel free to try again.
 
Here's your teaser: how many shoes does a horse need?
 
OK, we're kidding. We think they need four, but we have't asked our neighborhood farrier recently because, well, who has a neighborhood farrier?! What do we have? Math teasers.
 
In the addition problem below, each unique letter represents a different single digit. None of the numbers starts with a 0 (because that's just weird). What are the values of H, O, R, S, and E?
 

  SHOE
  SHOE
  SHOE
+ SHOE
 HORSE

 Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #174" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

We usually have math teasers and we have word teasers. They usually don't mix, really for fear of the rioting that would likely ensue. Today, we throw caution on the wind. A word square about math! (OK, it's really just a word square with some math terms, but it's a start.)
 
Remember: a word square is similar to a square crossword puzzle, but the same words appear across and down. Here's an example of a 3x3 word square:
 

CAT
AGO
TOY

 
Below are four clues, not in order. Can you make a 4x4 word square out of it?

We recently found out they can do a little addition and subtraction.
A unit you might get if you do a little multiplication with two distances.
What you might get with too much torus topology.
A design you might get from a little fractal geometry.

 
Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #173" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Love 'em or hate 'em (and really, there's no middle ground), the Patriots are back in the Super Bowl taking on the LA Rams. And what do Patriot fans want? A lot of connections from their ageless wonder at quarterback Tom Brady and their bulldozer tight end Rob "Gronk" Gronkowski.
 
Can the Patriots make the connection? Can you complete the word ladder pass from BRADY to GRONK that satisfies the clues below?
 

BRADY
 
 
 The Rams have it at home, but the Pats don't.
 
 
 Adult
 
 
 
CRONKA hoarse croak or honk
GRONK

 
Remember: a word ladder is a series of words, starting from one word and ending with another, where each subsequent word is a one-letter change from the previous word (without rearranging, adding, or removing letters). And, of course, each step is a common, valid English word. For instance, you can change CAT to DOG like this: CAT => COT => DOT => DOG.
 
Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #172" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Kindness can feel like it's in short supply these days. We're going to top off your kindness tank with a scrambled quote about the power of kindness. After you solve it, go do something kind.
 
This quote about kindness is often attributed to Lao Tzu (though that may not be true). Three phrases from this quote have been scrambled. The phrases of the original quote have the number of words and letters shown below. The phrases were scrambled independently (i.e., the letters from the first phrase aren't scrambled into the second phrase). Can you figure out the original phrases?
 
Remember, no Googling for help! That would not be kind.

Kindness in words refines decent coca. Kindness in thinking produces no fasteners. Kindness in giving covets a reel.
 
Kindness in words (7) (10). Kindness in thinking (7) (12). Kindness in giving (7) (4).

Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #171" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

This Teaser is not so scary, Mary. We know you're still very wary. But it's unnecessary to find sanctuary in a monastery, or even a commissary. Any fear you carry is momentary. All the words are ordinary, known to every secretary, actuary, or emissary, though likely nary a solitary cassowary or hairy dromedary. So unbury your planetary stationery, sit among the statuary in the aviary, and solve this Teaser.
 
This is an ordinary 6-letter English word.

(The original word) Finding everything scary.
(Take off the first letter) It's famously scary, to the literary.
(Take off the first and last letter) Call something extraordinary.
(Take off the last letter) Want more than customary.

What's the original word?
 
Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #170" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

We trust you, Curious Nation. You obviously appreciate learning interesting things and solving challenging puzzles. So we can trust you with our bank PIN, right? Of course, we can.
 
We have a three-digit PIN that does not start with 0. The sum of the PIN and the next two consecutive numbers is square (i.e., the sum of p, p + 1, and p + 2 is a square number). Our PIN is the smallest number for which this is true. What's our PIN?
 
Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #169" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Happy New Year! We wish you all the best in 2019! To make sure you have a great new year, we're bringing you a little square to protect from all the slings and arrows life can throw your way.
 
Remember: a word square is similar to a square crossword puzzle, but the same words appear across and down. Here's an example of a 3x3 word square:
 

CAT
AGO
TOY

 
Below are four clues, not in order. Can you make a 4x4 word square out of it?

This can protect you from rain.
This can protect you from cold.
This is where you can store something you want to protect.
There are charms to protect you from this.

 
Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #168" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Welcome to our Top 18 of 2018 countdown! As the year comes to an end, we're looking back at this year's most loved Curios across all categories. Enjoy the walk down memory lane in your entire Curio Cabinet.
 

Be very wary, Mary. This week's riddle is a little hairy, but you can do it solitary, or to the contrary, do it with a full military. It's customary, though, to do it with nary a dictionary. You don't have to be visionary; the words are all ordinary and are in your vocabulary. But enough! Let's bury the unnecessary commentary. To the riddle!
 
This is a common 7-letter English word.

(The original word) Something you carry
(Remove the 3rd letter) Terribly scary
(Remove the 2nd and 3rd letters) When you should parry
(Remove the 1st and 3rd letters) One is to marry

What's the original word?
 
Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #145" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Welcome to our Top 18 of 2018 countdown! As the year comes to an end, we're looking back at this year's most loved Curios across all categories. Enjoy the walk down memory lane in your entire Curio Cabinet.
 

Hungry? Food is more than just sustenance. Food feeds the soul, delights the eyes, tickles the senses, creates joy, and makes your jeans not fit anymore. This week's word riddle is dedicated to the pursuit of food.
 
This is a common 5-letter English word.

You can eat this if you're hungry.
Remove the first letter, and this is one of four at a table where there is no food.
Remove the second letter, and you can break this if you're hungry, especially in the morning.
Remove the first letter, then move the last letter to the front, and you can take these if you're hungry, especially in the afternoon.

What is the original word?
 
Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #136" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Welcome to our Top 18 of 2018 countdown! As the year comes to an end, we're looking back at this year's most loved Curios across all categories. Enjoy the walk down memory lane in your entire Curio Cabinet.
 

Sometimes, it's the smallest changes that make the largest differences. That's often called the Butterfly Effect, based on the idea that the beat of a butterfly's wings can start a tornado. The sequence below is not that far removed from a sequence you'd probably recognize.
 
What's the next number in this sequence?
 
1, 1, -1, -3, -1, 5, 7, -3, -17, -11, 23, 45, ...
 
Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #122" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Nothing gets the juices flowing (brain juices and blood juices) like a math teaser in winter. If your furnace is out, or you've cranked down the heat to help save the planet, or you think heat is for the weak, warm up your brain with this one.
 
The weather outside is frightful, a frigid n°. As it turns out, if you divide n2 by 5, you get the remainder 4. And, as it also turns out, if you divide n3 by 5, you get the remainder 3. Bored out of your skull because you don't want to go outside, you decide to divide n by 5. What remainder to you get?
 
Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #167" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

With Thanksgiving over, our attention turns to decorating the tree. Bust out the shimmering tinsel, sparking lights, beautiful ornaments, and painfully-hideous-but-some-kid-made-it-and-so-it-has-to-stay ornaments. There may not be a lot of agreement about how to decorate the tree, but when you're all done, get some hot chocolate and enjoy the hideousness while you sit by the fire.
 
Here's a ladder to help top off your decorating. Can you find a word ladder from TREE to FIRE that satisfies the clues below?
 

TREE
 
 A bump on your neck
 
 
 Someone may have done this to your tree
 
 
FIRE

 
Remember: a word ladder is a series of words, starting from one word and ending with another, where each subsequent word is a one-letter change from the previous word (without rearranging, adding, or removing letters). And, of course, each step is a common, valid English word. For instance, you can change CAT to DOG like this: CAT => COT => DOT => DOG.
 
Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #166" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

That distant cousin taking the last of the stuffing at Thanksgiving is irritating. Black Friday sales that put everything on sale except that one thing you patiently waited to buy are irritating. You've had enough irritations this holiday weekend, so don't let this riddle get under your skin.
 
This is a common 6-letter English word.

(The original word) It gets under your skin.
(Take off the first letter) It's well below your skin.
(Take off the first and last letter) When you see something as fast as possible, it's often this.
(Swap the second and third letters) When you do something not quite as fast as possible, you could get this.

What's the original word?
 
Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #165" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Calculators are great (calculator watches are even better), but we too often use them as a crutch. So today, carefully put down the calculator, slowly step away, and dust off your arithmetic skills. We think this week's Teaser is actually easier to solve without a calculator, despite how it might look at first. Your 5th grade teacher would be so proud of you!
 
Simple question: How many 1s are in the smallest multiple of 17 that is made up entirely of 1s?
 
Put another way: there is a whole number x that is made up entirely of 1s. It is the smallest multiple of 17 that is made up entirely of 1s. How many digits does x have?
 
Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #164" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

We don't really think of brain teasers as particularly emotional because well, generally, they aren't. But we hope you feel all the feels from this week's teaser. Ya feel me?
Remember: a word square is similar to a square crossword puzzle, but the same words appear across and down. Here's an example of a 3x3 word square:
 

CAT
AGO
TOY

 
Below are four clues, not in order. Can you make a 4x4 word square out of it?

She sang an emotionally uplifting song.
An often emotionally draining song.
For the highly educated, a time when you are judged.
A way that you just judged others.

 
Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #163" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Election day is hurtling toward us here in the US. Sometimes, it feels futile. You vote, and then you don't always get what you want. But we know what you really, really want: a word riddle. And we aim to please.
 
But vote anyway; you really still should.
 
This is a common 7-letter English word.

(The original word) This is a person.
(Remove the 2nd letter) This is what the person in Clue #1 often does.
(Remove the last and 2nd to last letters) It's made from things you often don't want.
(Remove the 1st and 2nd letters) It's what you get when you don't want what you get first.

What's the original word?
 
Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #162" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!