The self-referential aptitude test.

One solution process.

Question 20 = E (obvious)

Question 5 = E (obvious)

Questions 16 and 10 refer to one another. They only match up properly if

Question 16=D and

Question 10=A.

Questions 17 and 6 refer to one another.

• Neither can have answer E for obvious reasons
• Since 17 cannot have answer E, 6 cannot have answer C
• Since 6 cannot have answer E, 17 cannot have answer C
• Since 17 cannot have answer C, 6 cannot have answer A
• Since 6 cannot have answer C, 17 cannot have answer A
• Since the answer for 16 is D, the answer for 17 cannot be D (there can be no "consecutives" after 10 and 11, as given in the choices to question two)
• Since the answer for 17 cannot be E, C, A or D, therefore

Question 17 =B

Since Question 17 is B, therefore

Question 6 = D

    Question 1 is solvable by the process of elimination

• The answer cannot be A because it is inherently self-contradictory
• The answer cannot be B because it is inherently self-contradictory
• The answer cannot be C because B cannot be a correct answer for question three (there are at least two Es)
• The answer cannot be E because the answer to question five is definitely not B.
• Therefore, the answer is the only remaining choice, and

Question 1 =D

    since Question 1= D, therefore

Question 4 = B

since the answer to question 4 is B, we now know that there are 5 A answers

given that, question 12 is now solvable

• we know from the answers to question 8, that there must be either 7 or 8 vowel answers. The highest choice given is 8, and we already know that there are five As and at least 2 Es
• since there are either 7 or 8 vowels, there must be either 12 or 13 consonants
• if there were 13 consonants, question 12 would have no answer, since both B and D would be correct
• therefore, there are 12 consonants, therefore

Question 12 = A

since question 12 = A, therefore

Question 15 = A

since question 15 = A, therefore

Question 13 = D

we now know that there are 12 consonants, therefore 8 vowels

since there are 8 vowels, therefore ...

Question 8 = E

we know that there are five As and 8 vowels, therefore three Es, therefore ...

Question 3 = D

we also now know that there can be no more E answers, since all three have been used

Question 2 is now solvable by the process of elimination

• It cannot be E, because there can be no more Es
• It cannot be C, because if it were C, the answer to #9 would have to be E to match #8, and there can be no more Es
• It cannot be B because we know that Question 4 is B, and according to Question 1, Question 4 must be the first  B answer
• It cannot be D because the answer to question 1 is D, and there can be no "consecutives" before 6 and 7, as per the answers to Question 2
• Since it is not any other answer, therefore ...

Question 2 = A

           Question 7 is now solvable

• since 6 and seven must be the same, and 6 = D, then therefore

Question 7 = D

Question 9 is now solvable by the process of elimination

• It cannot be E, because there can be no more Es
• It cannot be A, because #9 and #10 must not have the same answer (we now know that #6 and #7 are the only "consecutives"
• It cannot be C because that could only be true if the answer to question 12 is C, which it is not
• It cannot be B because that would require B to be the right answer to Question 11. That would mean that there is only one B answer prior to 11. But we already know that 4 = B, therefore if both 4 and 9 are B, 11 cannot be.
• Since the answer cannot be E, A, C, or B, therefore ...

Question 9 = D

since question 9 is D, there is only one B answer before #11, therefore

Question 11 = B

question 18 is now solvable through the process of elimination

• the answer cannot be E, because there can be no more E answers
• the answer cannot be D, because we know there are five As and only 3 Es
• the answer cannot be B, because the answer to 17 is B, and we cannot have another "consecutive"
• the answer cannot be C, because we know that there are exactly five As and there must be at least 6 Ds, as per the choices in question 14
• since the answer cannot be E, D. B, or C, then therefore ...

Question 18 = A

There is no need to solve the last two questions. Since the answer to question 18 is A, we know there must be the same number of A and B answers. So far we have five As and only three Bs, and there are only tow unanswered, so they must both be Bs. Therefore

Question 19 = B

Question 14 = B

Although we are confident of our answers, we look at questions 14 and 19 anyway, just in the panicky process of fearing an error. Question 19 is meaningless - it is what it is. It can be any answer. Question 14, however, requires a specific circumstance = exactly seven D answers. A feverish count shows that we have nailed it.

Those who solve problems more intuitively than I do may have figured out all the answers earlier, because the twenty answers written consecutively spell out a sentence.

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