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Tips and strategies

Sharper tricks, short reads.

Practical techniques for numbers, words, memory and puzzles, in a few minutes each.

All 6 guides

Featured guideNumbers5 min read

Mental math tricks that make sums easier

Five ways to do arithmetic in your head: rounding and adjusting, splitting numbers, doubling and halving, working left to right, and checking with estimates.Read the guide

Memory4 min read
Remember more of what you read: try recalling it
Retrieval practice means trying to bring an idea back from memory instead of rereading it. Here is what one well-known study found, and how to use the idea.Read the guide
Habits4 min read
How to make a daily brain-game habit stick
Practical ways to turn a few minutes of brain games into a daily habit: pick a small goal, attach it to something you already do, and don’t worry about a missed day.Read the guide
Reasoning4 min read
Dot Path strategy: how to solve one-line puzzles
Tips for Dot Path and other one-line puzzles, where you draw a path that visits every dot exactly once: find the forced moves, start from the ends, and avoid cutting off a region.Read the guide
Language4 min read
Word Code strategy: crack the hidden word in fewer guesses
How to play Word Code and similar word-guessing games well: choose an opener with common letters, use every clue, and think about where letters usually sit.Read the guide
Focus3 min read
The Stroop effect: why ink colors trip you up
The Stroop effect is the slowdown you feel when naming the ink color of a word that spells a different color. Here’s what it is and how Color Clash uses it.Read the guide
GlossaryWords worth knowing20 plain definitions, from working memory to the Wits card.Open the glossary