Logic questions are often puzzles with answers that are not obvious. If, after taking the “Idiot or Genius” test, you felt confused and wondered, “Why did I score so low? I answered correctly!”, we recommend reviewing the correct answers and their explanations.
1. A blogger had uploaded 26 videos. All but the last 19 were deleted by moderators. How many uploaded videos were left?
Correct answer: 19.
It really is that simple: if everything except 19 was deleted, then those 19 remained.
2. While crossing a bridge over a river that flows from right to left, you notice that all oncoming cars are heading north. Which direction is the river flowing?
Correct answer: East.
Let’s recall the compass directions: north is at the top, south is at the bottom, west is on the left, and east is on the right. If the oncoming cars are moving north, then you are heading south. So east will be on your left and west on your right. Therefore, the river is flowing east.
3. An old house has 9 windows. After cleaning dirt off 4 of them, you notice that there are twice as many clean windows as dirty ones. How many clean windows were there at first?
Correct answer: 2.
First, let’s find out how many windows were clean and dirty after the cleaning. Set up the equation: x+2x=9, where x is the number of dirty windows. So after cleaning, there are 3 dirty windows and 6 clean windows. Subtracting the 4 windows that were washed gives the original number of clean windows.
4. Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7. Does January 7 exist in Saudi Arabia?
Correct answer: yes.
The question about January 7 in Saudi Arabia is only about the date, not about the celebration.
5. In front of you are six rectangular cardboard boxes of different sizes. One of them contains balls, and the others are empty. What is the minimum number of weighings on a balance scale needed to find the box with the balls?
Correct answer: 2.
Divide the boxes into two groups of three and weigh the groups against each other to determine which group contains the target box. Then choose one box from that group and compare its weight with one of the remaining boxes to identify the box with the balls.
6. Is it possible to start a fire using water in any of its states?
Correct answer: Yes.
Sunlight refracted through water can start a fire if the water has the shape of a lens. For example, this can be done with a plastic bag stretched over stones, the curved plastic from a bottle, or, in winter, a piece of ice. There are other ways to achieve the same effect as well.
7. Imagine a lonely house standing in the middle of a vast desert. Each of its four sides has a window, and when you walk up to any of them, you are looking due north. Could this be real?
Correct answer: Yes.
A desert is an area with especially low precipitation, and it is not always covered only with sand. For example, Antarctica is also considered a type of desert because it receives very little precipitation, even though its landscape is covered in ice. So if such a house were located at Earth’s South Pole, all of its windows would inevitably face north, confirming the uniqueness of that geographic location.
8. Sergey left a bottle of water outside on a freezing night. In the morning, when the air temperature is 14 degrees Fahrenheit, he finds that the water in the bottle has not turned into ice. “This is .... water,” Sergey states confidently as he thinks about his discovery. What should go in the blank?
Correct answer: distilled.
Very pure distilled water freezes at temperatures below -43.6 degrees Fahrenheit because, after distillation, it contains almost no impurities that help crystals form during freezing.
9. You had 5 apples. You put 2 of them in your pocket and gave 1 to a friend. How many apples do you have left?
Correct answer: 4.
Only one apple was given away; the rest, including the ones in your pocket, still belong to you.
10. Continue the number sequence: 11, 24, 39, 56...
Correct answer: 75.
Adding 13 to 11 gives 24; adding 15 to 24 gives 39; and adding 17 to 39 gives 56. With each step, the number being added increases by 2. So we add 19 to the next number and get 75.
11. In July, while walking through a park in the morning, you count the animals and birds you see: 5 sparrows by the fountain, 2 pigeons near the benches, 1 cat in the bushes, and 3 crows in an oak tree with yellow leaves falling from it. What season is it?
Correct answer: summer.
Despite the yellow leaves, which can fall even in summer during a drought or because of tree disease, the question clearly says the month is July, which is in summer.
12. How should the answer to this example be written? Eight plus four equals…
Correct answer: none of the given options is correct.
Eight plus four equals 12, but that option was not among the answer choices.
13. Grandma Agatha has a pear orchard, and she decided to make jam from the pears. One jar of jam takes 10 pears. From the first tree she picked 9 fruits, from the second 12, from the third 3 times fewer than from the first two together, and from the fourth 5 fruits fewer than from the third. How many jars of apple jam can she make from this harvest?
Correct answer: 0.
You cannot make apple jam from pears, and Grandma has a pear orchard.
14. Continue the number series: 5,6,4,7,3…
Correct answer: 8.
Once you spot the pattern, it becomes clear: add 1 to 5 to get 6, subtract 2 from 6 to get 4, add 3 to 4 to get 7, subtract 4 from 7 to get 3, and add 5 to 3 to get 8. With each step, the number being added or subtracted increases by one, while the operations alternate between addition and subtraction.
15. An intercity bus has 54 passenger seats, and every second passenger checks one bag into the luggage compartment. How many bags will be in the luggage compartment if every third seat on the bus is empty?
Correct answer: 18.
Using simple math: if every third seat is empty, the bus is two-thirds full. Out of 54 seats, 36 are occupied, and every second passenger has a bag in the luggage compartment. Therefore, there will be 18 bags in the luggage compartment.
16. Gregory had two ropes. He cut one into two pieces and the other into five. He gave two pieces to George and one to Egor. How many cuts did George make?
Correct answer: Unknown.
The problem states that Gregory cut the ropes, not George, who is mentioned in the question.
17. What is the best way to buy a smartphone for 19,999 rubles?
Correct answer: with a 12-month loan at 20% annual interest, taking into account a 4,000-ruble discount.
At first glance, an installment plan may seem better because it does not involve overpaying. However, if you use a calculator, you can see that 19,999 minus 4,000 equals 15,999. The interest on the loan would be 3,199.80, for a total of 19,198.80, which is 800 rubles less than buying it on an installment plan. So it pays to read carefully!
18. On the day of the spring equinox, the length of the day is almost equal to the length of the night. What will happen one week after that day if you are in Europe?
Correct answer: the day will be longer than the night.
The spring equinox usually falls on March 20 and marks the start of spring. From then until summer, the days keep getting longer.
19. It is known that a high-speed train travels three times faster than a yacht sails. Vasily and Nikolai leave Los Angeles for Hawaii; the first chooses the train, and the second chooses the yacht. Who will reach the destination faster?
Correct answer: Nikolai.
Because Hawaii is an island state separated from the mainland by a large distance, there is no rail line to get there. No matter how fast the train is, Vasily cannot reach Hawaii by train.
So, to get the highest score on the test, all you need is attention to detail and logical thinking. As people often say, genius is simple.
We sincerely hope you reviewed the correct answers only after taking the test, not before ;-)
You can find explanations for the answers to the previous version of the test in this article if you are interested in logic problems in general.
