Good news — another Challenger has a podcast. If you ever wonder what goes in Faysal’s head when he watches The Challenge, the Fessin Up Podcast is for you.
While recapping episode 6 of All Stars 4 (where Brad loses focus during Take a Seat), Faysal started talking about competitors who are “good at puzzles.” In his opinion, they don’t exist. He believes that people default to saying they’re good at puzzles because they suck at everything else.
Faysal claims he’s won some puzzles in the past. Perhaps he’s referring to his Hall Brawl win on USA 2 when he didn’t even look at the puzzle. He just ran back and forth, spewing out random answers until he was correct.
In Faysal’s defense, this clearly was a viable strategy. He also acknowledge the square puzzle was designed to trick you, so he adapted to the game.
Returning to the initial statement, there actually may be some merit to Faysal’s claim. Often, people who are great at puzzles aren’t credited as being puzzle beasts. They’re noted for their physical strength or speed above anything else. CT is a prime example, as he can solve most puzzles quickly, but Challenge fans are more likely to remember him for his strength. Paulie also has a strong history with puzzles, but people often overlook that.
Meanwhile, there are some people who are “good at puzzles” that have notable losses. One example is Devin, who generally does well with strategy but may have a hard time with brain teasers. This can be seen during Blind Faith on Ride or Dies when he loses time for his team.
I think it’s fair to say that people won’t get credit for being a puzzle wiz if this is one of their skills, but they’ll be considered “good at puzzles” if it’s their only skill.
However, there definitely are people who are good at puzzles. Despite having a couple counter examples, Devin seems to have a strong track record. Ashley Mitchell and Sarah Rice are other examples, but their records aren’t immaculate. Similarly, there are people who are utterly destroyed when a puzzle appears. Cara Maria once fell into this category, though she has improved, and I’d wager to say Hunter is one of the absolute worst when it comes to critical thinking.
As for Faysal, he may have some victories, but I think it’d be fair to say he’s bad at puzzles.
Stop Being Polite 