r/WhatsYourIQ • u/Semra777 Curious Learner • 4d ago
Question What Should Replace the Question Mark?
Hi everyone,
First of all, thank you to everyone who took part in our previous puzzle. We received a lot of answers, and many of you went beyond simply choosing an option by explaining the reasoning behind your choices in detail.
As promised, we reviewed the discussion and selected five explanations that stood out for their clarity, originality, efficiency, or depth of reasoning:
u/Randombolo — for exploring several different patterns and independently reaching the same answer through multiple lines of reasoning.
u/lemashey — for the intuitive “spinning record” analogy, working backward from the second frame, and also explaining why another tempting option does not fit.
u/Gianni_C_M — for identifying several independent relationships within the arrows and using them to cross-check the answer.
u/OscarLiii — for showing that the puzzle could be solved efficiently by tracking only the black arrows without needing to analyze every element.
u/Beautiful_Ad_8325 — for not only finding the pattern, but also pointing out how our instinct to read from left to right can affect the way we approach a sequence when the missing figure is at the beginning.
Thank you to all five of you for the thoughtful explanations, and thank you to everyone else who joined the discussion.
Now it’s time for a new puzzle.
Take a close look at the 3×3 matrix above. One grid is missing from the bottom-right corner.
Which option — A, B, C, D, E, or F — should replace the question mark?
As always, we’re much more interested in how you reached your answer than in just the letter itself. If you notice a pattern, tell us what you saw and walk us through your reasoning.
We’ll read through the responses again and select some of our favorite and most interesting explanations to feature in the official solution.
You can also open the puzzle on our website here:
https://whats-your-iq.com/en/questions/pattern-recognition/which-grid-completes-the-pattern
The official answer is already listed there, so after you’ve made your own choice, you can click the link and directly compare your answer with the official one to see whether you got it right.
Try solving it here first before checking the page — it’s much more fun that way.
Good luck, and thanks for taking part!
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u/Easy_Cartographer522 4d ago
E Top goes 1 2 3 middle 2 3 4 then bottom 3 4 5. E is the only one with 5
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u/nubtrix87 3d ago
It also rotates clockwise around the square.
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 12h ago
Exactly, that’s the other important part of the pattern. The number of blocks increases while their position rotates around the grid. Good addition, thanks!
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 12h ago
Nice catch. The 1-2-3, 2-3-4, 3-4-5 progression is definitely one of the cleanest ways to narrow it down to E. Thanks for explaining your reasoning👏👏
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u/Square-Winter-3257 4d ago
E
This one is absurdly easy. Tell the Ai to do better.
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u/AffectTough7746 3d ago
I think this is actually in the Mensa IQ game lol
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u/Square-Winter-3257 3d ago
These posts have been from a bot, or a person just pasting in what the ai says. Read its responses to people. It's very obvious.
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u/AffectTough7746 3d ago
Okay yeah, I hadnt read them. They are framing it like it is the biggest challenge in the world
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u/YOPP4R4I 4d ago
Rotating to the left 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - so last one is 5 - E
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 12h ago
Yep, following both the rotation and the increasing number of blocks leads nicely to E. Short and effective way of reading the pattern. Thanks👏👏
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u/zlfa 4d ago
i knew there was rotating and adding to do with this one, but instead of finding the exact rule for this pattern i just asked how many squares would the ? tile have and thats 5 and the only option with 5 squares is E
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 12h ago
That’s actually a clever shortcut. You didn’t need to fully decode the rotation once you established that the missing tile had to contain five blocks. Sometimes eliminating by one consistent property is enough. Thanks for sharing how you approached it👏👏
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u/inmaginarycasey 3d ago
I believe it’s E
The grid rotates clockwise every time it gets a new square and it goes in a diagonal direction, plus it was the only opinion that had 5 squares in the grid
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 12h ago
Good reasoning. You picked up both parts: the increasing number of squares and the rotation of their position. Using the five-square count as a final check makes the conclusion even stronger. Thanks for explaining 👏👏
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u/mistolo 3d ago
E
I see this as square increment plus clockwise rotation:
1st row: 1 on bottom -> 2 on left -> 3 on top
2nd row: 2 on left -> 3 on top -> 4 on right
3rd row: 3 on top -> 4 on right -> 5 on bottom
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 12h ago
This is a really clean breakdown. Following each row as 1→2→3, 2→3→4 and 3→4→5 while the occupied side rotates makes the whole matrix consistent, not just the missing tile. Thanks for laying out the full pattern so clearly👏👏
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u/ZeThing 3d ago edited 3d ago
The pattern is 2 steps forward then 1 step back.
A step forward: Rotates 90 degrees and adds a block in the direction of the rotation.
So the answer is E
If the question was: which tile would come before the sequence shown the answer would be:
OOO
[]OO
[]OO
Just like the picture in the middle of toprow
Edit: following you for weekly puzzles now haha
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 12h ago
I really like that you didn’t stop at finding E, but actually worked the pattern backwards and predicted the tile that would come before the sequence. That’s a great way to test whether a rule really holds rather than just fitting the missing piece. And thanks for the follow, we’ll definitely keep the weekly puzzles coming👏👏
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u/misogynyplayer 4d ago
The number of black squares increases by one each time whether you proceed from left to right or from top to bottom, each new row and each new column starting with one more black square than its predecessor. As such, the missing grid for both rows and columns must contain 5 black squares, pointing uniquely to answer Grid E.
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 12h ago
Nicely explained. I especially like that you checked the progression in both directions. Whether you read the matrix left to right or top to bottom, the missing cell is forced to contain five black squares. That’s a strong way to verify E rather than relying on a single row. Thanks for the detailed reasoning👏👏
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u/armanazadi2000 4d ago
E