Quoth The Raven “Nevermore”

Which of the shapes (A-F) should replace the question mark?

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Clue: If an image appears twice it cancels out, if it appears once it remains.

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Answer: F

If a shape appears once in the first two columns then it will appear in the third column. If a shape appears twice in the first two columns, then they cancel out and don’t appear in the third column.

Focusing on the third row, first and second images, the ball only appears once so it will feature in the third image. The upwards arrow appears twice so cancels out and won’t appear in the third image. The right arrow only appears once so will appear in the third image. The downwards arrow only appears once so will appear in the third image. The left arrow appears twice so cancels out and won’t appear in the third image. This leaves us with:

The ball, the right arrow, the downwards arrow. This is represented in option F which is the answer.

A Challenging Abstract Reasoning Puzzle

What image comes next in the above sequence? Is it A, B, C, D or E?

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Clue: Follow the same arrows (eg top left) all the way through the pattern. There are two rules determining what position the arrows will point in that you need to determine.

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Answer: C

There are some rules that are followed in the pattern. These rules apply to the direction that the arrows within the squares point. Focus on the same arrow (eg the top left arrow) throughout the entire sequence. It points right, down, down, left, up.

The direction of pointing rule that each arrrow follows is:

The arrow will rotate 90 degrees clockwise on each occasion unless the arrow is pointing up or down in which case it will stay in this position twice in a row.

Using this rule for the arrow appearing in the top left corner, in the:

1st square: it points right. It must then rotate 90 degrees clockwise.

2nd square: It now points down. It stays in this down position.

3rd square: It continues to point down. It must now rotate 90 degrees clockwise.

4th square: It points left. It must rotate 90 degrees clockwise.

5th square: It points up. It stays in this up position.

In the answer square, the top left arrow will continue pointing up.

This process is applied to all 6 arrows and square C is the resulting solution.

 

The World’s Hardest Raven’s Matrices

The above Raven’s Matrices contains 8 squares and a dash. Which of the 8 squares below is the most appropriate to replace the dash?

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Clue: Try and work out the pattern to where the lines end in one square and continue in another square.

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Answer: Square 5. Below is the completed Matrices:

The reasoning: The lines in one square finish in a certain position in that square and continue from that same position in the next square. Let us number the squares of the top row 1-3 going from left to right. Let us number the squares of the middle row 4-6 going from left to right. Let us number the squares of the bottom row 7-9 going from left to right. The lines in square 1 finish in a certain position on the right of the square. These lines then begin in the same position in square 2. The lines in square 2 finish in a certain position and start in that same position in square 3. Now, where the lines in square 3 end, they begin in square 4 (on the very left square of the middle row). This pattern continues until square 8. The lines in square 8 end in the top corner and near the bottom of the square. From the answer options, only option 5 has lines beginning in the same position as the end of square 8 thus this is the answer.

The below image is a visual explanation of the above solution:

 

A Raven’s Puzzle

The above sequence contains 5 squares with the question mark denoting a missing image. Which of the below 5 options should replace the question mark?

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Clue: Try and work out how far the circle is travelling from one image to the next.

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Answer: B

The sequence is composed of an octagon with a rotating circle. The circle starts by moving 1 side of the octagon then 2 sides then 3 sides and finally 4 sides.