MENSA visual puzzles : over 300 optical challenges to test your powers of reasoning 9780760708477, 0760708479

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PRESENTS

MIGHTY VISUAL PUZZLES Over 300 puzzles to your powers of reasoning n

test

Digitized by the Internet Archive in

2012

http://archive.org/details/isbn_9780760708477

MENSA VISUAL PUZZLES

This edition published by Barnes

& Noble Inc.,

by arrangement with Carlton Books Limited. Barnes

& Noble Books

Text copyright

©

British

Mensa Limited 1997

Design and artwork copyright

©

Carlton Books Limited 1997

ISBN 0-7607-0847-9

Printed and

bound

in Great Britain

Puzzle Checker: David Ballheimer Puzzle Design: Pauline Hoyle

MENSA VISUAL PUZZLES Over 200 test

optical challenges to

your powers of reasoning

John Bremner

Barnes ILNoble

BOOKS NEW YORK

1

Contents Mensa worldwide

7

Introduction

9

Visual puzzles

1

Visual puzzles answers

102

Your puzzle notes

117

More

visual puzzles

119

More

visual puzzle answers

210

MENSA WORLDWIDE Mensa

is

a worldwide organization that originated

in

barrister

and a psychologist, met by chance on a

train

England

in

1946. Two men, a

and struck up a conversation

The first name they chose was Mens (the Latin for "mind"), but even in those days this had unwelcome echoes of a certain type of magazine! So they abandoned it in favour of Mensa, the Latin for "table", a reminder that theirs was a round-table society in which all were equal. At first Mensa had its headquarters in Oxford and consisted of a tiny group of enthusiasts. Later, however, it spread around the world and is now found in well over 100 countries and has an international membership of about 110,000. The US has played a large part in Mensa and now has a very active membership of some 50,000; the UK has around about the need for a society for highly

intelligent people.

40,000.

What does Mensa do? It is, quite simply, a very good social club. Intelligent people need each other's company to exchange ideas and discuss issues that, to many people, would appear rather obscure. Mensa provides a forum for such discussion and, because of its international character and the growth of email and the internet, it allows its members to contact fellow Mensans around the world. Mensa even has its own version of the United Nations (Mensa International) and its own travel organization (SIGHT).

How do you in

The only

join?

qualification

a recognized intelligence test.

pretty

good

at solving

If

you

is

that you score

like

the puzzles

in

in

the top

this

2%

of the population

book and

them, then there's every chance that you could

think you're

join

Mensa. Why

not try?

You can contact Mensa

American Mensa Inc., 201 Main Street, Suite 1101, Fort Worth, Texas 76102 USA. American Mensa also have an email address: in

America

at

[email protected] and

if

you would

like

to join via the internet, the

web

site is

http://www.mwm.org/membform.htm/ You can contact

British

Mensa

Square, Wolverhampton,

If

you don't

15 The

live in

in

WV2 4AH

USA

Mensa

England

(tel

Limited,

Mensa House,

St John's

01902 772771).

or Britain, you can contact

628 Northampton touch with your own

Ivories,

to put you

the

at: British

Mensa

International,

London Nl 2NY, England, who national Mensa. Street,

will

be happy

INTRODUCTION Visual puzzles have always

They do not

rely

your native wit rely heavily

had a special significance for puzzle addicts everywhere.

on learned

in

most

the

on what they

as do verbal and numerical conundrums, but test

skills,

direct

call

way

possible.

It

is

"non-verbal reasoning"

not coincidence that psychologists

when

it

comes

to assessing

They have discovered that people who may be at a disadvantage when rely on school learning, can shine forth when allowed the freedom provided

intelligence.

forced to

by visual puzzles.

The way we tackle such puzzles is also interesting. They lend themselves particularly to sudden flashes of insight so that you find you "know" the answer even before you have worked out logically why it must be so. This is a valuable ability and one that can be

encouraged by practice. Of course, as the logic involved in the puzzles gets tougher you will find that you still have to do quite a bit of thinking but, even so, get in the habit of having a hunch about these puzzles first - you'll be surprised how often you will be right.

These puzzles are the work of one of Mensa's highly inventive members, John Bremner. Preparing this book entailed not only stretching his extraordinary powers of creativity to the limits, but also involved hours of painstaking checking on the part of our regular puzzler, David Ballheimer, and of course the invaluable contribution of our illustrators and designers.

