Verbal Reasoning · Mentor

Every card in Logic and number words

The whole deck, in order — so you can read it through before your child ever sees it.

1 KS2-VRSN-LOG-0001

In a letter-sums question, what do you do before any arithmetic?

Swap every letter for the number it stands for

HintThe values are given at the start — trade the symbols in first.

WhyOnce A = 2 and B = 5 become plain numbers, the sum is ordinary arithmetic. Copy carefully — a mis-copied value wrecks a correct method.

2 KS2-VRSN-LOG-0002

In a letter-sums question, do you follow the order-of-operations rules from maths lessons?

No — work strictly left to right, in the order written

HintSchool habits mislead you here — take the sum exactly as it comes.

WhyIn class, multiplying would come before adding; in these puzzles each step is applied as you meet it. Here 2 + 3 × 4 means 5 × 4 = 20, not 14.

3 KS2-VRSN-LOG-0003

How do you work through a maths-as-words question?

Follow the sentence step by step from the given number

HintTreat it like a recipe — one instruction at a time, in order.

WhyWrite the running total down after every instruction; holding it in your head is where slips happen.

4 KS2-VRSN-LOG-0004

To double a number you multiply it by ____; to treble it you multiply it by ____.

2 and 3

HintTwins for the first word; triplets for the second.

Why"Treble" appears far less often than "double" in everyday talk, which is exactly why papers use it. These little words carry the whole instruction.

5 KS2-VRSN-LOG-0005

What does it mean to halve a number?

Divide it by two

HintShare it into a pair of equal parts and keep one.

WhyHalving 18 gives 9. Watch for chains: "double it, then halve it" lands you back where you began.

6 KS2-VRSN-LOG-0006

In a word problem, what does "the difference between" two numbers mean?

Take the smaller away from the larger

HintIt measures the gap, so the answer is never negative.

WhyThe difference between 4 and 9 is 5. It is a subtraction in disguise — but always the small one from the big one.

7 KS2-VRSN-LOG-0007

In a missing-number question, how do the two outside numbers relate to the bracketed one?

The same relation links them in every worked example

HintTwo finished sets show the trick — find what both have in common, then reuse it.

WhyTry the simple relations first: add the outside pair, find their difference, or multiply them — perhaps then halving or doubling. Whatever fits BOTH examples is the rule to apply to the third.

8 KS2-VRSN-LOG-0008

In an ordering puzzle, what must you build before answering the question?

The full order of everyone involved

HintPlacing just two people is not enough — the statements pin down the whole line-up.

WhyThe right order is the only one that fits every statement at once. If two different orders both fit, re-read — you have missed a clue.

9 KS2-VRSN-LOG-0009

What is the method for a logical-deduction puzzle?

Rule out the impossible until one arrangement is left

HintWork like a detective — cross off whatever the clues forbid.

WhyCheck every possibility against every clue rather than leaping at the first fit. The answer is the arrangement nothing forbids.

10 KS2-VRSN-LOG-0010

What does "the sum of" two numbers ask you to do?

Add them together

HintPlus, in disguise.

WhyThe sum of 7 and 5 is 12. Do not confuse it with the product, which multiplies them instead.

Keep what you learn

Here, nothing is saved. In your child’s own sky every card is scheduled — it comes back just before they’d forget it — and the professor who wrote it is one tap away.