Incredibly Hard Puzzle 8 - 4 = 61

This one fooled me! Thanks to Dvir who created this puzzle.

Send me suggestions by email (address in video). I consider all ideas though can't always reply!

Like many YouTubers I use popular software to prepare my videos. You can search for animation software tutorials on YouTube to learn how to make videos. Be prepared--animation is time consuming and software can be expensive!

Why are there comments before the video is published? Get early access and support the channel on Patreon

If you buy from the links below I may receive a commission for sales. (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) This has no effect on the price for you.

Show your support! Get a mug, a t-shirt, and more at Teespring, the official site for Mind Your Decisions merchandise:

My Books (worldwide links)

My Books (US links)
Mind Your Decisions: Five Book Compilation
A collection of 5 books:
"The Joy of Game Theory" rated 4.2/5 stars on 48 reviews
"The Irrationality Illusion: How To Make Smart Decisions And Overcome Bias" rated 3.5/5 stars on 4 reviews
"40 Paradoxes in Logic, Probability, and Game Theory" rated 4.2/5 stars on 15 reviews
"The Best Mental Math Tricks" rated 4.8/5 stars on 10 reviews
"Multiply Numbers By Drawing Lines" rated 4.4/5 stars on 7 reviews

Mind Your Puzzles: Collection Of Volumes 1 To 3
A collection of 3 books:
"Math Puzzles Volume 1" rated 4.4/5 stars on 16 reviews
"Math Puzzles Volume 2" rated 4.5/5 stars on 6 reviews
"Math Puzzles Volume 3" rated 4.1/5 stars on 7 reviews

Connect with me

2017 Shorty Awards Nominee. Mind Your Decisions was nominated in the STEM category (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) along with eventual winner Bill Nye; finalists Adam Savage, Dr. Sandra Lee, Simone Giertz, Tim Peake, Unbox Therapy; and other nominees Elon Musk, Gizmoslip, Hope Jahren, Life Noggin, and Nerdwriter.

[LudwigvanBeethoven]

1:12 "Look at this equation upside down"
Me "Turns phone upside down"
Phone "rotates screen"
Me ._.

[steveryan]

I got 8-1=8-1 by moving the sticks on "4" and using them to turn the "6" into 8 and adding a minus after the "6 turned 8"

[meroOneN]

i got 64=64
just by moving the "minus" stick and the "8" stick

[EugeneKhutoryansky]

A much easier solution is to change the "equal" sign into a "not equal" sign.

[QuotientGD]

Actually it can be done by just moving ONE stick:

Move the stick on bottom left of 6 between 6 and 1 to form a minus sign
8-4=5-1

[alexcostache]

Or you can take 2 sticks from the 4 and make it an 1, make a "+" from that 2 sticks and put it betwen 6 and 1. So 8-1=6+1

[acube]

Rotating is technically, moving all the matchsticks.

Checkmate, atheists

[AlexLetizia]

Move the central stick of the 6 to have “01” on the right. On the left, move the middle stick of the 4 to get a “7”. You got 8-7=01

[pij]

Removed the last "1", made "-" into "+", and put a line over the "=", making it "8+4≠6"

[firmanjiddan]

1) move - stick into between 6 and 1
2) move "8" stick into between 8 and 4 so 8 changed into 9
you'll get 9-4 = 6-1

[andreasegger]

You can change the "4" to a "7" and the "6" to a "0".
Then the equation is 8-7 = 01 = 1
Also a valid answer

[cemsoyer]

Could solve it with moving only 1 match, making the equation 8-4=5-1

[mgc]

Question: "you can only move 2 sticks"

Answer: *moves 2 sticks, and then all of them.

me: ...

[wesslingbaker]

Nice! How about this:
(moving the bottom-left matchstick of the “8” and the the bottom-left of the “6”)

9 - 4 = | 5 |

(Nine subtract four equals the absolute value of 5)

[yashagrawal]

Another solution :
Convert 4 to 7 by shifting horizontal stick of 4 to upwards
Convert 6 to 0 by shifting horizontal stick of 6 to vertical stick of 0
8-7=01

[tonyhasler]

There is another perspective!
Move the two rightmost matches to create the equation 8-4 ≠ 8

[austinsloane]

can't you just change the "=" sign into a "<" sign?

[esse]

i have another solution: look into a mirror and move the matches to get 12=4+8

[cryptn]

Well, I got another way:
Move one stick to make
4 --> 7
Move another one to make
6 --> 0

Now we have 8 - 7 = 01
which is correct

[DeltaCommander]

I moved the two left-most sticks from the 4 and changed it to “8 - 1 = 8 - 1”