HOW much does a bottle of wine weigh if it is 1kg plus half its own weight? If you can answer questions such as this in less than two minutes, you score five points.

You can “determine how big your brain is, and how well you use it”, this book promises, “by completing a sequence of puzzles using a timer. The puzzles will tend to get harder and harder as you progress further.”

As an enthusiastic player of logic puzzles and sudoku, I was delighted to discover this book of brain-training exercises.

The answer to the weight question is 2kg, the reasons for which I see but only through an old cloudy mirror darkly and in a room full of fog. My brain is obviously on the petite side.

But here's an easy one — remember, for maximum points you should solve it in under two minutes: A bottle costs $1 more than a cork.

Together they cost 110c. How much does the bottle cost and how much does the cork cost?

The tests consist of drawings, diagrams, grids, rows of sums, columns of figures or complex scenarios — all of which are impossible to reproduce in a review — and short brain-teasers such as the one mentioned, the answer to which is the bottle costs $1,05 and the cork 5c. Hands up all those who pegged the bottle at $1 and the cork at 10c?

The puzzles are divided into regular and tough.

Double points are awarded for solving the tough puzzles but since the object of a newspaper is to stroke rather than destroy the reader's ego, I'm not going to ask you any of those.

Another simple one — especially if you know the answer: in less than two minutes, determine what letter is next in this sequence: O, T, T, F, F, S, S, E, N, T, E, T, T, F, F,?

And while we're about it, what's special about July 6 1989 — specifically at 15 minutes before midnight?

But be warned: this book is no feel-good sop to the educated, although the experienced puzzler will have the initial advantage and good arithmetical skills are an enormous plus.

If you fall into neither of the above categories, press on and don't give up, even if you come unstuck on the second puzzle — as I did.

For every question that has you gazing in slack-jawed confusion, there's a really easy one — such as: “Two fathers and two sons went out hunting for rabbits. They bagged three in total, but they each took one home for supper. How is this possible?"

The answer to the sequence O, T, T… etc is S for 16, as in One, Two, Three … Sixteen, and you have no doubt worked out what's special about 23h45, 6/7/89.

A great book, great fun, not so great for drink-damaged brains or overinflated egos, and forget about the scoring — that's just too complex for pint-sized brains. This is the ideal companion for long journeys or long waits. ( )