Can you solve the logic puzzle Hong Kong six-year-olds can crack in just 20 seconds?

IT HAS baffled millions on the internet, but the solution to a logic puzzle is so straightforward that six-year-olds in Hong Kong can solve it easily.

The car park brain-teaser comes from a school admissions test which requires youngsters to come up with the answer in less than 20 seconds.

It features a drawing of parking bays with a car in one of the six numbered spots, blocking the number from view.

The children were asked to work out the number of the spot where the car is parked.

The puzzle has stumped many adults because at first glance it seems algebra is required.

However, experts believe grown-ups have a tendency to over-think – wrongly believing the answer is rooted in complex maths.

But children, who tend to look at things from different angles [literally], quickly grasp the simplicity of the puzzle and nail the solution almost straight away. Alex Bellos, who posted a copy of the puzzle on Twitter, said Briton David Bodycombe had told him the test was his brainchild. He published it in a 2002 IQ puzzle book for Marks and Spencer.

Mr Bellos added: ‘He has no idea whether or not it was used in a Hong Kong school test – and if it was he didn’t receive a penny!’ ÷ Maths pupils in Britain are falling behind their counterparts in the Far East because teachers are rushing, a study shows.

Children could make the equivalent of a month’s additional progress over a year if staff let them master material before moving on to new parts of the syllabus.

Researchers from the UCL Institute of Education and Cambridge University compared UK teaching methods with Maths Mastery – a Singapore programme involving fewer topics covered in greater depth. Every child has to master the material before the whole class moves on to the next section of the syllabus.

‘Grown-ups tend to over-think’