LONDON -- A math puzzle that contains pictures of horses, horseshoes and riding boots and involves a quick bit of algebra should be pretty simple to solve, right?
Well, maybe not.
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As the puzzle spread and people began commenting with their answers, it quickly became clear that the problem wasn't as simple as it looked.
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable So why are people coming up with such radically different solutions?
Basically, the confusion stems from a few different factors: first of all, it's easy to miss the "x" sign in the last line of the problem (many people read it as another "+", which gives them the wrong answer); and second, there's the fact that only one boot and one horseshoe appear in the final line (so you have to halve the number you worked out for the pair of horseshoes and the pair of boots in the first three lines).
He's a quick explanation of how to get to the right answer.
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One final thing to remember: in the last line, because of our old friend BIDMAS (brackets; indices; division; multiplication; addition; subtraction), you need to multiply the horse by the shoe beforeyou add the boot.
For anyone still confused, here's a longer video explanation.