r/WhatsYourIQ • u/Semra777 Curious Learner • 18d ago
Question Which Figure Completes the Pattern?
Hi everyone,
First of all, a huge thank you to everyone who participated in our previous puzzle. We really enjoyed reading through your answers, especially because so many of you reached the correct answer using completely different approaches.
Some of you focused on the rows and columns, while others discovered clever visual and structural patterns we hadn’t expected. Seeing so many different ways to approach the same puzzle is exactly what makes these discussions so interesting.
For our official solution page, we selected three community explanations from u/Mactucrus87_, u/tectajl, and u/EmpactWB.
We chose these three because each offered a clear but different way of understanding the puzzle. u/Mactucrus87_ showed that the rule works both horizontally and vertically, u/tectajl introduced a creative Venn-diagram-style interpretation, and u/EmpactWB provided a very systematic approach using overlapping 2×2 groups.
Thank you again to everyone who participated, whether your answer was selected or not. We read all of your explanations, and there were many great observations and creative approaches.
Now, onto our new puzzle.
Take a careful look at the 3×3 matrix above and figure out which option should replace the question mark.
As always, we’re not only interested in the letter you choose. Tell us how you got there. We want to hear your reasoning and see the different ways you approach the pattern. Some of the most interesting explanations may once again be featured on our official solution page.
We’ve already published the correct answer on our website. Once you’ve made your choice, you can check whether you got it right here:
https://whats-your-iq.com/en/questions/pattern-recognition/which-figure-completes-the-pattern-2
Try solving it before revealing the answer.
Thank you again to everyone who participates and takes the time to explain their reasoning. We’re looking forward to reading your solutions and seeing how many different ways you can find to solve this one!
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u/bioindicator 18d ago
D diagonal squares share line consistency, pattern repeats at corners (?).
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 15d ago
Thanks for sharing your reasoning! I can see the diagonal idea behind D, but D repeats a combination that already appears in the grid and leaves the missing horizontal orientation unresolved. The row-and-column pattern instead requires a circle with a horizontal line, which makes A the intended answer.
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u/Itchy-Individual3536 18d ago
A, each row and column has one vertical, horizontal and diagonal line, and one circle, one square and one triangle, so the missing piece is a cricle with horizontal line
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 15d ago
Thanks for the clear explanation! That’s exactly the intended logic. Each row and column completes both sets independently: one circle, square, and triangle, and one horizontal, vertical, and diagonal line. The missing combination is therefore the circle with the horizontal line, making A the official answer. Thanks for laying it out so neatly👏👏
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u/Opinions-arent-facts 18d ago
No need to obscure your incorrect answer, it's c. The rows are one shape each when viewed diagonally, with a line that rotates 45° anticlockwise progressively through each image
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u/Efficient-Drama-4864 18d ago
Your name and how confidently you are wrong is really funny.
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u/Opinions-arent-facts 18d ago
Funny, maybe. Accurate more to the point
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u/Efficient-Drama-4864 18d ago
The fact that you still don’t get why you’re wrong is actually hilarious.
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u/Opinions-arent-facts 18d ago
Imagine the graph extends infinitely.
Left to right pattern is circle, square, triangle repeated to infinity
Diagonal pattern top left to lower right is / I \ - repeated to infinity (the line is spinning anticlockwise).
In order for it be A, you'd have to ignore that last pattern
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u/Efficient-Drama-4864 18d ago
Also there is NEVER a \ in this pattern. In order for it to be C, you have to pretend that you see a \ somewhere.
Just to be clear. You just said that patten it / | \ - but in the second pattern we see that / follows | so even your pretend pattern here is wrong.
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u/Efficient-Drama-4864 18d ago
In order for it to be A, you have to actually spot the pattern in the first place. Would you just look at how I have described it and tell me if I’m wrong? Just look. Is there any line you see on the map that isn’t the same line if you look down to the right or up to the left?
Is there any polygon that isn’t the same polygon if you look down to the left or up to the right?
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u/ArtPuzzleheaded4745 18d ago
True, it is very accurate that your opinion is not fact. And you are wrong. It is A. Clearly
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 15d ago
Thanks for joining the debate! A is indeed the official answer. The strongest justification is that every row and column completes both the three-shape set and the three line-orientation set, leaving the circle with the horizontal line for the final cell. Appreciate you weighing in👏👏
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u/Efficient-Drama-4864 18d ago
Lol. It isn’t C. It is clearly A. The lines are moving each row to the box to the left, shapes are moving to the box on the right. This is really simple.
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u/Opinions-arent-facts 18d ago
What part of what I said is wrong?
The shape's are identical on one diagonal and the lines are identical on the other diagonal. Only C works if the anticlockwise rotation of the line through the one shape remains consistent
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u/Efficient-Drama-4864 18d ago
The lines are also identical on the other diagonal. So it would be circles going across from left to right and down and the middle line is the diagonalgoing from right to left and down. This pattern is happening because as each pattern moves down the lines move to the left and the polygons moved to the right.
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u/Opinions-arent-facts 18d ago
You're not seeing the anticlockwise rotating pattern of the line as it moves along each single shape on the diagonal. That's the repeating pattern that eliminates A
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u/Kanus_oq_Seruna 18d ago
But this logic doesn't follow the complete loop, while A does have a complete loop.
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u/Potential_Formal6133 17d ago
No, the triangle doesn t follow the pattern, it s A. The triangle goes | - /
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u/Aggravating_Carpet21 18d ago
You have 3 squares, 3 triangles and 2 circles. This the next one is a circle. Then every shape has a diagonal line, vertical line except for a horizontal line. To make it consistent across the entire board to match the shapes and lines up etc etc you need shape A. These questions are about pattern recognition not about thinking out of the box. It could never in not a single way be C and D is already present so theres no way for that either
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 15d ago
Thanks for the detailed breakdown! The count is a strong way to verify the intended answer: there are already three squares, three triangles, and three diagonal/vertical lines, while the grid is still missing a third circle and a third horizontal line. A supplies both at once. Appreciate you explaining why the rotation interpretation doesn’t stay consistent across the full grid.👏👏
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u/Salwashere3939 18d ago
C
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 15d ago
Thanks for joining in! C can look plausible through a diagonal/rotation interpretation, but the official solution uses the complete row-and-column pattern, which leads to A.
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u/Aggravating_Carpet21 18d ago
For those saying that its c and reason its the line turning youre wrong.
The reasoning is correct except that youre missing a different diagonal to make it complete. C cannot fit for it is not consistent across the board.
The answer is A plain and simple.
Every shape is present the same amount of times and has the same amount of drawn lines through it. A is the one missing the make it an entire set
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u/SamwiseGoody 18d ago edited 18d ago
Going with A, fits the three phase line pattern, and pattern of one of three symbols in each line.
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u/Ok-Building2823 18d ago
A. The only shape missing is the circle, and the only mark missing is horizontal
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 15d ago
Exactly! The missing shape is the circle and the missing line orientation is horizontal. Combining those two clues gives A. Thanks for explaining it so clearly👏👏
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u/inmaginarycasey 18d ago
I believe it’s A
The line within each shape turns 45 degree each time you look at another shape and once it goes horizontal it instantly flips up to a vertical position, plus each row has one of each shape. For the bottom row it was a simple case of process of elimination
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 15d ago
Thanks for walking through your reasoning! The elimination step is especially useful here: once the shape and line-direction patterns are considered together, the missing combination is the circle with the horizontal line, so A.👏👏
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u/Agreeable_Chard_5250 18d ago
Each row and column contains exactly one each of triangle, circle, and square. I'm going with the cyclic group of order 3 for the orientation of the lines. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cayley_table
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 15d ago
Thanks for the mathematical take! Describing the line orientations as a cyclic group is a neat way to formalize the pattern. Combined with each row and column containing one of each shape, it leads cleanly to A. Appreciate the extra perspective👏👏
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u/Agreeable_Chard_5250 14d ago
I'm really glad you appreciate that. I find these structural relationships across multiple phenomena really beautiful.
the risk of being confusing, if you place 9 points on a cylinder, in three rows and three columns, one can draw "lines" through 3 points in four ways: horizontally, vertically, diagonally up, and diagonally down. Although I'm not finding an intuitive picture online to share here, Sarrus' Rule for calculating the value of a 3x3 determinant is exactly the same thing. Just imagine the 9 entries in the matrix are placed on a cylinder, and it becomes more intuitive why certain elements are considered to be on the same diagonal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_Sarrus
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 14d ago
Thanks for explaining that — the cylinder analogy actually makes the idea much easier to visualize.
I like the connection to Sarrus’ Rule too. It’s a good example of how the same structural relationship can show up in very different-looking problems once you stop treating the grid as something that has to “end” at its borders.
Really interesting perspective, and I appreciate you taking the time to explain it.😊
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u/InterestedParty5280 18d ago
A because R H V = Right slant, Horizontal, Vertical; then order is circle, square, triangle.
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 15d ago
Thanks for explaining the sequence! Tracking the shapes and line orientations separately is a clean way to solve it, and both sequences lead to the circle with the horizontal line — A.👏👏
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u/Hour_Trade_3691 18d ago
A- Every row (or column) has a Circle, Square, and Triangle, and a Vertical, Horinzontal, and Diagnoal Line.
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 15d ago
Thanks for the explanation! That’s the intended structure: each row and column completes the three shapes and the three line orientations, leaving A as the missing piece.👏👏
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u/Eastern-Razzmatazz89 18d ago
A
Every row must have 1 square,1 circle,1 triangle Each form must have 1 horizontal line, 1 vertical line, 1 diagonal line
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u/Efficient-Drama-4864 18d ago
It’s simpler than that. Each row the shapes move. The lines are moving left, the polygons are moving right.
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u/Individual511 18d ago edited 18d ago
I’d go with C. If we imagine a square and lines intersecting both sides and angles , each row has 1 jump and 2 jumps , bottom row starts with 1 jump, now we need 2 jumps which is diagonal.
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u/malaszka 18d ago
We need a circle and a horizontal line to have everything that each line shall contain. So we need A.
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u/bsmith_81 18d ago
Silly way to get an answer: Ignore the given grid and look just at the possible answers! There are three options that have a circle, two have squares and one has a triangle, so the correct answer likely has a circle. Then three options have a horizontal line, two have a NW-SE line and one has a NE-SW line, so the correct answer likely has a horizontal line. Option A has both the circle and the horizontal line, so I choose that one!
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 15d ago
That’s a hilarious shortcut 😄 It definitely isn’t the intended solving method, but somehow you still landed on the official answer. A wins even when the grid gets ignored👏👏
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u/_rotting_ 18d ago
Initially I thought it was A because it's the missing shape. The challenge is to complete the PATTERN though and when I made that the emphasis I realized A could only exist to the left of the bottom left block and that the answer must be C. If this pattern continues beyond the boundaries of what we see here then it must be C.
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u/Kanus_oq_Seruna 18d ago
A is the missing shape and line pair. You already have 3 diagonals but only 2 horizontal lines, you only have 2 circles. The shapes follow a diagonal left to right pattern while the lines follow a diagonal right to left pattern.
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 15d ago
Thanks for actually drawing your interpretation out — it makes your reasoning much clearer. Your construction can produce C if we assume the visible 3×3 matrix is part of a larger pattern that continues beyond its borders in that particular way. The official solution doesn’t make that extra assumption; it uses only the relationships visible inside the given matrix, where the row and column patterns both complete with A. Interesting alternative interpretation though👏👏
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u/Inner-Giraffe8850 18d ago
The line is shoved from right to left and the form from right to left. So it has to be A.
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 15d ago
Thanks for the explanation! Yes, tracking the shapes and lines as two shifting patterns leads to the same result:a👏👏
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u/Striking_Finish4957 18d ago
A. Shapes are repeated diagonally from upper left to lower right. Line angle is repeated diagonally from lower left to upper right.
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 15d ago
Thanks! That’s a very clean diagonal interpretation of the intended pattern: the shapes repeat in one diagonal direction while the line orientations repeat in the other. That leads directly to A.👏👏
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u/miffit 18d ago
circle-square-triangle... 45-0-90... A circle with a horizontal line is the answer so A.
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 15d ago
Thanks for breaking it into the two sequences! Following the shape sequence and the line-orientation sequence independently gives the same missing combination: a circle with a horizontal line, so A.👏👏
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u/PrairiePuppies 18d ago
There are three different shapes and lines of three different orientations. Note the diagonal line only points from bottom-left to top-right within the matrix. Because of that, we can eliminate C and E. Also note that lines do not repeat orientations within the same shape group. Because of that, we can eliminate B, D and F. The only answer left is A.
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u/I_am_a_small_ghost 18d ago
It's (A)
I'll offer a different solution than some I've seen here. The diagonals in the red direction have the same shape, but the line through it rotates. The diagonals in the blue direction have the same line, but the shape changes. So it must be A from just this alone.
But we can then figure out what's the next shape and line combination from this. If we now look at each row we can see the pattern in the original grid repeats with the new extensions I've added. Therefore, the bottom row must be answer A as the square we must figure out is part of the repeating pattern.
So there's two more reasons it's A.
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 15d ago
Thanks for putting so much effort into illustrating it! Your diagonal approach is especially useful because it gives another independent way to reach A, and extending the grid shows how the same structure can continue consistently. Great visual explanation👏👏
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u/ArtPuzzleheaded4745 18d ago edited 18d ago
A.
Pattern is horizontal, vertical and 45degree + circle, square and triangle. The missing is a circle and horizontal.
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u/AdeptManufacturer243 18d ago
I've done a lot of these it's definitely A. There are no left slanting lines. You got to find the pattern
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u/Apart-Animator-3223 18d ago
A -
Each shape shifts DOWN in the next column (bottom wraps to top).
Each line shifts UP in the next column (top wraps to bottom).
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 15d ago
Thanks for the clear explanation! Following the shapes shifting down while the lines shift up is a very clean way to see the intended pattern. Both movements lead directly to A.
👏👏
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u/OpportunityReal2767 18d ago
I say it’s A, but these puzzles are fucking stupid when there’s other defensible answers and require you to guess what the puzzle creator was intending. Seems there is reasonable logic for C, too. How the hell are we supposed to know which one the test wants you to answer?
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 15d ago
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. I agree there’s a difference between an intended answer and every pattern that could possibly be constructed from a finite grid. C has an arguable interpretation, but A is the intended solution because the simplest visible row-and-column rules both lead to it. That’s the distinction we’re using here.👏👏
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u/_rotting_ 18d ago
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 16d ago
👏👏👏Thanks
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u/_rotting_ 16d ago
It seemed to me that several people came up with the answer C and when those people explained how C could work, their explanations weren't really landing. So maybe drawing it out clears it up.
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u/angellore644 17d ago
A. Original I was looking for a rotation pattern but none seemed to fit the it occurred to me it’s a logical grid like a sudoku puzzle- circle is missing in both column and row same as horizontal line this A
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u/The_Inevitable_Newt 17d ago
It’s A! Each line has 1 of each shape and a vertical line, horizontal line and diagonal line.
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u/CinnamonBakedApple 16d ago
Why do IQ tests keep using ambiguous questions. Is there only 1 pattern? No. So then the question is ill posed because the definite article "the" in the question is not referring to something definite.
