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Mensa Mind Bender

Fiona Rhody-Nicoll
Wednesday 22 October, 2008

We spoke with our very own Mensa question setter Clare McGlashan (pictured right) to find out how she went about setting the Mensa Mind Bender puzzle that stumped all but 3 teams managed to crack on Romp day.

"I was one of the question setters for several Romp checkpoints and I enjoyed the experience immensely.  Having lived in Melbourne for most of my life I was disappointed in myself for not having previously discovered some of our city’s hidden (as well as some more obvious) treasures.   Now delighted by all of the new-found knowledge and appreciation I garnered through setting questions at various checkpoints, I eagerly volunteered to set the Mensa Mind Bender.  The brief suggested that around just 1% of teams might be able to submit the correct answer.  But more than just a quantum physics question, I wanted to write something that tied in with the essence of the Romp… an appreciation of Melbourne and all it has to offer us!  Picking just one Melbourne icon was also tough, but there’s always next year (and the year after…)!" said Clare.

So what’s the answer? Her Majesty’s Theatre.

And how exactly does that fit in with what was on p32 of Sunday’s Sunday Herald Sun?

"Well, the first character of the first sentence, second character of the second sentence, third character of the third sentence and so on (not including spaces) actually spells out Her Majesty’s Theatre. (with a full stop at the end and included the apostrophe too).  It’s funny how once you know an answer, it seems so obvious!

"There were also couple of leading clues to help resolve the riddle…  “Below, above and here” suggested that all 20 lines of the poem would lead you towards the answer.  “Step you through the coded clue” indicated that the answer was in a step pattern.  The final line was a little bit cryptic – “sounds like” and “write down” which if you say the latter aloud could sound like “Right Down” which is the direction the “steps” of the characters took to arrive at the answer.

"Even if you didn’t arrive at the correct answer yesterday, I hope you enjoyed the brain workout and a marvellous day romping around our beautiful city. 

"Lastly, I want to send my personal thanks to the Burnet Institute for organising what I found to be a brilliant event - what an enjoyable way to raise dollars for an important cause!  Well done!"

Event Director's Note: Thanks Clare for your efforts in putting together the Mensa Mind Bender puzzle, we asked for a puzzle to be developed that only about 3 teams would be able to solve and you certainly delivered!