Official Mensa® Challenge – July 2023

American Mensa is where brilliance belongs – it’s where friendships are forged for life, business connections and opportunities are made, and where brilliant minds find the chance to engage with others in an intellectually stimulating environment.

Just for LOCAL Life readers: Take the Mensa Practice Test for just $5! Visit americanmensa.org/mht and use offer code: Local21

1. We’ve removed all the vowels from the beginning of a well-know quotation. Can you put them back where they belong?

     L L T H W R L D S S T G

2. First unscramble the letters in each word below, then unscramble the word order to create a Tom Swifty sentence. (Tom Swifty always speaks adverbially. Example: “I just bought a refrigerator,” said Tom icily.)

     ALCO   RIFE   MOT   ONEHUG   SI

     LUFTAGLERY   A   FRO  RETHE  DAIS

3. The names of three fruits are interlettered below. Can you find them? (The letters are in consecutive order.)

     M P A E E P L A P O C L N H E

4. Tom is half as old as Ellen was three years ago. In 10 years, Ellen will be one-and-one-half times as old as Tom. How old are Tom and Ellen now?

5. Patrick is not married. On the way to the mall, Patrick picked up his only brother-in-law’s only mother-in-law’s only husband’s only daughter. What relationship is she to Patrick?

Answers

1. All the world’s a stage…. (from Shakespeare’s As You Like It)

2. “There is enough coal for a fire,” said Tom gratefully. 

3. MELON, PEACH, APPLE 

4. Tom is 4; Ellen is 11. (The two algebraic equations are 2T = E -3 and 2 (E + 10) = 3 (T + 10) 

5. his sister (Patrick’s sister’s husband’s mother-in-law is Patrick’s mother, and her husband’s daughter is Patrick’s sister.)