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This puzzle is a part of Monthly Topic Challenge #2: IQ Puzzle Parody

Some time ago I sent a Flag Puzzle to my friend Brian. His response was..well not so friendly. So I took that as a challenge and turned the response into a different puzzle. Like an IQ test matrix.

Can you fill out the 2 blank boxes given the five choices?

enter image description here

Hint

People from those countries

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1 Answer 1

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The country names can be identified from the flags in the grid as follows:
???? HAITI INDIA SYRIA
IRAN SERBIA ???? TUNISIA
UKRAINE PERU ITALY DJIBOUTI
Likewise with the options at the bottom:
TANZANIA SWITZERLAND SYRIA CANADA THAILAND

Reading the first letters of the countries in the grid gives "?HISIS?TUPID". It can be assumed that the phrase is supposed to read "THIS IS STUPID", so the two missing countries must start with the letters T and S, respectively.

[Thanks to Stiv in the comments for figuring the following part out!]
The other link between the countries in the grid is that the general name for someone who is from each of those countries ends in -IAN (e.g. Haitian, Indian, Syrian, Iranian). From this, we can deduce the correct flag to put in each spot. Someone from Tanzania is called a TanzanIAN, while someone from Thailand is called a Thai, and someone from Syria is called a SyrIAN, while someone from Switzerland is called a Swiss. Therefore, the correct options are TANZANIA and SYRIA.

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ There are 2 specific countries that fit perfectly in those blanks with another commonality. $\endgroup$
    – RogerA
    Aug 2, 2022 at 10:35
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    $\begingroup$ As per the new hint, rot13(gur qrzbalzf bs nyy gurfr pbhagevrf raq va -VNA, fb lbh pna qvssreragvngr fleVNA sebz fjvff naq gnamnaVNA sebz gunv) - NB just like the friend's name too... $\endgroup$
    – Stiv
    Aug 5, 2022 at 14:03
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    $\begingroup$ Nice find, will update $\endgroup$
    – SeptaCube
    Aug 5, 2022 at 14:05

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