How to solve IQ test questions

Start here

• 20 practice questions with answers

  One question of each of 20 types, easy to hard. Pick an answer, then reveal it and the worked reasoning.

• How to spot a fake or paywalled IQ test

  The warning signs, a one-minute check before you start, and what to do if you have already paid.

Abstract reasoning

• Matrix reasoning · 8 min read

  Nearly every 3×3 matrix puzzle is built from a small set of transformations applied across rows and columns. Learn to name them, and the hard puzzles become bookkeeping.

• Figure series · 4 min read

  A figure series is one object walking through repeated transformations. Track each attribute separately and the next frame draws itself.

• Figure analogies · 3 min read

  Figure analogies hide one transformation in the A→B pair. Say it in words before you look at C, and the answer is mechanical.

• Odd one out · 3 min read

  Four figures share a property; one violates it. Find it by scanning one attribute at a time — never by which figure 'feels' different.

• Operator pipelines · 5 min read

  Worked examples define what each mystery operator does. Pin each one down from the examples first — then the question is pure bookkeeping.

• Instruction mazes · 3 min read

  Each square tells you your next move — direction and distance. Start, obey, repeat. Count moves, not squares, and ignore every square you never land on.

Numerical reasoning

• Number series · 3 min read

  Every number series yields to an ordered sequence of checks. Climb the ladder instead of staring, and the rule reveals itself in under a minute.

• Number analogies · 2 min read

  One hidden operation links each pair. Test simple operations in a fixed order and confirm on every pair shown.

• Number grids · 2 min read

  A number matrix hides its rule in the rows or the columns. Interrogate them in order and the missing cell computes itself.

• Word problems · 2 min read

  Insight problems punish equation-free arithmetic. Write the tiny model — two quantities and their relation — and the computation is two lines.

• Shape algebra · 3 min read

  A grid of shapes with row and column totals is a system of equations. Solve the line with the fewest distinct shapes, substitute, repeat.

• Domino series · 4 min read

  A domino series is two independent number series — top lane and bottom lane — each counting 0–6 and wrapping like a clock.

• Pyramids, wheels and magic squares · 2 min read

  Structured number puzzles obey one local law everywhere. Find the cell whose neighbors are known, solve it, and let the structure fill itself.

• Symbol sums · 3 min read

  In a column addition, every symbol hides one digit and no two symbols share one. Work right to left, carry 0 or 1, and stop the moment the asked symbol is pinned.

• Route counting · 2 min read

  Moving only right and down, how many routes cross the grid? Don't trace them — fill each square with the sum of the square above and the square to the left.

• Quantitative comparison · 3 min read

  Quantity A against Quantity B, with the same four options every time. The skill is settling the relation with the least arithmetic that actually settles it.

• Clocks, calendars and ages · 3 min read

  Three word-problem staples with one shared method: translate the wording into a single exact relation, evaluate it, then answer precisely what was asked.

• Balance scales · 4 min read

  '2 ▲ balance 3 ■' is a weight ratio in disguise. Chain the ratios from the shape you are given to the shape that is asked — and mind the direction at every link.

• Card series · 2 min read

  Rank and suit each follow their own independent rule. Solve them separately, apply both — an option that matches only one of the rules is a planted trap.

Verbal & logic

• Verbal analogies · 2 min read

  Name the relationship as a precise sentence before reading the options, and verbal analogies become a matching exercise.

• Syllogisms · 3 min read

  Draw the categories as circles, test each conclusion against every drawing the premises allow, and never let world knowledge vote.

• Odd word out · 2 min read

  Find the property four words share and one lacks — scanning meaning, function, then structure, in that order.

• Synonyms · 2 min read

  Synonym items are decided at the margin — between the true synonym and a strongly associated neighbor. Define first, then match.

• Antonyms · 2 min read

  An antonym is the far end of the SAME axis — not a different axis, not the midpoint, not an associated bad thing.

• Letter series · 2 min read

  Convert letters to positions, and every letter series becomes an easy number series — with one extra rule: the alphabet wraps.

• Codes and ciphers · 3 min read

  Compare the example word with its coded form letter by letter, name the rule exactly, and apply it mechanically.

• Logical deduction · 2 min read

  Comparative statements pin people onto a line. Place them as you read — never hold the order in your head.

• Logic grids · 2 min read

  Einstein-style puzzles are unsolvable in your head and mechanical on a grid. Every clue becomes ✓s and ✗s; every ✓ sprays new ✗s; repeat until forced.

• Similarities · 3 min read

  'In what way are a spoon and a fork alike?' The best answer is the tightest class true of both. Wide truths — 'both are objects' — are the engineered trap.

• Truth-tellers and liars · 3 min read

  Everyone either always lies or always tells the truth. Assume a type, push it through every claim, and keep the one world that never contradicts itself.

Spatial reasoning

• Mental rotation · 5 min read

  Track one distinctive corner and the figure's handedness — then read the question, because it decides whether the right answer is turned, flipped, or both.

• Cube nets · 4 min read

  On any cube net, faces separated by exactly one square in a line fold to opposite sides. Master that one fact and most net questions collapse.

• Paper folding · 3 min read

  Punched holes mirror across each fold line as you unfold, last fold first. Count layers, mirror holes, and the answer is arithmetic.

• Mirror images · 4 min read

  Every reflection happens across a line — vertical, horizontal, or diagonal. Name that line before anything else, and each mirror question becomes a mechanical check.

• Figure assembly · 5 min read

  Match the hole's outline feature by feature — cell counts first, then notch positions — and watch for forbidden flips.

• Block counting · 4 min read

  Count column by column — every stack contributes its full height, including the hidden cubes holding up the visible ones.

• Dice views · 6 min read

  Two faces visible in the same view cannot be opposite each other. Collect adjacencies across the views and the opposite pairs fall out by elimination.

• Figure counting · 4 min read

  'How many squares?' means all sizes, including the composites. Enumerate one size class at a time and the count becomes arithmetic, not squinting.

• Gears and pulleys · 4 min read

  Meshed gears alternate direction, so count the chain; belts copy direction unless crossed. Speed is teeth arithmetic. Two rules answer everything.

Working memory

• Digit span · 5 min read

  Working memory holds about four chunks — so make each chunk hold more digits. Grouping is the entire skill.

• Spatial span · 4 min read

  Cells light up in order, then the grid goes blank. Hold the sequence as one traced shape, and every question about it can be read back off the shape.

• Letter–number sorting · 4 min read

  A mixed run of letters and digits must be given back re-ordered under a stated rule. Split it into two piles as it arrives, and one long juggle becomes two short sorts.

• Running updates · 4 min read

  A value changes step by step — add, move, reset — and only the final state is asked. The skill is replacing what you hold at every step, leaving no residue of the old value.

• Word pairs · 4 min read

  Arbitrary word pairs flash and vanish; the probe tests the links. Fuse each pair into a single image and the link answers from either end.

• Grid memory · 3 min read

  Remember lit cells as one connected shape or path — a letter, an arrow, a constellation — never as isolated positions.

• Symbol coding · 3 min read

  Speed on coding tasks comes from memorizing the two or three most frequent pairs immediately — every glance at the key is time lost.

Processing speed

• Speed sections · 3 min read

  Symbol search, cancellation and coding are easy on purpose — the clock is the real test. One lesson for all three: read the question, sweep once, match exactly.