MENSA puzzle

[meridannight]

here's how the lions do it:

Lions usually hunt in coordinated groups and stalk their chosen prey. However, they are not particularly known for their stamina – for instance, a lioness' heart makes up only 0.57% of her body weight (a male's is about 0.45% of his body weight), whereas a hyena's heart is close to 1% of its body weight.[76] Thus, they only run fast in short bursts,[77] and need to be close to their prey before starting the attack.

[meridannight]

I googled it. That answer's shit.

exactly. it's not a real question then.

[Lexington]

...in that case, I stand by my answer. Although I'm guessing there's no way that this is a Mensa question. They usually don't trade in the "gotcha"-type question (although Isaac Asimov was more than a little fond of them).

Lex

[meridannight]

this got me interested though and i checked out MENSA.

they have a practice quiz up on their page:

mensa

not really that difficult. i got 80%, adhering to that 30 minute limit.

[Lexington]

I took the test, too. I didn't do all that great. I take issue with a couple of the questions, though. Specifically, the "pear is to apple" one.

Lex

[meridannight]

Specifically, the "pear is to apple" one.

it had to do with where they grow. and there was only one option that fitted in that sense.

[Lexington]

it had to do with where they grow. and there was only one option that fitted in that sense.

That was one way the two things could be linked - where the things grow. But there are a ton of other ways the things could relate. For instance, "apple" has one more letter than pear, so perhaps the relationship was "the second word has one more letter than the first word". If that were the rule, then "lettuce" would be an acceptable answer with "potato".

Lex

[meridannight]

That was one way the two things could be linked - where the things grow. But there are a ton of other ways the things could relate. For instance, "apple" has one more letter than pear, so perhaps the relationship was "the second word has one more letter than the first word". If that were the rule, then "lettuce" would be an acceptable answer with "potato".

you're overthinking it with that. the simplest, most common-sense answer is usually the right one.