[OT} Puzzle thats driving us nuts

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote

I used to do really well at IQ tests. No idea how I'd do anymore; it
seems
like over the years I have developed such a sensitivity to nuance that
it's
actually a handicap. I second-guess the assumptions in the questions.
Also,
if I don't immediately see the answer, I sometimes freeze up and can't get
my
brain to start exploring.

The original question that started this thread was from a Mensa Puzzle
calendar:

A toy shop prices toys on the whim of the owner:
A doll is $12, a kite $15, a skateboard $34, and a ring toss $24. How
much
is a blackboard?

CK ) found a solution at
http://www.able2know.com/forums/about41755.html :


It could be based on the vowels in the words.
dOll = $12 implies O = $12
rIng tOss = $24 implies I = $12
kItE = $15 implies E = $3
blAckbOArd = skAtEbOArd - E = $34 - $3 = $31

However, the answer in the calendar itself is:

Vowels = 5
Consonants = 2
Syllables = 1

Now it just so happens that using both systems comes up with the same answer
for those particular sets of words. However, I'm sure that if you happened
to pick "Jack in the box", using the first system it is equal to $36.50, but
using the second it is $40.

Another example, which is visual (so bear with me): which is the odd one
out?
A square, a trapazoid, a parallelogram or a triangle?

answer 1: triangle, all others have 4 sides
answer 2: square, all others have at least one sloping side
answer 3: trapezoid, all others have equal length sides

All are perfectly correct in their reasoning, but in a multiple choice test,
you'd only get a correct answer for one of those responses, which one
happens ot be correct depends on the bias of the test designer :-).

Yowie

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
On 2005-01-12, Yoj penned:

LOL! What is IRC?


IRC is an old, old way to chat online. You connect to a server, and then
choose to join some number of "channels" on the server. I've read
articles
describing it as the deep, dark, scary place on the net where all the bad
things happen, but of course that's silliness. It's no more deep and dark
than anything else online, but it does tend to be populated by people who
are
more computer-savvy than most.

My gaming guild has its own IRC channel, which is how I became familiar
with
IRC. Many open source software development projects have their own
channels,
too.

bash.org is a site where you can submit funny IRC logs. If you don't mind
reading some extremely vulgar stuff, you can browse around and get a fair
taste for the IRC community. It's not much like this newsgroup, I'll tell
you
that much.


--
monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

I think I'll pass. ;-) I can't keep up with the newsgroups I subscribe to
now.

Joy

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote

I used to do really well at IQ tests. No idea how I'd do anymore; it
seems
like over the years I have developed such a sensitivity to nuance that
it's
actually a handicap. I second-guess the assumptions in the questions.
Also,
if I don't immediately see the answer, I sometimes freeze up and can't
get
my
brain to start exploring.

The original question that started this thread was from a Mensa Puzzle
calendar:

A toy shop prices toys on the whim of the owner:
A doll is $12, a kite $15, a skateboard $34, and a ring toss $24. How
much
is a blackboard?

CK ) found a solution at
http://www.able2know.com/forums/about41755.html :


It could be based on the vowels in the words.
dOll = $12 implies O = $12
rIng tOss = $24 implies I = $12
kItE = $15 implies E = $3
blAckbOArd = skAtEbOArd - E = $34 - $3 = $31

However, the answer in the calendar itself is:

Vowels = 5
Consonants = 2
Syllables = 1

Now it just so happens that using both systems comes up with the same
answer
for those particular sets of words. However, I'm sure that if you happened
to pick "Jack in the box", using the first system it is equal to $36.50,
but
using the second it is $40.

Another example, which is visual (so bear with me): which is the odd one
out?
A square, a trapazoid, a parallelogram or a triangle?

answer 1: triangle, all others have 4 sides
answer 2: square, all others have at least one sloping side
answer 3: trapezoid, all others have equal length sides

All are perfectly correct in their reasoning, but in a multiple choice
test,
you'd only get a correct answer for one of those responses, which one
happens ot be correct depends on the bias of the test designer :-).

Yowie

I hadn't thought of it that way, but of course you're right.

Joy

On 2005-01-12, Yoj penned:

I think I'll pass. ;-) I can't keep up with the newsgroups I subscribe to
now.

A wise decision.

--
monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
On 2005-01-12, Yoj penned:

I think I'll pass. ;-) I can't keep up with the newsgroups I subscribe
to
now.

A wise decision.

