It’s an eye-nigma.
The internet is blowing a collective gasket over a perplexing optical illusion that can purportedly only be solved by 1% of people.
The visual jigsaw was first shared in November by TikTok personality @HecticNick — but is blowing up this week as millions of TikTokers strain their eyes to visualize the solution.
“Only one percent of people can read what’s hidden in this image — can you?” challenges the puzzle purveyor in the clip, which boasts 3.6 million online views as of Tuesday morning.
How you process the now-viral visual can reportedly reveal if someone has bad eyesight or not, according to the Sun.
An accompanying screenshot shows the ophthalmological Rorschach test, which entails a row of shadowy blocks that, upon first glance, resemble Stonehenge or alien glyphs.
To make things more difficult, it only counts if you can decipher the eye-roglyphics on your “first try,” per the caption. Spoiler alert! The correct answer is revealed later on in this post.
Fortunately, TikTok host Hectic Nick provides a helpful hint for the perennially stumped:
“Try closing your eyes about 90 percent and you might be able to read it,” he said. “Send this to a friend and see what they do.”
Indeed, after heeding Nick’s advice and partially shutting one’s eyes, puzzle hounds can begin to make out the hidden phrase, which is “Bad Eyes.”
Needless to say, the optical illusion deceived the eyes of many a TikTok gawker.
“HOW DID I NOT GET IT,” said one flabbergasted player, while another incorrectly guessed, “it says Candice.”
Fortunately, quite a few players guessed the optical solution, presumably without cheating by peeking at the comments.
“It says bad eyes,” said one ocular prodigy.
Another boasted that they could ace the eye exam “without doing anything.”
“Only one percent of people can read what’s hidden in this image, can you?” challenges the puzzle purveyor in the clip.TikTok/@hecticnick “HEY I DONT HAVE BAD EYES,” spluttered one incredulous poster in reference to the answer’s somewhat insulting messaging.
One TikTok optometrist suggested that people could also read the message by peering at it through their charger hole.
Meanwhile, this is far from the first optical solution to blow up on TikTok of late.
On Monday, puzzle buffs racked their brain trying to solve a mind-boggling butterfly visual, which can reveal interesting facts about your brain depending on what you see first.
Meanwhile, another viral optical illusion can purportedly gauge someone’s personality and life goals.
Perhaps the most epic puzzle was a shadowy image that revealed whether the viewer had a male or female brain like a neurological gender reveal party.
