How sharp are your logic and reasoning? Find out with this special issue of Today in Science ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
August 30, 2026—Let's see how sharp your logic and reasoning skills are! This is a special Sunday edition of Today in Science. Challenge your brain with this month's most popular games and puzzles. We'll be back tomorrow with our normal newsletter.
—Andrea Gawrylewski
Chief Newsletter Editor
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 Spellements: Build as many words as possible using the middle letter. Can you find any words that incorporate all the letters? Hint: one is featured in a recent Scientific American article.
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In Tetris, players try to efficiently pack a rectangular space with pieces that can have seven different shapes. As it happens, if you have exactly one of each of those seven possible pieces, then it is impossible to arrange them into a rectangle. But there is one piece you can discard that will allow you to make such an arrangement. Which piece must be discarded? Find any rectangular arrangement of the remaining six pieces.
Just as in Tetris, you may rotate pieces but not reflect them. In other words, if the pieces were cutouts on a table, then you could slide them and spin them but never lift them off the table. Tip: you can determine the problematic piece in a principled way; it does not require trial and error.
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 Killer Sudoku: Fill each row, column and sub-grid with exactly one of each number from 1-9. In Killer Sudoku, the digits in each inner shape (marked by dots) must add up to the number in the top corner of that box. No digit can be repeated within an inner shape, row, column or sub-grid. Play (and reveal the solution) here.
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 KenKen 4x4: Fill each row and column with exactly one of each possible number—in this case, numbers 1 through 4. You are not allowed to repeat any number in the same row or column. Each inner shape (marked by the boundaries) has an associated number and an operation. The result of applying the operation to the digits within that shape must equal the associated number. Play (and reveal the solution) here.
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 KenKen 6x6: Same rules as the previous one, but this time fill each row and column with exactly one of each numbers 1 through 6, while adhereing to the internal calculations. Play (and reveal the solution) here.
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Unscramble our most popular jigsaw puzzle this month. This image of our April 1949 cover image shows a mechanical counting device, one of the revolutionary innovations designed to automate functions of the human brain.
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How closely did you read Scientific American this month? Test your science chops with this month's most popular news quiz.
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I hope you enjoyed this special weekend edition of Today in Science.
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Reach the newsletter team with your questions, comments and other thoughts by emailing: newsletters@sciam.com. See you tomorrow!
—Andrea Gawrylewski,
Chief Newsletter Editor
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