Hey, even Catslaves had its own IRC channel, but for the life ofme I can't
remember what it was, or even if it still operates. It seems that chatting
with fellow catslaves has lost its initial popularity - because in its
heyday we could get a good 15 - 20 catslaves in a Yahoo IM room (with all
the crashing and mothership probes included) and talk about some *really*
bizarre stuff.

These days it seems that barely anyone used YahooIM any more. I'm still on
occasionally, but don't have much time for the marathon chats of old. The
Yowlet demands attention (how rude!) too often for me to have a good solid
IM chat with anyone these days - and even old fahsioned telephone
conversations have to be carefully timed. Ah, the joys of parenthood.

Yowie

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Another example, which is visual (so bear with me): which is the odd one
out?
A square, a trapazoid, a parallelogram or a triangle?

answer 1: triangle, all others have 4 sides
answer 2: square, all others have at least one sloping side
answer 3: trapezoid, all others have equal length sides

All are perfectly correct in their reasoning, but in a multiple choice
test,
you'd only get a correct answer for one of those responses, which one
happens ot be correct depends on the bias of the test designer :-).


According to my husband, #1 is the odd one out because it is the only one
that is correct strictly as written. #2 and #3 would require specific
visual examples to go with the problem. By definition a square, trapezoid
and parallelogram all have 4 sides.

So help me understand how all 3 answers could be correct.

Not a person who does math well.

Diane

"Yowie" had some very interesting
things to say about [OT] Stupid Mensan tricks:

These days it seems that barely anyone used YahooIM any more. I'm still on
occasionally, but don't have much time for the marathon chats of old. The
Yowlet demands attention (how rude!) too often for me to have a good solid
IM chat with anyone these days - and even old fahsioned telephone
conversations have to be carefully timed. Ah, the joys of parenthood.

I pop on occasionally, but usually don't stay on long unless someone I
know is around [usually, I'm checking to see if my mother's online,
since that's our major form of communication].

--
"The universe is quite robust in design and appears to be
doing just fine on its own, incompetent support staff notwithstanding.
:-)" - the Dennis formerly known as (evil), MCFL

On 2005-01-12, pmendhall penned:
"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Another example, which is visual (so bear with me): which is the odd one
out? A square, a trapazoid, a parallelogram or a triangle?

answer 1: triangle, all others have 4 sides answer 2: square, all others
have at least one sloping side answer 3: trapezoid, all others have equal
length sides

All are perfectly correct in their reasoning, but in a multiple choice
test,
you'd only get a correct answer for one of those responses, which one
happens ot be correct depends on the bias of the test designer :-).


According to my husband, #1 is the odd one out because it is the only one
that is correct strictly as written. #2 and #3 would require specific
visual examples to go with the problem. By definition a square, trapezoid
and parallelogram all have 4 sides.

So help me understand how all 3 answers could be correct.

Not a person who does math well.

I think you're right. I didn't read it closely, but now that I have ...

Squares *are* parallelograms, so 2 is out
Only equilateral triangles have equal-length sides, so 3 is out

Perhaps the visuals are actually necessary for this example =)

--
monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

On 2005-01-12, Yowie penned:

These days it seems that barely anyone used YahooIM any more. I'm still on
occasionally, but don't have much time for the marathon chats of old. The
Yowlet demands attention (how rude!) too often for me to have a good solid
IM chat with anyone these days - and even old fahsioned telephone
conversations have to be carefully timed. Ah, the joys of parenthood.

I'm on as bounceswoosh on yahoo, but my client is screwy so I can't see when
other yahoo people are online.


--
monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

This thread has solved one puzzle for me, I got a late card yesterday,
from Phil and Diane{and thank you, it will sit on my wall a few days along
with Meowmie Debby's and any other late cards }also on the bottom I read
Pmendhall and coudn't quite make out if it was a mistake or I wasn't reading
it right,sorry Dianne, that puzzle is now solved, thanks to all you test
takers ,
what a happy girl I am Jean.P.

pmendhall wrote in message
...
"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Another example, which is visual (so bear with me): which is the odd one
out?
A square, a trapazoid, a parallelogram or a triangle?

answer 1: triangle, all others have 4 sides
answer 2: square, all others have at least one sloping side
answer 3: trapezoid, all others have equal length sides

All are perfectly correct in their reasoning, but in a multiple choice
test,
you'd only get a correct answer for one of those responses, which one
happens ot be correct depends on the bias of the test designer :-).


According to my husband, #1 is the odd one out because it is the only one
that is correct strictly as written. #2 and #3 would require specific
visual examples to go with the problem. By definition a square, trapezoid
and parallelogram all have 4 sides.

So help me understand how all 3 answers could be correct.

Not a person who does math well.

Diane