Shape codes

They teach you what each letter position means

HintWithout them the code would be pure guesswork.

The whyNothing else in the question defines the code. The examples are not decoration or a warm-up — they are the whole key, and everything you decide afterwards has to come from them.

Yes — each position is tied to one feature throughout

HintThe slot, not the letter, is what holds the meaning.

The whyThat steadiness is what lets you decode at all. Once you know the first slot tracks the outline, every first letter you meet in that question tracks the outline too.

No — the letters are relabelled every time

HintEach puzzle brings its own private key.

The whyThe labels are shuffled deliberately, so nothing you learned in the last question helps you here. Trying to remember letters across questions is worse than useless — it plants a reading you never checked.

Only the layout — the method is identical

HintTurn your head and it becomes the puzzle you already know.

The whyExamination papers print both arrangements, and the switch rattles children far more than it should. Work top to bottom exactly as you would work left to right.

Compare the examples and see which feature moves with it

HintLine the figures up and hunt for what shifts alongside.

The whyYou are looking for a partnership: whenever that slot takes a new letter, something in the figure should have changed too. The feature that keeps step with the slot is the feature it names.

shape, shading and number

HintWhich outline, how it is filled in, and how much of it there is.

The whyOnly two of these are coded in any one question, and the rest of the figure is held still so nothing but the code varies. Knowing the short list of candidates makes the hunt quick.

2

HintOne slot for each feature the puzzle tracks.

The whyTwo slots, two features. That fixed shape is useful: a code with a different length would mean you had misread the question.

3

HintEnough to pin down both slots, and no more.

The whyEvery value you need for your answer has already appeared among them. If some feature of the test pattern seems never to have been labelled, you are watching a feature the code ignores.

One of its two letters can be correct while the other is not

HintCheck both slots before you choose, not just the one you spotted first.

The whyThe options are built from letters the examples really did teach, so none can be thrown out on looks alone. Every one of them has to be judged slot by slot.

Decode the examples first, then code the new pattern

HintBuild the key before you try to use it.

The whyChildren often start by staring at the shape they must label, which is the last step, not the first. Nothing about it can be read until the mapping is settled.

Reapply it to every worked example and see if it fits

HintA rule that only suits one of them is not the rule.

The whyA reading that explains a single example is a coincidence; one that explains all of them is the answer. This check takes seconds and catches the mistake that costs the mark.

No — a coded feature has to vary across the examples

HintIf it never budges, it teaches you nothing.

The whySomething that never changes gives the letters nothing to distinguish, so it cannot be what they name. Ruling out the still features first is the fastest way into the mapping.