Two holes for the arms – One on each side for the sleeves.
One hole for the head – The neck opening at the top.
One hole at the bottom – The opening where the shirt ends.
Four holes in the fabric itself – Two in the front and two directly aligned at the back. These are visible tears or cut-outs that go all the way through the shirt.
When you add them all together:
2 (sleeves) + 1 (neck) + 1 (bottom) + 4 (front and back tears) = 8 holes in total.
Why It’s So Tricky
The reason this puzzle trips so many people up is that we tend to only count the visible holes on the front. But if a hole goes all the way through the shirt, there’s another hole in the back to account for—just like if you punched a hole through a piece of paper. It’s the same logic here.
Plus, we don’t always think of the normal openings in a t-shirt (like the sleeves or neck) as “holes,” even though that’s technically what they are. This blend of visual perception and logical reasoning is what makes the puzzle so mind-bending—and so fun!
