A term for brain-unfriendly or challenging math questions that generally evoke panic and fear, which may also be accompanied by recurring nightmares, among math-anxious or mathophobic students, parents, and teachers—the opposite of “mathematical slowies.”
For most educated folks, who lack the intelligence or training to solving math contests and olympiad questions, these mathematical toughies are off-putting or repugnant to them.
by Numerati January 24, 2025