Nothing gets your brain’s gears turning like a person or thing that goes missing — from the upper half of George Washington’s false teeth to Flight 19 to the hijacker D.B. Cooper, who jumped from a plane carrying $200,000 in cash and vanished into the night.

Are you fascinated with missing things? If so, here’s a list of 10 things that vanished without a trace and have inspired armchair detectives to think up theories and dig for clues for years.

But if you want a missing thing that’s less difficult to locate, try our “What’s Your Number?” brain teaser. In this puzzle, you’ll see two grids containing six numbers each and a third grid with only five numbers. That final number in the last grid? It’s gone missing.

Fortunately for you, the first two grids contain enough clues to help you find the missing number and complete the final grid. There’s a logical relationship between the numbers that will point you in the right direction — if you can figure it out.

Brain teasers like this one require you to use logic, math skills and spatial reasoning to come up with an answer. This is not only intriguing and fun, but it’s good for your brain and can even boost creativity and happiness.

Think about this: when you solve a brain teaser, mystery or puzzle, you have what’s commonly known as an “Aha!” moment. In recent years, scientists have studied the brain activity of people doing puzzles, specifically to see what happens during one of these triumphant moments.

Scientists found that experiencing a “eureka!” (from the Greek for “I have found it!”) moment:

  • Activates structures deep in the brain
  • Fosters communication between different parts of the brain
  • Releases dopamine, a “feel good” chemical
  • Sparks alertness, exhilaration and joy
  • Promotes long-term memory and storage in the brain

So, go ahead and give the “What’s Your Number?” brain teaser a go to see if you can experience an “Aha!” moment of your own along with all of its benefits. Drop a comment below and let us know what you experienced when you solved the mystery of the missing number.

mystery number game

Were you able to solve it? Click here to double check your answer.