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Less Than 1% of People Can Ace This Shapes Brain Teaser

Who knew shapes could be so confounding?!

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young pretty black woman feeling shocked, happy, amazed and surprised, looking to the side with open mouth against orange wall
Kues/Shutterstock

How many shapes?

Shapes—they’re simple, basic things that we learn as babies, right? They’re a piece of cake to identify, right? Well…maybe not. Lenstore has put together a series of shape identification puzzles, and they’re anything but easy—in fact, only 0.6% of people who took it got every question right. Yes, less than one percent of people aced it! Are you up for the challenge? Here’s how it works. For each puzzle, you’ll see a large shape with a bunch of lines drawn through it to form smaller shapes. Your goal is to correctly count how many of a certain type of shape are present inside the larger shape. (And it won’t be a total shot in the dark; the puzzles are multiple choice!) Ready to give it a try? And for more think-outside-the-box challenges, see if you can identify these everyday objects from their close-up pictures.

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shape puzzle brainteasesr
Courtesy Lenstore

Shapes puzzle #1

How many triangles are in this trapezoid?

A. 11

B. 14

C. 8

D. 17

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shape puzzle brainteaser answer
Courtesy Lenstore

Shapes puzzle #1: Answer: B.

This shape has 14 triangles in it. Click here to see an animation that identifies each triangle individually. More challenging than it looks, right? See how you fare with these other puzzles. Or, try moving on to these math riddles that only the smartest can solve.

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shape puzzle brainteasesr
Courtesy Lenstore

Shapes puzzle #2

How many triangles are in this rectangle?

A. 6

B. 10

C. 13

D. 8

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shape puzzle brainteaser answer
Courtesy Lenstore

Shapes puzzle #2: Answer: C.

There are 13 triangles inside this rectangle! Don’t believe it’s that many? Check out the animation that proves it. And see if you can spot the camouflaged animals hiding in these photos.

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shape puzzle brainteaser
Courtesy Lenstore

Shapes puzzle #3

How many triangles are in this bigger triangle? (Yes, the whole big triangle counts!) This one’s similar to this tricky triangle puzzle that stumped the internet a few years back.

A. 27

B. 7

C. 16

D. 18

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shape puzzle brainteaser answer
Courtesy Lenstore

Shapes puzzle #3: Answer: D.

You’ll find a total of 18 triangles in this image, looking at the thin, “vertical” triangles as well as the triangles made by the individual rows…and the combinations thereof. Nope, it’s not as easy as it seems! See the animation for this puzzle here.

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shape puzzle brainteaser
Courtesy Lenstore

Shapes puzzle #4

Here’s a smaller triangle to decipher. How many triangles are there in total?

A. 21

B. 18

C. 10

D. 15

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shape puzzle brainteaser answer
Courtesy Lenstore

Shapes puzzle #4: Answer: D.

Did this one trick you into thinking there were more? Nope, there are “only” 15 triangles here (because, well, that’s still a lot)! View the animation here.

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Courtesy Lenstore

Shapes puzzle #5

How many quadrilaterals (any shape with four sides) can you see in this shape?

A. 12

B. 1

C. 9

D. 7

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shape puzzle brainteaser answer
Courtesy Lenstore

Shapes puzzle #5: Answer: D.

There are seven different quadrilaterals in this shape, including one perfect square! See the animation here. For another challenge, see if you can find the turtle hiding among these lily pads.

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shape puzzle brainteaser
Courtesy Lenstore

Shapes puzzle #6

How many triangles can you see in this quadrilateral?

A. 8

B. 13

C. 15

D. 6

Plus, for more fun puzzles that test your ability to spot things, see if you can find the difference in these tricky photos.

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shape puzzle brainteaser answer
Courtesy Lenstore

Shapes puzzle #6: Answer: C.

There are 15 three-sided shapes inside this big shape. Get a look at them all in this animation.

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triangle shape
Courtesy Lenstore

Shapes puzzle #7

Besides “a lot,” how many triangles can you see inside this big triangle? (Again, the whole shape counts.)

A. 29

B. 17

C. 16

D. 27

For another deceptively simple math challenge, see if you can pass this elementary school math test.

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shape puzzle brainteaser answer
Courtesy Lenstore

Shapes puzzle #7: Answer: D.

In total, this image has 27 different triangles in it. Did you find them all?! If not, this animation will reveal them all to you. See if you can also solve another puzzle that fewer than 1% of people can ace—this one about colors!

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shape puzzle brainteaser
Courtesy Lenstore

Shapes puzzle #8

Plot twist: In this puzzle, you’re not looking for triangles—you’re looking for hexagons. How many six-sided shapes can you see inside this larger one (again, including the full shape)?

A. 11

B. 14

C. 6

D. 8

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shape puzzle brainteaser answer
Courtesy Lenstore

Shapes puzzle #8: Answer: D.

Impressively, this puzzle’s creators managed to squeeze eight different hexagons into one larger hexagon (which counts as one of the eight). See if you can spot them all, or check out the animation to see them one at a time. Also, see how many of these trivia questions only geniuses will get right you can figure out the answers to.

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shape puzzle brainteaser
Courtesy Lenstore

Shapes puzzle #9

Here’s a fun one for you: How many triangles are in this star-shaped image?

A. 30

B. 9

C. 31

D. 18

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shape puzzle brainteaser answer
Courtesy Lenstore

Shapes puzzle #9: Answer: A.

There are exactly 30 triangles hiding in here! Get a look at the animation to see them all. Also, see if you can spot the cat hiding among the bats in this image.

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shape puzzle brainteaser
shape puzzle brainteaser

Shapes puzzle #10

Time for the final challenge, and it’s a doozy! See how many triangles you can spot in this…pair of squares. Are there:

A. 38

B. 41

C. 10

D. 18

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shape puzzle brainteaser answer
Courtesy Lenstore

Shapes puzzle #10: Answer: A.

You’ll find 38 triangles here; check out the animation to see them all! Of course, this doesn’t actually have to be the final challenge; we’ve got plenty more fun brain games to stretch your mental muscles.

Meghan Jones
Meghan Jones is a word nerd who has been writing for RD.com since 2017. You can find her byline on pieces about grammar, fun facts, the meanings of various head-scratching words and phrases, and more. Meghan graduated from Marist College with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 2017; her creative nonfiction piece “Anticipation” was published in the Spring 2017 issue of Angles literary magazine.