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Saw this puzzle in a book I am cataloging today and am very confused.
Which toothpick would you need to move to create two, and only two, squares?
This is multiple-choice; the answers are 8, 5, 9, or 7.
It's taken me a while of looking at it to conclude that the answer I think they want is 9 (move it to connect 7 and 1, and you have a small square in the upper left corner of a bigger one). But without looking at the answers at first, I thought 4 or 3 or 2 could work, moved to the same space (yielding two small squares stacked on top of each other, and an open figure on the right), which you can also do with 5; and similarly, 8 or 7 can be moved to bisect the right rectangle and leave the open figure on the left.
Am I just dumb (this is in an IQ test after all; I am not brilliant with this sort of spatial stuff) or is the question really misleadingly phrased? To me "two and only two squares" means "two squares, no more and no fewer" but doesn't specify anything about the other toothpicks. It seems like they may have meant "two squares and nothing else, no open ends left".
Which toothpick would you need to move to create two, and only two, squares?
This is multiple-choice; the answers are 8, 5, 9, or 7.
It's taken me a while of looking at it to conclude that the answer I think they want is 9 (move it to connect 7 and 1, and you have a small square in the upper left corner of a bigger one). But without looking at the answers at first, I thought 4 or 3 or 2 could work, moved to the same space (yielding two small squares stacked on top of each other, and an open figure on the right), which you can also do with 5; and similarly, 8 or 7 can be moved to bisect the right rectangle and leave the open figure on the left.
Am I just dumb (this is in an IQ test after all; I am not brilliant with this sort of spatial stuff) or is the question really misleadingly phrased? To me "two and only two squares" means "two squares, no more and no fewer" but doesn't specify anything about the other toothpicks. It seems like they may have meant "two squares and nothing else, no open ends left".
no subject
Date: Jul. 22nd, 2009 09:07 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: Jul. 22nd, 2009 09:38 pm (UTC)From:I'd go with nine, eventually, because it's the only one that falls into the class of "leaving no open spaces"; even though the question doesn't specify that condition, when there is one answer that falls into a category by itself, I'll tend to pick it as being the one they want.
I'd still just be guessing, though. I have no confidence in my ability to suss out what people mean when they're being that imprecise.