Why

not join us at

Mensa

is

Mensa?

a unique social club. There

is

only one criterion for entering

Mensa and

that

is

two per cent. We have well over 100,000 members in countries throughout the world. The members meet for social and intellectual stimulation and soon find themselves part of a true "intelligence network" which spans the globe. What is more, with the internet, they find contact with other Mensans throughout the world has never been easier. Details on how to join

the ability to pass an intelligence test within the top

Mensa are on page 7

f.e$ 4»v

A

this series?




B see answer 25

Which pattern below can be used to make the box

A

in

the middle?

A

A y?

B • • •

m #

J C

:•

•

V

fc>

•

•• see answer 4

41

V

D

Which

of the following

is

the odd one out?

see answer 15

Mark the 12 differences

in

picture B.

.

see answer 36

42

Wh.it

comes

next

in

this series?

)GOO \oo/

\oJ

B see answer 57

Draw three

straight lines that divide this puzzle into four sections with, respectively, 4, 5, 6

snakes, drums and clouds

in

each section. The

lines

S£N^J

^v^J s^g^J

and 7

do not have to go from one edge to another.

seJ^J

-€^^

^^

W^^ S£j?KJ

^e^=J

S^J^J

W^3>

^4£&

-^S^J

^^^J^c-r

see answer 101

43

Each

like

animal has the

same

value and the bear, horse, fish and bird

values. Which of A, B, C, D, E or F

is

all

have different

the total value of the single column above the

question mark, and what are the lowest possible values of the animals?

see answer 123

44

As park ranger on

this safari

the risk of getting killed or of your

body

if

you have to collect as many rattlesnakes as possible without

maimed by them

or other creatures.

The wildcats

will

eat a part

you step onto a sector which they have scent marked and the bears

will

hug

you to death. The bears and wildcats have marked one segment next to the one they stand on, but you have no

way

of

knowing which one. You may not go back over your tracks.

Start on the shaded sector and finish on the snake facing the other way.

Finish

see answer 145

45

Which

of the following

is

the odd one out?

c

W

W A$ Af see answer 166

Which one

of these strings leads

you to the diamond:

see answer 172

46

Which

tile is

missing from the following panel?

ft >x
%

/

/

ft

/

z

X

s Q ft

ft

9 $< p

?

/

z

/

f %
:

• r

A

I

V

1

V

L

A

>:

r i

V Li

:•:

o

:•:

V

V L

I

w

V

A

L

r k.

A

V Li

w

1

•A

9

>:

>: :•:

A

S

see answer 47

What comes next

%

in

D

c

B

this series?

^^^f

^^

*i # *i

^%

%

#

A

# *W± •># 1 I* D

>

^#

*V m* *W ^*

in Mil /

?\

.-A- .J^^

^ B

~^^ E

see answer 26

49

C

i »#ii F

Which

of the following

is

the

odd one out?

B

see answer 37

^^H

Which

A

of the following

is

the

odd one out?

B see answer 79

50

Which set should the replace the question mark to complete the pattern?

% A
A VA V < T < < TV < > V4T< T T < T< V TV T T >A < < T >A< < V >V T T < T > < V > T< T t> < T t> < M A A. A < T vl < A [> A T < >T < > < > V >V < T >< V 1

> k
P A

*0^—0' F

B-oo

®U=-00

M

Si

22

28

26

22 2

1

5

7

1

24

eJfe csae

B

CT

W

Lrr

OO

G

C THB

H

D

E

WW I

J

see answer 129

98

Find the 18 differences

in

picture B.

169

B

see answer 151

Which

of the following

is

the odd one out?

170

H see answer 161

99

Complete the analogy.

..i.. j.. j.. j.. j.. j.. j.. j..

j

..J-.4..4..J..J..J-.J..4..J . .

is

to

J..

A. . J.

.J^^.l-.J.

..J-.J-.i.. J-. J.

J.

J

J.. J-

.

J.

.

-J. .J

J. .

X.J

->.

::::;:;::

. . J- .

.

. J. . J.

. J

..J..J..J...J..J...J..X.X..J I

as

I

I

I

I

I

I

(

I

^^^

c?

c?

c?

c?

ist0

& &

& £& £ D

B

see answer 118

100

Which path

will

the

bomb

take

when released from

this

moving fighter-bomber on a calm day?

_

B

M

i

i

D

i

see answer 96

Which

of the following

is

the odd one out?

174

see answer 74

Which of the following

is

the odd one out?

175

B see answer 175

101

—

¥

Answers

8

I

— LP Wm+\ 5 + — •:

--

£ [f

•

11

-A

..

:|_| Y

7 \