Adults stumped by children's puzzle and some say it's impossible to solve

A kids' brainteaser has baffled dozens of adults
-Credit: (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)


Scores of adults have been left stumped by a children's brainteaser that seems easy at first glance, but in reality is a real head-scratcher.

The challenge to match two identical handbags was discovered on the page of a fun puzzle book and has surprisingly flummoxed numerous parents. One baffled Brit took to Reddit with a picture of the teaser, exclaiming: "I'm losing my mind. Can anyone help?"

Featuring 11 bags slightly varying in colour and pattern, the puzzle asks: "Only two of these handbags are the same. Can you draw a line between the matching pairs?" Once posted, it didn't take long for other Redditors to chime in, sharing their own confusion.

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One person wrote: "I feel like the person who did the line drawings and/or the puzzle-writer for this book was not communicating well with the person who did the colours.@

Another Redditor asked: "Define 'same'. On colour blindness... bottom left, second top right. I'm not colour blind but that is the only thing that comes close to a match on design and styling, excluding colour."

A third Reddit user added to the confusion, commenting: "Even the wording is wrong. It says to draw a line between the matching pairs (plural)... I thought there was only one matching pair?!" Meanwhile a fourth individual offered an explanation, stating: "Same same but different. I think this is purely a requirement thing. The two handbags are technically 'the same' if you separate out colour from being a difference which some people may do. The style of the handbag (handles/design/shape) is identical, but with different colours. Still insanely confusing wording though."

Elsewhere in the comments section, one person boasted they had solved the teaser with ease, claiming: "Got it in like literally 2 seconds, it's the bottom left corner one and the one below the top right corner. They're the same design and decoration it's just that the trick is the bags are all different colours."

Whereas someone else delved into a philosophical discussion, pondering: "I presume it's designed to start an interesting discussion around 'What is same? Is it the same design? Does the colour prevent it being the same?"

They continued: "Can two distinct bags be truly called 'the same'? What makes us think that these bags have all been illustrated contemporaneously? Maybe there's been some subtle modification of a single bag with a before and after image shown leading onto an interesting ship of Theseus tangent. Stepping back maybe we've learnt that nothing's actually the same, and we should fight against the ills of the world caused by such simplistic thinking."