Embedded Figures Puzzles
A simple shape goes into a tangle of lines and vanishes. It is still there, drawn exactly as it was — but its edges have become parts of longer lines, so there is no outline left to see. Sixty patterns, and after every attempt the shape is traced out corner by corner, with the missing edge named in each figure that failed.
Also known as hidden figures, find the hidden shape and figure embedding.
The Shape Hidden In Plain Sight
An embedded figures puzzle shows a target shape — a circle, a cross, a triangle — and a busier figure. The target is drawn using the busy figure's own lines, so its outline disappears into the noise. You either trace it directly or pick which of four busy figures contains it.
How To Solve Embedded Figures Puzzles
- Fix the target's proportions in your mind: side lengths, angles.
- Scan for its most distinctive segment first — usually the longest line.
- Trace the outline from there, segment by segment.
- The target always uses existing lines; no option needs new ones.
Longest segment first. Distinctive long lines are rare in a busy figure, and every true embedding passes through one.
| Family | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Same way up | The hidden shape appears exactly as shown — no turning, no flipping. The place to start. |
| Turned | The shape is in there somewhere, but it may have been given a quarter or a half turn first. |
| Turned or mirrored | All eight ways up are allowed, so a mirrored copy counts. The hardest way to search. |
| Lines that run on | The shape’s edges are parts of longer lines, so nothing stops where the shape does. |
| Crowded figures | Many more lines than the shape needs, so eliminating by eye stops working. |
| By target shape | Practise one family of target at a time — triangles, four-sided shapes, arrows or letter shapes. |
| Which one does not | Reversed: three of the figures hide the shape and one does not. Slower, and much less forgiving. |
| Which shape is in it | One complex figure and four candidate shapes — only one of them is really in there. |
Same Lines, Different Figure
The generator composes each busy figure so the target genuinely fits inside it — the covering is exact, not approximate. If a candidate outline needs a line to bend where the figure has none, it is not the target.
Embedded Figures Puzzles Frequently Asked Questions
Is the hidden shape always exactly the same size?
Yes. It may be turned, and in some patterns mirrored, but it is never resized or stretched. Every edge keeps its length and every corner its angle, which is what makes the search finite: there are at most eight orientations and a limited number of positions to try.
Can an edge of the shape be part of a longer line?
Yes, and it usually is. That is the mechanic the whole item type is built on. Never reject a figure because its lines run past the corners of the shape — check whether the ink is there along the edge, not whether the line stops.
Why is “which figure does not contain it” so much slower?
Because you cannot stop early. In the standard form, finding the shape means you are done. In the reversed form, finding the shape only eliminates one option, so every figure has to be searched in every allowed orientation before the answer is safe.
What if I can see a different shape that also fits?
On these puzzles you should not be able to. Each wrong figure is checked by an exhaustive search over every allowed orientation and every position before it ships, and any accidental copy of the target is removed rather than hoped over. If a wrong option merely comes close, the explanation says exactly how close and which edge is missing.
How many puzzles are there?
The 60 patterns above each generate an unlimited number of puzzles, drawn fresh from a seed every time. Every puzzle keeps a permanent link, so one you want to come back to can be saved or shared.
What is an embedded figures question?
You are shown a simple shape and then a set of more complicated line figures. Exactly one of those figures has the simple shape drawn inside it, and your job is to find which. The hidden shape is never redrawn separately inside the figure — its edges are lines the figure already has, which is why it disappears so completely.
Can the figure's lines be longer than the shape's edges?
Yes, and this is the whole difficulty. An edge of the shape counts as present when it is drawn, even as part of a longer line that runs straight past the corner. So you must never rule out a figure because its lines do not stop where the shape stops. A square hidden inside a grid is the clearest example: all four of its edges are stretches of much longer lines, and only the corners tell you it is there.
How should I search a complex figure?
Start from the most unusual edge of the target rather than the most obvious one — a sloping edge at an odd angle, or the longest edge, since both narrow the search fast. Find every place that edge could sit in the figure, then try to build the rest of the shape outwards from each one. Working from a distinctive feature turns a search of the whole picture into a handful of small checks.
What other names does this question type have?
The same item is set as embedded figures, hidden figures and figure embedding in Indian competitive reasoning papers, as find the hidden shape, and as figure embedding. The Embedded Figures Test used in psychology research is a related but separate instrument.
Does the hidden shape have to be the same way up?
No. The shape may be turned or mirrored inside the larger figure, but it is never resized. A quarter turn is enough to make an L look completely unfamiliar, which is exactly why these are harder than they first appear.