A Primary 1 question posted yesterday on Hardwarezone Forum by ‘AlmondShell’ not only left netizens puzzled, but most also gave up answering the puzzle.

The bonus question, worth four marks, required students to fill in the correct numbers in the empty circles to complete the number pattern.

Comments from online readers ranged from trolling, to admitting they have given up trying, to actually trying to solve the question:



The question may have originated from G R Burgins, the author of ‘Maths Puzzles & Logic Problem’. Burgins has written mathematical books before, owns a website, and is also a tutor.

Called the ‘Petite CIRCLE-Sum’, his tricky question however, has a slight difference from the Primary 1 question – instead of a ‘2’ at the bottom left corner, Burgins puzzle has the number ’20’.

Burgins’s website provided a walkthrough for the solution:

For a more detailed explanation, readers can visit his page.

The bonus question however, did not penalise students for any wrong answers.