I've always liked puzzles and games, and I've always admired good practical jokes. Accordingly, my two favorite newsgroups are rec.puzzles and alt.shenanigans.
One day, a rec.puzzler posted a request for an IQ test. Now, while I enjoy solving the types of puzzles that usually appear on IQ tests, I don't really care for the tests themselves. I was thinking about the arbitrary nature of standardized testing when an evil inspiration struck me. I hopped over to the alt shenanigans group and proposed my plan.
To my delight, I received much encouragement and assistance from my fellow shensters, and in the end, we had a pretty good post for the unsuspecting rec.puzzlers. On first glance, it's a fairly standard-looking IQ test, and on second glance, it's a pretty challenging-looking one.
Don't spend too much time on it... the "punchline" to this shenanigan is that questions on this test are complete nonsense, and the answers were picked at random. How's that for arbitrary testing? :-)
As it turned out, I made a lame mistake in the original post, and the gig was up much sooner than it had to be. I 'fessed up and posted a corrected, final version so that the rec.puzzlers could share the fun.
This all took place in the spring of 1994, but I'd love to get a few more laughs out of this. Hope to hear from you if you choose to participate!
Back to Jabberwock's Lair
Last updated 5/13/96 by Jabberwock.