The Potato Chip Puzzles: The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin

control. “Now, if you’ll excuse me,” he said, “I have a puzzle to solve . . . and a contest to win.” He gave Mr. Garvey a challenging stare, as if Mr. Garvey might suggest that they couldn’t possibly win now. When Mr. Garvey said nothing, Mr. Regal turned his back and stormed away.
    Mal said in a low voice, “All these teachers are crazy.”
    “Maybe they think the losers are going to be shipped to a desert island somewhere,” Winston said.
    Mr. Garvey watched the angry Mr. Regal for a moment and then slid into the driver’s seat. Winston saw he was suppressing a smile. “What a nice guy,” Mr. Garvey said as he started his car. “I wish him well.”
    He pulled out of the parking space. Winston took one last look at Sutherland Farms. He saw the girls from Greater Oaks—Bethany, Giselle, and Elvie—walking through the parking lot with their red-headed teacher. They must have finished the maze a few minutes ago. Winston ducked instinctively, but the girls weren’t looking in his direction.
    Mr. Garvey stopped at the edge of the parking lot. “Where am I going?” he said.
    “Huh?” said Jake. “Oh.” He began fiddling with the computer. “The next puzzle is at . . . oh, cool! Adventureland!”
    “Adventureland! Awesome!” Winston and Mal grinned at each other. Adventureland was a seriously fun amusement park a couple of towns over. Winston and his family drifted over there a couple of times a year on humid summer nights.
    Mr. Garvey grunted. “The first day of summer vacation that place is going to be jam-packed.”
    “Do we get in free there, too?” Winston asked.
    “Yep. Just show them the computer.”
    “All summer long?” Mal asked.
    Jake and Winston laughed. “Probably just today,” Winston said. Mal snapped his fingers in mock disappointment.
    “Okay,” said Mr. Garvey. “I know where that is. Let’s get going.” He pulled out of the parking lot, and a few minutes later they were on a highway.
    Winston gazed out the window and found himself thinking about the smile that Mr. Garvey had not entirely suppressed after speaking to the Brookville teacher. It was clear that Mr. Garvey considered the Brookville Brains’ flat tire to be good news. The Brains had gotten pretty far ahead while Winston’s team dealt with their own setbacks. Now they had caught up, and then some. By hurting the Brookville Brains, the cheater had inadvertently helped Winston.
    He knew he shouldn’t feel happy that Brookville had had such trouble, but a part of him couldn’t help it. He remembered the stab of frustration he felt when he saw the Brains running out of the planetarium. He had wondered how his team would ever catch up. Well, now they had. He wondered where Brendan Root was and if his team had also had a run-in with the cheater. He hoped not . . . mostly. But he had to admit it wouldn’t be entirely bad if Brendan’s team was held in place for a little while.
    If Winston and his team won now, would it be fair? It wasn’t like they had cheated. Quite the opposite; they had been thrown out of the race not once but twice. If they managed to cross the finish line despite everything that had happened to them, they would darn well have earned the grand prize.
    Of course, they were a long way from winning. He wouldn’t count that prize money just yet.
    Winston gazed out the window and soon fell into a game he played on long trips, as he watched the license plates on passing cars.
    Look at the letters on the license plates you see and try to think of a word that includes those letters. The word must begin with the first letter and end with the last letter; the second letter can be anywhere in between. For instance, if you see the letters MHP, you might think of the word MISHAP or perhaps MICROCHIP.
     
    Winston was able to think of two words for each three-letter set below. How many can you come up with? If you can get at least one answer for each set of letters, you’re a word genius.
    (Answers,