Tampa Student Takes on Braintwister Challenge

Max Hartle, 12, of Tampa was among 150 students from across the country who participated in the Pressman Toy first Mastermind Braintwister Challenge at Toy Fair 2013.

Pressman Toy held a special event Feb. 25 at the 110^th annual American International Toy Fair announcing the winners of the first Mastermind Braintwister Challenge.

At the event, Pressman Toy also unveiled new Mastermind packaging, updated with a modern-day look.

“We introduced our most famous Mastermind packaging 40 years ago,” said Jim Pressman, president, Pressman Toy. “Forty years later, this classic game remains a relevant teaching tool that offers a fun way for students to learn about math, logic, reasoning and deduction. We’ve just refashioned it to speak to a new generation of 21^st-century students.”

Three braintwister category winners were awarded $100 each:

• “Difficulty” – Luke Cepurac, 10, La Mesa, CA, for his entry “Order Up”
• “Skills” – Erica Blakely, 12, Tinley Park, IL, for her entry “Who, What, Where”
• “Creativity” – Max Hartle, 12, Tampa, for his entry “Air Attack”

“It’s clear that a tremendous amount of hard work and creativity went into all of the Mastermind Braintwister Challenge entries, and every student who submitted should be commended," said Pressman.

From Oct. 1, 2012 to Jan. 7 kids ages 7 through 12 nationwide were invited to enter their own braintwisters in categories such as puzzles, word problems, riddles and games with solutions. More than 150 submissions were received.

Mastermind is a two-player game that puts the Codemaker against the Codebreaker. The Codemaker secretly places any four Code Pegs in the shielded code area. The Codebreaker puts down a line of color pegs and tries to uncover the secret code. The game is appropriate for those ages 8 and up.