Figure Analogy Puzzles
A is to B as C is to what? One change happens between the first two figures, and the whole question is whether you can say exactly what it was — then do the same thing to a figure that started somewhere else. Sixty patterns, unlimited generated puzzles, and the reasoning after every attempt, including why each wrong option is wrong.
Also known as picture analogy, abstract analogy and A : B :: C : ?.
Reading A Is To B As C Is To What
A figure analogy gives you a pair of figures, A and B, and asks what turned the first into the second. You then apply that same change to a third figure, C, and choose the result. Because a single pair is very little evidence, several transformations usually fit — and the puzzle turns on choosing the one that still makes sense when applied to C.
Name The Change Before You Look At The Options
An analogy gives you one worked example and asks you to repeat it. That sounds easier than a series, and it is not: a series shows the rule three or four times over so you can check your reading against the next step, while an analogy shows it once. There is nothing to confirm it against, so the rule has to be stated precisely the first time.
- List what changed between A and B. Usually one thing, sometimes two. Name it out loud: "it gained a side", "it turned 90° clockwise".
- List what did not change. This half gets skipped constantly, and it is what rules out most of the wrong options. Whatever holds still from A to B must hold still from C to the answer.
- State the change as a movement, not a destination. "The fill advances one stage", not "it becomes hatched". The difference matters, and it is the trap below.
- Apply it to C. Start from where C actually is, not from where A was.
- Check the leftovers. Your answer should differ from C in exactly the ways B differs from A, and in no other way.
The relative-versus-absolute trap. Suppose A is unshaded and B is hatched. Two readings fit: the fill advanced one stage (relative), or B is always hatched (absolute). They give different answers whenever C starts somewhere else, and every test in the world means the relative one. The reason is simple — under the absolute reading C plays no part in the question at all, and a question with an irrelevant figure in it is not a question. Every puzzle here offers the absolute misreading as a named wrong option so you can see it, rather than hiding it.
| Reading | What it claims | What happens to C | Meant here? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relative | The fill advances one stage | C advances one stage from wherever it starts | Yes — always |
| Absolute | The second figure is always hatched | C is ignored; the answer is hatched regardless | No |
| Why it matters | The two agree whenever C starts where A did | They diverge the moment C starts elsewhere | The absolute reading ships as a named wrong answer |
The Eight Transformation Families
- Rotation — the figure turns by a fixed angle. Easy to see, easy to get backwards.
- Shape change — the outline gains or loses sides while everything else holds still.
- Shading — the fill moves through its cycle. The home of the absolute-reading trap.
- Counting — dots or spokes are added or taken away.
- Size — the figure grows or shrinks by a fixed step.
- Position — something travels rather than changing what it is.
- Inner shape — the shape inside changes or turns while the outline stays put.
- Two changes at once — the transform does two things, and both must carry across. Applying only one is the most common miss.
Analogy, Series And Matrix: One Rule Set, Three Framings
These three item types run on the same underlying rules and differ only in how much of the rule they show you. A series shows it repeatedly and asks you to continue. A matrix shows two rules at right angles and asks you to satisfy both at once. An analogy shows one rule exactly once and asks you to transplant it. If analogies feel hard, it is usually not the rules — it is that a single example leaves the rule under-specified until you pin it down.
Why Analogies Feel Different From Series
An analogy gives you the shortest possible run — just A and B — and then asks you to apply whatever happened to a completely different figure. With only one step to look at, several rules always fit, and the puzzle turns on picking the one that survives contact with C. That is also why analogies have a signature wrong answer that no other format has: reading the pair absolutely ("B is hatched, so the answer is hatched") rather than relatively ("the fill advanced one stage"). Both readings fit A and B. Only one uses C at all.
Figure Analogy Puzzles Frequently Asked Questions
Should the answer copy B, or change C?
Change C. An analogy states a change to apply, not a target to copy. The test is whether C matters: if your answer would be the same whatever C looked like, you have read the pair as an absolute and the reading is wrong.
How is this different from a figure series?
A series shows the rule several times over, so you can check your reading against the next step. An analogy shows it once. Same rules, far less confirmation.
What if two options both seem to fit?
Then one of them is changing something the first pair left alone. Go back and list what stayed the same between A and B — that list eliminates it.
How many puzzles are there?
There is no fixed number. Each puzzle is rebuilt from the short seed in the page address, so the supply is effectively unlimited. Copying the puzzle link saves that exact puzzle permanently.
Can I practise one pattern at a time?
Yes. Pick any pattern from the catalogue above and the board switches to that pattern only, with its own address you can bookmark or hand out.
What is a figure analogy question?
You are shown a pair of figures, A and B, and a third figure C. Something changes between A and B - a turn, a fill, a count, a size - and your job is to make the same change to C. It is written A : B :: C : ? and is also called a figure analogy, picture analogy or abstract analogy.
Is it free and does it need an account?
It is completely free and there is no account. Nothing is uploaded; your score is kept only in your own browser.
How do you solve a figure analogy?
Work out what was done to A to get B, then do that same thing to C. Describe the change as an action rather than as a result — "turned a quarter turn and lost a dot" travels to C, whereas "ends up as a hatched square" does not. If two options both fit, you have probably described the change too loosely.