I feel dumber for having tried this.

[plonq]

From today's (hit and miss) Mensa calendar:

Kathleen is as old as Steve was a year ago. In four more years, she’ll be as old as their combined ages now. Neither one is a teenager.

How old are Kathleen and Steve now?

They typically have this type of question about once a week. As usual, I scribbled down the elements as I read through.

Kathleen is as old as Steve was a year ago.
K = S-1

In four more years, she’ll be as old as their combined ages now.
K+4 = K+S

>.<

Please tell me that nobody finds this one challenging.

Anyway... Neither one is a teenager -- oh fuck it, why do they even bother with the last clue? I may not the the brightest person who ever walked this planet, but this is an affront to the modicum of intelligence I possess.

Wait a minute, haven't I seen this kind of IQ test before?

“If you have one bucket with 5 gallons and another bucket with 2 gallons, how many buckets do you have?”

Comments

4 buckets, right?

[pierrekrahn.livejournal.com]

I didn't read ahead, and I wrote down in algebra each step as I read them.
Funny how I wrote the exact same thing as you, and even concluded that the fact that they weren't teenages was superfluous information.

[leopanthera.livejournal.com]

Kathleen is 3 and Steve is 4.

[leopanthera.livejournal.com]

And no, it wasn't very challenging. In fact, I can think of at least three entirely different ways of solving it, just for fun. ;)

I suspect the "They're not teenagers line" is to try and confuse you into thinking that they're older than 19.

[tzisorey.livejournal.com]

DUDE! I just finished watching that movie, like, 5 minutes ago!!!!

And no - not very challenging at all. K=3, S=4.

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

exactly. Teh last clue tricks one into thinking Adult, the usual assumption when one says not a teenager.

[atara.livejournal.com]

:(

You know, it's interesting that I do way better on spatial and word relationships than I do with numerical ones.

Another question

[smrgol-t-kirin.livejournal.com]

There's a rooster sitting on the ridge of a barn roof. The ridge line runs north/south. There is a 4kph wind from the east. The ridge is 10m high. The pitch of the upper roof is 45deg, and it's 5m wide, the pitch of the lower roof is 60deg and it is also 5m wide. The rooster lays an egg.

1)On which side of the barn will the egg fall?
2) how fast will the egg be going when it hits the ground?

Re: Another question

[gedrean.livejournal.com]

I love this one. It's a splendidly hilarious answer to slap you in the face with the remains of the splattered egg.

[orleans.livejournal.com]

That does seem too easy. More Grade 10 algebra than Mensa. :O

Re: Another question

[smrgol-t-kirin.livejournal.com]

I guess I won't end up with egg on my face then.

Re: Another question

[plonq.livejournal.com]

Typically a rooster will lay a chicken rather than an egg.

Re: Another question

[smrgol-t-kirin.livejournal.com]

Yep!

OK, You have two coins in your pocket that total 35 cents

[smrgol-t-kirin.livejournal.com]

One of the coins is not a quarter ( a 25 cent piece for you "out of North America folks").

What are the two coins?

[tamarik.livejournal.com]

Mensa's gotta have a baseline somehow. :)

Re: OK, You have two coins in your pocket that total 35 cents

[tamarik.livejournal.com]

A quarter and a dime. :)

[elfasi.livejournal.com]

These questions always tend to flummox me, I'm not always as clear thinking and logical and analytical as I'd like :)

[plonq.livejournal.com]

Normally I don't mind when they toss out questions like this, because it gives me a chance to practise some of my old high-school algebra that I haven't used in years. In this case, though, the clues basically told you the answer as you were writing them out.

Kathleen is as old as Steve was a year ago.
That is, Kathleen = Steve - 1

K = S-1

In four more years, she’ll be as old as their combined ages now.
In other words, in four years (K+4) she will be as old as the sum of their ages (K+S).

K+4 = K+S

So K plus 4 = K plus some mystery number. Oh wait, I bet it's probably 4 as well...

The reason that this one irked me a bit was that there was no thinking involved. I guess it was easier for me because I was writing out the terms as I went, so it just jumped right out at me.