Official Mensa® Challenge – March 2026

Think you’ve got a sharp mind? Our March Mensa puzzle delivers five challenging brain teasers designed to test your logic, math skills and wordplay abilities. From number riddles to tricky anagrams, see how many you can solve before scrolling down for the answers.

March Brain Teaser Questions

1. Find a six-digit number in which the third digit is the sum of the first and second digits, the sixth digit is the sum of the fourth and fifth, the first digit is one less than the second and the two less than the last, and the sum of the first and fourth digits is the fifth. The sum of all the digits is 24.

2. The 18 letters below can be anagrammed into a five-word phrase meaning “try it out.” What is phrase?

     A E E F G H I L L N O P P R T T U U

3. In a footrace, Josh was not last. Wally was neither first nor last. Josh beat Mark. Ted beat Wally and Chuck. Wally beat Chuck. Mark beat Ted. Who was last?

4. Michael went to the supermarket to buy food for a big barbecue. At the meat counter, he spent half of what he had. In the bakery section, he spent half of what was left plus $10. Then he spent half of what was left plus $5 for paper napkins. He had $5 left, so he treated himself to a couple of doughnuts and coffee. How much money did Michael start out with?

5. Which of the words below is least like the others? (It has nothing to do with vowels, consonants or syllables.)  

     COSMIC    CELLAR    ALLERGY    TEAM    EXCESS

March Mensa Puzzle Answers

1. 347,145 

2. RUN IT UP THE FLAGPOLE 

3. Chuck (Josh, Mark, Ted, Wally, Chuck) 

4. $120 (1/2 of $120 = $60, leaving $60; 1/2 of $60 = $30; $30 + $10 = $40, leaving $20; 1/2 of $20 = $10; $10 +$5 = $15, leaving $5) 

5. EXCESS (The four other words can be anagrammed: COMICS; CALLER or RECALL; REGALLY or LARGELY AND GALLERY; MEAT and TAME.)

Just for LocalLife readers: Take the Mensa Practice Test for just $5! Visit americanmensa.org/mht and use offer code: Local21. Quiz © 2018 Dr. Abbie F. Salny. Mensa provides official tests and answers to LOCAL Life as part of an exclusive license agreement.