# Help me understand this IQ test question **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 17, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-this-iq-test-question/752489 "2016-04-17T18:49:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TATG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/50afbb/32.png) [@TATG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TATG)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-this-iq-test-question/752489/21 "2016-04-17T22:21:53Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Ahh–that is much better. But I don’t think it’s just a poor quality copy. Ordinary distortion can’t account for SA23. I think someone tried to recreate the puzzle rather than just copy it (maybe that’s what you meant by “copy”). That is what I meant by copy. It looked to me like the person that tried to recreate the puzzle didn’t actually understand the puzzle properly (or at least the details thereof). ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-this-iq-test-question/752489/22 "2016-04-17T22:36:26Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Ahh–that is much better. But I don’t think it’s just a poor quality copy. Ordinary distortion can’t account for SA23. I think someone tried to recreate the puzzle rather than just copy it (maybe that’s what you meant by “copy”). Actually you’re right, on a _(third)_ check, the answer given doesn’t match at all, but another shape does match but is apparently the incorrect answer. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-this-iq-test-question/752489/23 "2016-04-17T23:23:12Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > I wasn’t sure if the question meant find any set that work or find all sets that work. Obviously wer’re to assume we can rotate the shapes, but it is not clear if we’re allowed to flip them or not. Finally it says shape and not size and shape. Yes, I certainly assumed we could flip or rotate the shapes, but it was unclear if we had to match the SIZE of the target shapes, or just the shape. Very poorly worded question. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-this-iq-test-question/752489/24 "2016-04-17T23:33:39Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Then your display is set up to have non-square pixels. Some poor quality monitors are this way naturally–in particular, ones at 1280x1024 resolution. Otherwise, you may be running at a non-native resolution which does not have the correct aspect ratio, such as running at 1024x768 on a screen that is natively 1920x1080. Interesting. I’ll look into it. Thanks for the info. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-this-iq-test-question/752489/25 "2016-04-18T00:36:27Z")
Another vote for “poorly worded question”. There’s no indication if you can use the top shapes multiple times to solve different puzzles, or if you’re allowed to flop (mirror reverse) the top shapes. And there’s no indication if rulers (or improvised rulers) are allowed. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-this-iq-test-question/752489/26 "2016-04-18T00:38:12Z")
I’m not confused. But then, I’m a genius. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-this-iq-test-question/752489.md?page=1)