Mensa Quiz
The following questions are provided by the folks at American Mensa, the High IQ Society. Without seeking the assistance of fellow passengers, can you provide the answers? If you find that you do need some help, the answers are below. By Dr. Abbie F. Salny
1. What is the number that is one-tenth of one-half of one-tenth of one-half of 3,600?

2. A simple substitution code has been used to conceal an odd quote. Work out the code to decipher the original words.

Archimedes: DSL UROOVW NB YZGSGFY HL UFOO RG LEVIUOLDVW?

3. Palindrome pals: What did the dishwasher­ say when he wanted to eat lunch at exactly 12?

S _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ S

4. What do the words understudy and overstuffed have in common? It has nothing to do with the number of letters, syllables, or vowels.

5. A song title has been put into very fancy language. Put it back into its original form.

These individuals are totally unacquainted with each other at the time of day that is usually considered late p.m. or early a.m.

6. Complete the word below.

_ N _ H _ K _ _ L _

7. What two words, formed from different combinations of the same six letters, can be used to complete the sentence below?

When our dog suddenly __________, the driver __________, just in time to avoid a live wire on the road.

8. A city just put a 13 percent tax on hotel rooms. This is on top of a 2 percent sales tax and a 10 percent luxury tax. A room now costs $100 a night. How much would it be without the tax?

9. Each of the following definitions can be answered by two words that rhyme.

A fastening in a type of tree
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

A brand of car suffering from ennui
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

A time-out from a meat meal
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

A tardy dinner
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

10. The poem below can be completed by finishing each couplet with words that sound the same but have different meanings.

I do not know how well I’ll __________
If I go off to the cooking __________.

I guard a 26-inch __________
But won’t leave all the food to __________.

I hate to think what I will __________
Before I homeward wend my __________.

Bonus Question: Identify the original work from which each of these fictional characters came. Also provide the name of the author of each work in question.
A. The Wife of Bath
B. Oliver Mellors
C. Queequeg
D. Frodo Baggins
E. Jim Hawkins
F. Willy Loman


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Mensa Answers

1. 9 (3,600/2=1,800; /10=180; /2=90; /10=9)
2. “Who filled my bathtub so full it overflowed?” (Code: A=Z, B=Y, C=X, etc.)
3. “Stop noon pots.”
4. Both have RSTU in alphabetical order.
5. “Strangers in the Night.”
6. Unshakable
7. Barked, braked
8. $80. (The $100 includes the 25 percent tax: $80 for the room plus a 25 percent tax, or $20.)
9. Maple staple, bored Ford, steak break,
late plate
10. Fare, fair; waist, waste; weigh, way
Bonus Question
A. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
B. Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence
C. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
D. The Lord of the Rings
(accept The Fellowship of the Rings
but The Hobbit is wrong) by J.R.R. Tolkien
E. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
F. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller