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THE ANSWER: The letter “Z.” The sequence takes the first letter past the first vowel (A > B), then the second letter past the second vowel (E > F > G), and so the final entry is the fifth letter past the fifth vowel (U > V > W > X > Y > Z).
wow, i got it!
posted by grant on 8-7-2008 at 7:39 am
Wow I got it too… but not that way. B-G is 5, G-L is 5, L-S is 7, S-Z is 7. Hmmph! I guess it works.
I love the Brain Game!
posted by Miss Nae on 8-7-2008 at 8:16 am
Miss Nae, thats how I got it too.
Great minds think alike.
posted by osse85 on 8-7-2008 at 8:47 am
Sigh… once again reaffirming I have no chance at being a memeber of Mensa.
posted by Marty on 8-7-2008 at 8:57 am
Ka-Ching!
Good start to the day!
posted by D-Mac on 8-7-2008 at 9:42 am
I got it by writing down every letter of the alphabet and counting the letters inbetween. I ended up with Z as well. (B & G have 4 letters in between, G & L four letters in between. L to S is 6 letters in between and S to Z is 6 letters in between).
Keep ‘em comin, mensa man.
posted by Jill on 8-7-2008 at 10:12 am
Woah… I actually got it! And this is actual MENSA material… Sweet!
Miss Nae: I actually stumbled upon that pattern (5, 5, 7, X) at first, too. I kept looking though because I didn’t think it looked like the sort of sequence that they would be looking for, so I didn’t look for the 7th letter past S. Amazing that the answer would still come out the same, so thanks for posting that!
posted by LinuXtreme on 8-7-2008 at 10:28 am
Is the Mensa test multiple choice? If so, I might want to sign up.
I never did figure out the pattern, but I did say “Hmm, bet it’s Z.” Maybe the reason was buried in my subconscience.
posted by catherine ann on 8-7-2008 at 11:44 am
I originally thought Z, but then I thought E would make a better answer because I was thinking along a completely different path. I thought of what each number would look like if it was on an LED screen and the number would correspond to. B=8, G=6, L=7 (when rotated) and S=5. Z would correspond to 2, but then I realized that in the pattern of 8,6,7, and 5, 3 would be a logical choice because of Tommy Tutone’s song, 8657309/Jenny. I never once thought about the relationship between the consonants and the vowels…
posted by Mortal Light on 8-7-2008 at 12:39 pm
All I could think was that it is the disemvowelled version of “bagels”. I guess I was sort of on the right track.
posted by red on 8-7-2008 at 3:12 pm
hahaha, i thought about bagels too, red.
that kills me.
i only care about MENSA if they have bagels.
posted by lindsey on 8-7-2008 at 5:39 pm
I totally got that first try. Awesome Brain Game!
posted by Kendall on 8-7-2008 at 11:03 pm
I guessed X. The difference between B and L is 10 letters. The difference between G and S is 12. So I guessed that the distance between L and the next letter would be 14, making X. So close!
posted by Josiah on 8-7-2008 at 11:51 pm
I was going with the “bagels” idea too, which meant that to me the next letter was N. Because it’s always bagels *and* something else, and in the phrase “bagels and …” N would be the next consonant.
Perhaps I should not take Brain Games prior to lunch?
posted by Roolet on 8-8-2008 at 12:40 am
The onset of Mensa. That’s one priceless phrase.
posted by Miss Cellania on 8-11-2008 at 9:19 am