Answer Key
Real IQ Test Answers: All 24 Questions Explained
Every question from the Real IQ Test, the correct answer, and the reasoning behind it — grouped by the four domains the test scores. Where a question has a deliberate trap, the explanation says what it was.
← Haven’t taken the test yet? Try it firstThis page gives away every correct answer. If you have not taken the Real IQ Test yet and want a score that means something, take it first — reading these in advance will inflate your result and tell you nothing about your reasoning.
Pattern (Abstract) Reasoning 8 questions
Each of these gives you a sequence of shapes governed by one or more rules. Several run two rules at the same time, which is what separates them from the single-step sequences most free tests use.
Pattern · Question 1
Two rules are running at once. What completes the sequence?
Outline triangle → filled square → outline pentagon → ?
Answer: Filled hexagon
Why: Two rules run together. The number of sides goes up by one each step (3, 4, 5), and the fill flips each step (outline, filled, outline). Applying both at once gives a six-sided shape that is filled. Picking the outline hexagon means you spotted the sides rule but missed the fill.
Pattern · Question 2
The arrow turns by the same angle each step. What comes next?
Arrow at 0° → 135° → 270° → ?
Answer: Pointing down-right (45 degrees)
Why: The step is 135°, not the 90° most sequences use. From 270°, adding another 135° gives 405°, which wraps around a full circle to 45°. The wrap is the part that catches people out.
Pattern · Question 3
The dot count grows by a changing amount. How many come next?
1 dot → 2 dots → 4 dots → 7 dots → ?
Answer: Eleven dots
Why: The gaps themselves grow: +1, then +2, then +3. The next gap is +4, so 7 + 4 = 11. If you assumed a fixed gap you would have answered 10.
Pattern · Question 4
The marked pentagon turns by a fixed step. Which one comes next?
Marked pentagon at 0° → 72° → 144° → ?
Answer: Marker rotated 216 degrees
Why: A regular pentagon looks identical after a 72° turn, so only the red marker tells you the shape moved. The marker advances one vertex each step: 0, 72, 144, then 216.
Pattern · Question 5
The circle shrinks by the same amount each step. What comes next?
Circles shrinking: 0.40 → 0.32 → 0.24 of the frame → ?
Answer: Smallest step down — the 0.16 circle
Why: The radius drops by a steady 0.08 of the frame each step. All four options are the same colour on purpose, so you have to judge the size rather than eliminate by appearance.
Pattern · Question 6
The L-shape rotates a quarter turn each step. What comes next?
L-shape at 0° → 90° → 180° → ?
Answer: Rotated three quarter turns (270 degrees)
Why: A quarter turn each step gives 0, 90, 180, 270. The trap is the mirrored option: a flipped L looks similar at a glance but is a reflection, not a rotation.
Pattern · Question 7
Across each row, two things change together. What belongs in the empty cell?
Row 1: outline triangle → filled square. Row 2: outline pentagon → ?
Answer: Filled hexagon
Why: Row one changes two things at once: it adds a side (3 to 4) and it fills the shape. Row two must do the same, so an outline pentagon becomes a filled hexagon. Answering “filled pentagon” means you caught the fill rule but not the side count.
Pattern · Question 8
Each step adds more dots than the step before it. How many come next?
2 dots → 6 dots → 12 dots → ?
Answer: Twenty dots
Why: The gaps grow by two each time: +4, then +6, so the next gap is +8. That gives 12 + 8 = 20. These are the numbers n×(n+1): 2, 6, 12, 20.
Verbal Reasoning 6 questions
Analogies, odd-one-out and precise vocabulary. Several of these offer a near-synonym of the correct answer as a distractor, so reading carefully matters more than reading fast.
Verbal · Question 9
Ephemeral is to Permanent as Ubiquitous is to ___?
Answer: Rare
Why: Ephemeral and permanent are opposites, so the second pair must be opposites too. Ubiquitous means found everywhere, so its opposite is rare. “Common” and “universal” are near-synonyms of ubiquitous, which is exactly why they are offered.
Verbal · Question 10
Which word does NOT belong with the others? (Novel, Sonnet, Haiku, Ballad)
Answer: Novel
Why: A sonnet, a haiku and a ballad are all forms of poetry. A novel is prose. The category is narrower than “types of writing”, which is what makes it harder than a simple odd-one-out.
Verbal · Question 11
Which word means most nearly the same as “Perfunctory”?
Answer: Cursory
Why: Perfunctory means done as a routine duty, without real care or interest. Cursory carries the same sense of hasty and superficial. “Thorough” and “deliberate” are its opposites.
Verbal · Question 12
Which word is most opposite in meaning to “Laconic”?
Answer: Verbose
Why: Laconic means using very few words, so its opposite is verbose, meaning wordy. The trap is “terse”, which is a synonym of laconic rather than an antonym — and it is the option most people pick when reading quickly.
Verbal · Question 13
Cartographer is to Map as Lexicographer is to ___?