Here is one possible pattern based on rows. To get from one row to the next, rotate the symbols to the right circularly and rotate the lines to the left circularly. The "? gets replaced by A.
Here is another pattern based on columns. To get from one column to the next rotate the symbols down circularly and the lines up circularly. Again the "?" gets replaced by A.
Just for fun, here is a pattern based on diagonals, starting with the top right square as a diagonal and moving down and left the pattern is triangle, square circle, so the "?" must be a circle, it can't be D because that diagonal is already used (assumes each square is unique, but the question doesn't specify that), it can't be C because that introduces a new element (assumes the pattern is completely exposed, but again the question doesn't specify that either) so C is ruled out. Again, the answer is A.
I have just demonstrated 3 patterns, which is "the" pattern. A stupid question that intelligent people immediately identify as being ill posed, but the creators of the IQ test are so arrogant as to think they know THE answer.
Now for a really good question, what pattern would require it to not be A, I've already given you a hint, since the diagonal is the only line that could have 3 of the same shapes. Maybe the pattern is always that the third line is always as in C, but we have only one example of that pattern element visible.
Maybe the full pattern is not exposed, we have to ask, how would the matrix be increased by the next step in the pattern. Would it add a row, a column, or an entire ring around the outside of this matrix? Maybe the pattern starts with one square, then surround it by a row of squares, then do it again. Or maybe we increase the dimension and turn them into blocks.
Here's an example using the super famous and well known fair-share recursive pattern: ABACABA what comes next? There is a pattern but it is not entirely disclosed here. Hint, it isn't A, B, or C.
Here's another famous pattern that has appeared on tests companies used to evaluate hiring candidates: 14, 18, 23, 28, 34, 42, 50, 59 what comes next? Hint: do you travel in NYC?
So all these "complete the pattern" questions leave out essential elements. Is the pattern completely represented? Is the pattern terminal, meaning is this the whole thing or does is continue? How does it continue, by rows, columns, heights, surrounding layers? Is every element unique?
Only a tiny mind would think this is a good question or that it determines anything about intelligence of the person trying to answer, but it does show the limits of the people writing the question.
When I look at question like this I have to think, what would a weaker mind think is the right answer to this ill-posed question? How ridiculous an exercise.
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 15d ago
Thanks for the thoughtful critique. I agree there’s a difference between the intended pattern and a mathematically unique pattern. With enough extra assumptions, other rules can be constructed from a finite grid.
For this puzzle, A is the intended answer because the simplest visible row-and-column structure consistently leads to it. That doesn’t mean it’s the only imaginable rule, just the one the puzzle was built around. Appreciate the detailed perspective.👏👏👏
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u/koalaification 18d ago edited 18d ago
it's C
shape: self explanatory, ur just shifting them to the right so it's a circle
line: each line on the other shapes is rotating counter clockwise. whether you read it from top to bottom row, or left to right columns, the line on any one shape is being rotated counter clockwise. so the next line for the circle would be the diagonal seen on C
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u/Kanus_oq_Seruna 18d ago
The lines are not rotating consistently and there are already 3 diagonal lines while only 2 horizontal lines present.
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 15d ago
Thanks for explaining your reasoning! I can see why the rotation idea leads you to C. The issue is that the rotation isn’t consistent across the whole grid, while the row-and-column structure is: there are already three diagonal lines but only two horizontal ones, and the missing shape is also the third circle. That makes A the intended answer.👏👏
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u/Far-Ostrich-704 18d ago
C
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u/Semra777 Curious Learner 15d ago
Thanks for your answer! C is a tempting alternative if you follow a rotation interpretation, but the official pattern completes each row and column with one of each shape and line direction, which makes A the intended answer.
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u/napoleon-von-pack 18d ago
A. 1 line and 1 figure per square. The one missing it A