Keeping your brain active throughout the day is crucial, and one of the best ways to do this is by tackling a brainteaser. Brainteasers are not only fun but also beneficial for mental strength as they challenge your lateral thinking skills.
To give your brain a workout, the TikTok channel Pink Pencil Math has crafted a puzzle that will test your abilities. The challenge involves drawing six crosses inside a Noughts and Crosses grid without lining up three in a row. The video teases: “Here is a fun quick one a lot of my friends couldn’t get. Here is a Tic-Tac-Toe grid – now can you draw six Xs in here without making three in a row?”
The solution might seem straightforward, yet it can be quite perplexing. If you’re trying to solve it, pause here because we’re about to disclose the solution. For those ready for the reveal, here’s how it’s done…
The solution shows the narrator placing three crosses in the top corner – one in the first box of the first row, another in the second box of the same row, and a third in the first box of the second row. This pattern is then replicated on the opposite side with a cross in the third box of the second row, another in the second box of the third row, and the last one in the third box of the third row.
While some TikTok users boasted about solving it instantly, others admitted it left them baffled. One user confessed: “I think I’m stupid.” Another chimed in with: “That was my answer.”
A statement onMindvalley reads: “Lateral thinking is a form of problem-solving that utilizes a more creative, less direct approach to the problem. Analytical, logical problem-solving encourages vertical thinking, which is an approach we’re often taught when dealing with math equations. Lateral thinking is the indirect approach. It helps us view problems in an entirely new light. It helps us find unique, creative solutions we might never have before imagined.
“The brain is neuroplastic, meaning it has the ability to shift and change over time. Many people believe our brains age as we do, growing less powerful, less capable, and less competent over time.
“What most don’t realize, however, is that you have the ability to manipulate your brain the way a sculptor molds clay. The brain is susceptible to all we expose it to—people, music, work— and even the physical environments we traverse on a day-to-day basis. Everything we partake in has the potential to subtly shift the wiring of our brain.”