Answer: Dictionary
Why: A cartographer makes maps; a lexicographer compiles dictionaries. Same “maker to the thing made” relationship. “Library” and “alphabet” are related to dictionaries but are not what a lexicographer produces.
Verbal · Question 14
Which word does NOT belong with the others? (Candid, Insidious, Duplicitous, Treacherous)
Answer: Candid
Why: Insidious, duplicitous and treacherous all describe deceit. Candid means open and honest, the opposite quality.
Numerical Reasoning 6 questions
Number sequences where the rule usually sits in the gaps between the numbers rather than in the numbers themselves, plus one word problem.
Numerical · Question 15
What number comes next? 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, ?
Answer: 21
Why: Each number is the sum of the two before it: 2+3=5, 3+5=8, 5+8=13, so 8+13=21. This is the Fibonacci pattern, offset from its usual start.
Numerical · Question 16
What number comes next? 3, 7, 15, 31, ?
Answer: 63
Why: Each step doubles the previous number and adds one: 3×2+1=7, 7×2+1=15, 15×2+1=31, so 31×2+1=63. Simply doubling gives 62, which is offered as a trap.
Numerical · Question 17
What number comes next? 121, 100, 81, 64, ?
Answer: 49
Why: These are squares counting down: 11², 10², 9², 8². The next is 7² = 49. Reading the gaps instead (−21, −19, −17) points the same way.
Numerical · Question 18
What number comes next? 2, 6, 12, 20, 30, ?
Answer: 42
Why: The gaps rise by two: +4, +6, +8, +10, so the next gap is +12 and 30+12=42. These are also n×(n+1): 1×2, 2×3, 3×4, and so on.
Numerical · Question 19
A jacket is reduced by 20%. The reduced price is then cut by a further 25%. What is the total discount from the original price?
Answer: 40%
Why: Discounts do not add up. After 20% off you pay 80%; taking 25% off that leaves 75% of 80%, which is 60%. So the total discount is 40%, not the 45% you get by adding 20 and 25.
Numerical · Question 20
What number comes next? 7, 10, 16, 28, ?
Answer: 52
Why: The gaps double each time: +3, +6, +12, so the next gap is +24 and 28+24=52. The pattern is in the differences, not in the numbers themselves.
Spatial Reasoning 4 questions
Mental construction, reflection, figure counting and orientation. No formulas needed — each one can be solved by picturing it carefully.
Spatial · Question 21
A cube is painted on all six outer faces, then cut into 27 identical smaller cubes. How many small cubes have paint on exactly two faces?
Answer: 12
Why: A 3×3×3 cube has 8 corner pieces with three painted faces, 6 face-centre pieces with one, and 1 hidden centre with none. The two-face pieces are the ones sitting along the edges but not at a corner — exactly one per edge, and a cube has 12 edges.
Spatial · Question 22
Which shape is the mirror image (flipped left to right) of the one shown?
An L-shape in its original orientation
Answer: Flipped left to right
Why: A mirror image reverses the shape as a reflection would. Rotating it by 180° produces a different result for an asymmetric shape like this one, which is why the rotated option is offered alongside.
Spatial · Question 23
How many triangles of any size appear in this figure in total?
A triangle with two lines drawn from the apex, dividing the base into three parts
Answer: 6
Why: Count by how many base segments each triangle spans. Three single segments, two pairs of adjacent segments, and one triangle spanning all three: 3 + 2 + 1 = 6. Most people stop at the three small ones.
Spatial · Question 24
You are facing north. You turn 90° to your right, then turn 180°, then turn 90° to your left. Which direction are you now facing?
Answer: South
Why: Track it one turn at a time. Facing north, a 90° right turn faces you east. A 180° turn from east faces you west. A 90° left turn from west faces you south.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why publish the answers at all?
Because a score without an explanation teaches you nothing. Seeing why each answer is correct is the part that’s actually useful, and hiding the reasoning would only make the test feel like a trick. If a question beat you, the explanation is where the value is.
Will reading these answers change my reasoning ability?
Not meaningfully. You’ll recognise these exact 24 questions if you retake the test, which inflates that particular score, but the underlying skill doesn’t change from reading an explanation once. Treat your first honest attempt as the representative one.
Can I use this page to prepare for a real, proctored IQ test?
Only a little. Clinical instruments like the WAIS-IV use entirely different, secured question sets, so memorising these won’t transfer. Getting familiar with the general logic types — two-rule sequences, difference patterns, mental rotation — does help with format nerves.
Why are some wrong options so close to the right one?
Deliberately. A distractor that’s obviously wrong tests nothing. Several questions offer a near-synonym of the correct answer, or a shape that follows one of two rules but not both, so a careless reading produces a plausible but wrong choice. Question 12 is the clearest example: “terse” is a synonym of laconic, not its opposite.
How were these 24 questions chosen?
They spread across the four domains most modern reasoning batteries use, weighted toward pattern reasoning because matrix-style reasoning is generally considered the strongest single marker of fluid intelligence. Eight pattern, six verbal, six numerical, four spatial.
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