# Are you smart enough to be a football player? Find out with a 5 minute mini-Wonderlic test **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 3, 2011, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931 "2011-12-03T06:23:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931/1 "2011-12-03T06:23:06Z")
The [Wonderlic](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderlic_Test)is a test given to athletes and others to gauge general intelligence. > [@](#): > > The Wonderlic Cognitive Ability Test (formerly known as the Wonderlic Personnel Test (WPT)) is a twelve-minute, fifty-question test used to assess the aptitude of prospective employees for learning and problem-solving in a range of occupations. The test was developed by industrial psychologist Eldon F. Wonderlic.[1] The score is calculated as the number of correct answers given in the allotted time. A score of 20 is intended to indicate average intelligence (corresponding to an intelligence quotient of 100; a rough approximation is accomplished via the following formula: IQ = 2WPT + 60. [Here is 20 question mini Wonderlic and answer key](http://walterfootball.com/draftwonderlic.php) Set a timer to 5 minutes and go! Interestingly (per the wiki) higher Wonderlic scores within the range the recruiters deem acceptable are not positively correlated with better athletic performance. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931/2 "2011-12-03T07:16:45Z")
Your quote about a score of 20 corresponding to average intelligence refers to the full test, not the one you linked to. I think they need a proofreader for question 19. I failed question 18, because, WTF? Maybe if I’d been looking for difficult questions I’d have got it, but in that context, I had no idea. That was like ‘spell food! Spell your name! Spell Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis! Spell dog!’ ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931/3 "2011-12-03T07:56:35Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I think they need a proofreader for question 19. > > I failed question 18, because, WTF? Maybe if I’d been looking for difficult questions I’d have got it, but in that context, I had no idea. That was like ‘spell food! Spell your name! Spell Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis! Spell dog!’ This. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931/4 "2011-12-03T15:30:50Z")
I wouldn’t trust it enough to use it for anything but fun, but that formula of 2WPT + 60 actually does correlate with the IQ score that I received in the past when I was tested during my school days. I agree #18 was confusing. Some of the other questions made me wonder if the average football player is actually a lot dumber than I thought. “The eighth month of the year is:” REALLY? REALLY? Interesting that apparently in football it can be seen as a liability to score too well on it. In the wiki entry, there’s this comment: > [@](#): > > scoring too high can be as much of a problem as scoring too low. Football coaches want to command the locker room. Being smarter than the individual players makes that easier. Having a guy in the locker room who may be smarter than every member of the coaching staff can be viewed as a problem — or at a minimum as a threat to the egos of the men who hope to be able when necessary to outsmart the players, especially when trying in some way to manipulate them. Based on my experiences, it can be very frustrating working for a boss who is dumber than you are (and no that’s not a brag, it’s just that sometimes very dumb people get into positions of power ☹ ) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931/5 "2011-12-03T16:36:16Z")
Couldn’t get through all the questions in 5 minutes. I finished in 8 minutes and did pretty good. They tricked me with question 19. Northern/Southern hemisphere. I never have been any good with timed speed drill tests. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931/6 "2011-12-03T17:06:31Z")
A boy is 16 years old and his sister is twice as old. When the boy is 22 years old, what will be the age of his sister? say what?? if sis is twice is old then 22x2=44 Is this answer wrong they gave? the ratio doesn’t change. she’s twice as old. whatever the brothers age is x 2 > [@](#): > > 1. If the sister is twice as old, she’s 32. The boy will be 22 six years from now, so 32 + 6 = 38. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931/7 "2011-12-03T17:20:21Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > A boy is 16 years old and his sister is twice as old. When the boy is 22 years old, what will be the age of his sister? > > say what?? if sis is twice is old then 22x2=44 Is this answer wrong they gave? > > the ratio doesn’t change. she’s twice as old. whatever the brothers age is x 2 What universe are you from? I skipped 11, didn’t understand 18, and really thought the answer to #8 was Febtober. (OK, not really.) ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931/8 "2011-12-03T17:26:50Z")
ETA: Also missed 4 (not surprisingly). For #17, I first thought 9, since it’s the only perfect square, but then realized they were going for 10. ---
**Author:** ![poker\_in\_the\_rear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dc4da7/32.png) [@poker\_in\_the\_rear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poker_in_the_rear)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931/9 "2011-12-03T17:30:06Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > A boy is 16 years old and his sister is twice as old. When the boy is 22 years old, what will be the age of his sister? > > say what?? if sis is twice is old then 22x2=44 Is this answer wrong they gave? > > the ratio doesn’t change. she’s twice as old. whatever the brothers age is x 2 So what you’re saying is she has two birthdays to his one each year. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931/10 "2011-12-03T17:34:01Z")
:smack: ok, I see how they tricked me on that brother/sis age. sis is 16 years older than the brother. 16 -32 22 -38 add 16 to whatever the brothers age is. the twice his age crap was a trick. :smack: Should have drank my morning coffee before taking this test. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931/11 "2011-12-03T18:06:53Z")
