Ready for a tiny test of attention that feels suspiciously like an IQ question? Picture this: three men, three shopping baskets, one quiet clue. Only one of them is a dad. Your task is to work out who it is before the clock in your head runs down and your brain does that triumphant little drumroll.
Puzzles like this are catnip for our inner detective because they draw on skills we use every day without thinking. Employers love them for the same reason. As the British Psychological Society advises, cognitive tasks can reveal how we process information, juggle details and keep our cool, but they should be only one piece of the puzzle alongside broader evidence and good judgement. In other words, tests like this show a glimpse of how you think, not the entirety of who you are.
dare you face the truth about your reasoning
Here is the set up. Three men stand side by side. One looks barely out of sixth form, one could be a gym regular in a rush, and one has the composed air of someone who knows where the bargains live. The bait is to go with vibes. Do not. The trick with these puzzles is to stop guessing based on faces and switch to objects, hands, pockets and background details. Think of it as observational triage.
When I used to corral my niece through a Saturday supermarket dash, I learned the hard way that you can spot a parent at fifty paces by the practical trail they leave behind. There is always something slightly tactical in the trolley. Wipes. Snacks. A pre negotiated bribe in the shape of a mini yoghurt. Once you start looking for those giveaways, the picture stops being about people and starts being about evidence.
the three men riddle
Back to our trio. Begin by eliminating what seems obvious. The lad in the middle with the baby face and the borrowed looking jacket? Charming, but unlikely. Teenagers can be parents, of course, but in the context of this tidy little test he is a classic red herring, planted to make you leap to conclusions.
Now narrow the field. Scan the baskets. What items are mission critical for family life? What would you buy even if you forgot the bread? I have never known a nappy run to be postponed once the supply drops below Defcon Two. If you have lived through the 3 am emergency nappy change, you are already nodding.
the reveal
The father is the man on the left. You do not need a character profile or a backstory. You need the packet of nappies in his basket. That single, silent rectangle outweighs any guesswork about age, posture or the cut of his jeans. It is the parenting tell. Once you spot it, the answer clicks into place with that lovely detective novel satisfaction.
This is why these riddles work so well. They reward method over instinct, detail over drama. In psychological terms, you are flexing selective attention and logical reasoning. As the American Psychological Association notes, intelligence tests and related tasks focus on specific abilities such as working memory, processing speed and reasoning, and they do not pretend to capture every shade of human talent. That is a comfort for those of us who can lose a set of keys in our own pockets and still spot a nappy pack from across the aisle.
how to get faster at these
If you want to sharpen up, borrow a few habits from seasoned puzzle solvers and, frankly, busy parents.
Look for functional clues first. Items that imply routine responsibilities beat fashion signals every time.
Ignore faces at the start. We are wired for snap judgements; they are fun but flaky.
Hunt for patterns. Anything bundled for a purpose nappies with wipes, children’s snacks with milk is a strong nudge.
Give yourself ten seconds. A tiny time limit forces you to commit to a method instead of dithering.
And if you got it wrong this time, no bother. The joy of these mini challenges is not the score, it is the practice. Next time you are queuing with your basket of bits, take a quiet look around. You will be surprised how often the story is hiding in plain sight, halfway down the aisle, printed on a packet that says everything without saying a word.
