Mensa Quiz
The following questions are provided by the folks at American Mensa, the High IQ Society. Without asking the assistance of fellow passengers, can you provide the answers? If you find that you do need some help, the answers are at the bottom of the page. By Dr. Abbie F. Salny
1. Fill in the correct number in the series.

2 3 4 6 8 12 ? 24

2. What two words, formed from different arrangements of the same 10 letters, can be used to complete the sentence below?

The student had the erroneous ____________ that the principal had given ____________ for a party in the school gym.

3. How many common English words can you make from the letters below, using all six letters only once in each word?

Y B N R I A

4. There is a question coiled in the grid below. To spell it out, start with one letter and move to an adjacent letter in any direction. (Hint: Start with a “D”.)

N I D G G
D M E L O
D Y E R B
I O V S A
D U E E E


5. Choose the correct letter for each clue in the rhyme below. When put in order, five letters will spell the answer to the riddle.

My first is in pink but not in kind.
My second in mart but not in mind.
My third is in ran but not in span.
My fourth in sink but not in swam.
My last in song and chorus you’ll find.
My whole a city with fashion in mind.
_ _ _ _ _

6. An eight-letter word is hidden in the box below. Find it by moving clockwise or counterclockwise around the rim of the box, using each letter only once.

L A S
G S
E N I


7. A line from a well-known song has been put into fancy language below. Can you put it back into its original form?

I desire the gift of residence of my own on a site where a certain native American animal grazes without restriction.

8. The partial names of five states are listed. Fill in the missing letters to complete the names.

_ _ _ A _ S _ _
M _ _ _ _ _ AN
_ _ _ C _ _ S _ _
_ _ _ H_ _ _ _ _ N
_ D _ H _

9. Change the first letter of each pair of words with the same letter to make two new words, then put that letter on the line. When you’re done, you will have a new word reading down.

MINT ____ TRIM
BARGE ____ BABEL
LISLE ___ ELL
BELLOW ___ MOUTH

10. Complete the word below by filling in the missing letters.

C _ _ S _ _ T _ T _ _ N _ L _ _

Bonus Question: Identify the director of each of the following films:
A. The Seven Samurai
B. The Seventh Seal
C. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
D. Stagecoach
E. The 39 Steps

American Mensa Limited, known as the High IQ Society, is an organization for individuals who have one common trait: a score in the top two percent on any supervised, standardized intelligence test. For more information about American Mensa or to take the Mensa Home Test, visit www.us.mensa.org/americanway or call (800) 66MENSA.

Dr. Abbie F. Salny was the supervisory psychologist for American Mensa and Mensa International for more than 25 years. She is the coauthor of the Mensa Think Smart Book. Quiz © 2005 by Dr. Abbie F. Salny and American Mensa Limited from the Mensa Page-A-Day Calendar (Workman Publishing).






1. 16. (There are two series mixed together: The first is 2, 4, 8, 16; the second is 3, 6, 12, 24.)

2. Impression, permission

3. Two (binary, brainy)

4. Did you ever see a boggled mind?

5. Paris

6. Glassine

7. “Give me a home where the buffalo roam.”

8. Arkansas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Washington, Idaho

9. Play

10. Constitutionally

Bonus:
A. Kurosawa
B. Bergman
C. Huston
D. Ford
E. Hitchcock