Maths nerd? Try solving this viral brain teaser with shoes, burger, and boy as Reddit users debate over answer

Brain teasers have long been popular online for their ability to test logic, observation, and problem-solving skills. These puzzles give the brain a quick workout. And a fresh puzzle posted on Reddit recently has caught the attention of hundreds of users.

Brain teasers like these have become popular on social media, where users enjoy testing their problem-solving speed and sharing their results. Experts say such puzzles stimulate logical thinking and improve mental flexibility, while also offering a quick sense of satisfaction when solved.

Brain teaser: The challenge

The brain teaser was posted in the subreddit brainteasers by user iamlandon1234; the user captioned, “Can you figure out the answer?” The post included an image-based riddle involving pairs of shoes, burgers, and a cartoon boy. The challenge was to figure out the value of each item and solve the final equation.

The user teasing the players wrote, “I've got a fun math riddle that’s been making the rounds, and I'm curious to see how quickly you can solve it.”

Here is the puzzle:

Brain teaser: The puzzle explained

The riddle worked by assigning different numerical values to objects:

The pair of red shoes is worth 10 (or 5 each)

The boy is worth 5

A pair of burgers was worth 4 (or 2 each).

The final equation the participants have to solve is:

Shoe+ (Boy+ 2 Shoes+ 2 Burgers) x Burger

While many struggled to keep track of the order of operations, one user broke it down step-by-step:

Shoe = 5, boy = 5, two shoes = 10, two burgers = 4.

Substituting into the equation gave:

5 + (5 + 10 + 4) x 2 = 5 + (19 x 2) = 5 + 38 = 43

Also read: Optical Illusion: Only sharp eyes can find the single 1 hiding among the 7s in this viral puzzle

Social media users react

As with other viral brain teasers, the puzzle sparked debate. Some users initially got different answers after overlooking whether shoes and burgers should be counted as pairs or singles. Others admitted they forgot to follow the correct order of operations, known as BODMAS (Brackets, Order, Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction).

Reacting to the brain teaser, one user said, “Insufficient information. In math, you can never assume that there is any relationship between similar or composite symbols.” Another user wrote, “That is bait.”

Another user said that they showed it to an AI bot, which responded by saying the solution was 57. “I asked it to redo it and show it could get 43 but it said the value of something would have to change and said there are too many inconsistencies to make the answer 43,” the user wrote. However, despite the reasoning, for this challenge, the consensus eventually settled on the answer: 43.