MENSA Blunders

This is why I think MENSA are not as smart as they make out:-

1. Which word is the odd one out?
COMIC HEATH LABEL PLATE TREAT

Answer: PLATE as it does not begin and end with the same letter.
Fault: COMIC is a viable answer,as it is the only one without E & A.

2. Form four larger words from
HAND TIME FULL MEAL FEED BACK SCALE OAT

Answer: HANDFEED,TIMESCALE,FULLBACK OATMEAL.
Fault: There are the alternative answers FEEDBACK & HANDFULL.

3. Which is the odd number out?
67,32,94,58

Answer: 32 All others digits add to 13.
Fault: (1) 67 is an alternative because it is odd,all the others are even.
(2) 67 is prime,all the others have factors.

(3) 67 is an even digit followed by an odd one,the others odd followed by even.
4. If it is 59 miles to PENZANCE,46 to TORBAY,19 to LOOE and 49 to TORQUAY, how many miles is it to NEWQUAY?
Answer: 49,vowels count 3,consonants 10.
Fault: Assume only vowels involved.
PENZANCE 2E+A = 59 (1)
TORBAY O+A = 46 (2)
LOOE 2O+E = 19 (3)
TORQUAY O+U+A = 49 (4)

Using expression (1) for A in terms of E:
A = 59 - 2E
Substitute in (2): O+(59 - 2E) = 46
From (3) : E = 19 - 2O
Substitute A in (2): O+(59 - 2E) = 46
Substitute E in (2): O+59-2(19 - 2O) = 46
O+59-38+4O = 46
(O+4O)+(59-38) = 46
5O = 46 -59 +38
O = 5

From (2): A = 46 - O
A = 46 - 5 (Since O = 5)
A = 41

From (3): E = 19 - 2O
E = 19 - 10 (Since O = 5)
E = 9

Substitute in 4: O+U+A = 49
5+U+41 = 49
U = 49-41-5
U = 3
So U=3,O=5,A=41,E=9

Substitute in NEWQUAY E+U+A = 9+3+41= 53 miles ie a different answer that still works for other locations.

5. 1 tap fills a bath in 14 min,the other tap fills it in 17 min.
The bath empties from full in 12 min.How long will it take to fill the bath with both taps on and the plug out?

Answer: 2 taps at 1min would fill in 1/1 + 1/1 = 2/1 = 1/2 min
2 taps at 2min would fill in 1/2 + 1/2 = 1/1 = 1 min
ie Reciprocal of each and reciprocal of answer.
So 1/14 +1/17 -1/12 = (204+168-238)/2856 = 134/2856 =0.0469188
Reciprocal = 21.313433 min or 21 mins 18.80598 seconds

Fault: Once algorithm is known and understood,problem becomes trivial.

6. If BRIGHTON is 93 miles away,SCARBOROUGH is 127 miles away and BLACKPOOL is 87 miles away,how far away is RHYL?
Answer: 63,A=1,B=2,C=3 etc.
Fault: Assume only vowels involved

BLACKPOOL = O+O+A = 2O+A = 87 (1)
BRIGHTON = I+O = I+O = 93 (2)
SCARBOROUGH= O+O+A+U= 2O+A+U= 127 (3)

Assume O=40 then in (1): A = 87-2O
A = 87-80
A = 7

From (2): I = 93-O
I = 93-40
I = 53

From (3): U = 127-2O-A
U = 127-80-7
U = 40

So U=40,A=7,O=40,I=53,these numbers give the correct mileage to the other locations when added,and the alternative answer for RHYL of 0 miles.
7. Which is the odd number out?
93,12,55,24,68

Answer: 12,since its digits add to an odd number (1+2=3),all the rest are even (9+3=12),(5+5=10),(2+4=6),(6+8=14). Fault: If the digital sum is maintained to single digits 24 produces the only even number,all the others are odd.
ie 12 1+2 = 3 = 3 (odd)
93 9+3 = 12 1+2 = 3 (odd)
55 5+5 = 10 1+0 = 1 (odd)
24 2+4 = 6 = 6 (even)
68 6+8 = 14 1+4 = 5 (odd)

Which gives 24 as the odd one out for being even amongst odds! So there is an alternative answer.

From "The Material World" : "...there are actually different scales for IQ - I mean the version that MENSA uses,statistically uses a standard deviation 24,and the ones that most psychologists use,has a standard deviation of about 15,that means that an IQ of 145 in our view,is reported by members of MENSA as what..172. ".

Answer is at bottom of page in WHITE lettering Answer is at bottom of page in WHITE lettering

Answer to puzzle 1: THOUGHT
Answer to puzzle 2 : CHOIR,FEAST,COAL


T,COAL

This was an interesting one that appeared on Facebook. It prompted an argument over whether the correct answer was 40 or 96.

Ostensibly,those giving 40 as the answer had followed the pattern 1+4=5,2+5=7,adding the previous 5 to get 12,3+6=9 adding the previous 12 to get 21,thence 8+11=19,adding the previous 21 to get 40.
But,others had done 1 * (4+1) =5 , 2 * (5+1) =12 ,3 *(6+1) =21 and thence 8 * (11+1) to get 96.

The problem is if you assume the first pattern,then this does not account for the missing lines 4+7,5+8,6+9,7+10 - if those are inserted then the first pattern does not work.

Fibonacci Forgeries


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