The whole time I kept thinking of the IQ test scene in _Idiocracy_, i.e. “If you have one bucket that contains 2 gallons and another bucket that contains 7 gallons, how many buckets do you have?” and ``` SECRETARY OF DEFENSE That IQ test you took in prison. You got the highest score in history. 14 YEAR OLD Yeah, dumbass. That's how come President Camacho's makin' you Secretary of Interior. Cuz you're so smart. I'm the Secretary. of state, that's the Secretary of Defense and she's the Attorney General. JOE Look, this has got to be some kind of mistake, 'cause the test I took was real, real easy. ``` 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931/12 "2011-12-03T18:51:50Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > A boy is 16 years old and his sister is twice as old. When the boy is 22 years old, what will be the age of his sister? > > say what?? if sis is twice is old then 22x2=44 Is this answer wrong they gave? > > the ratio doesn’t change. she’s twice as old. whatever the brothers age is x 2 OMG… These deep thoughts are permanently on the Internet now for anyone to see forever. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931/13 "2011-12-03T19:13:36Z")
Ok, I’m not smart enough to play football. No big deal. 😉 In my defense, the prior questions had me thinking of and creating formulas. Then I latched onto that twice is old thing and took it _literally_. Stupid error, but hey I’m human. I only missed three questions. That’s not bad. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931/14 "2011-12-03T19:26:01Z")
Until the pages question I thought this was a joke. But that and the letter replacement question could trip you up, I guess. Still… this is pretty damned easy. If you’re not rushing through it I do not understand how you can get less than 18. Okay, maybe 17 just because you have one brain fart, but come on. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931/15 "2011-12-03T19:40:12Z")
seems accurate based on other IQ tests I have taken online :). ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931/16 "2011-12-03T19:59:38Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > OMG… > > These deep thoughts are permanently on the Internet now for anyone to see forever. Yeah, I’m a little dismayed as well. Fighting ignorance indeed. Another way to look at it is that since the sister is twice the boy’s age when he’s 16, that makes her 16 years older. When Johnny is 22, she’ll still be 16 years older, making her 38. (22 + 16 = 38). ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931/17 "2011-12-03T20:07:51Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Until the pages question I thought this was a joke. But that and the letter replacement question could trip you up, I guess. > > Still… this is pretty damned easy. If you’re not rushing through it I do not understand how you can get less than 18. Okay, maybe 17 just because you have one brain fart, but come on. I spotted most of the letter replacements in #4, but not all - BF #1 I skipped #10 because I didn’t feel like doing the math in my head I didn’t get #18 - and in general, even though I got #17 right, both #17 and #18 could have many correct answers - I’ve always disagreed with these types of questions For that matter - even though I knew what answer they wanted on #14 (shapes), I can think of other answers too - #5 could be the odd one because it’s the only one that doesn’t have 3 sides parallel to the X or Y axis ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931/18 "2011-12-03T20:13:17Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Yeah, I’m a little dismayed as well. Fighting ignorance indeed. > > Another way to look at it is that since the sister is twice the boy’s age when he’s 16, that makes her 16 years older. > > When Johnny is 22, she’ll still be 16 years older, making her 38. (22 + 16 = 38). I think part of what these things test is experience with these types of questions. As I read the question I spotted the pattern of how they are trying to trip you up, but probably only because I’ve answered questions like this multiple times or riddles with the kids, etc. I think 50% of what they are testing is experience rather than raw smarts - but that experience is valuable if the questions translate into something applicable to the players job. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931/19 "2011-12-03T21:06:54Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > :smack: ok, I see how they tricked me on that brother/sis age. sis is 16 years older than the brother. 16 -32 22 -38 > > add 16 to whatever the brothers age is. > > the twice his age crap was a trick. :smack: Should have drank my morning coffee before taking this test. Don’t worry about it. But Coach wants to know if you’d be interested in being a defensive tackle. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931/20 "2011-12-03T21:49:23Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > A boy is 16 years old and his sister is twice as old. When the boy is 22 years old, what will be the age of his sister? > > say what?? if sis is twice is old then 22x2=44 Is this answer wrong they gave? > > the ratio doesn’t change. she’s twice as old. whatever the brothers age is x 2 Didn’t they use this joke on Friends to demonstrate the intelligence of Joey and Frank (Phoebe’s brother)? Joe [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smart-enough-to-be-a-football-player-find-out-with-a-5-minute-mini-wonderlic-test/604931.md?page=2)