Unfold answer
Fold directions first, then the punch count, then the full pattern.
Spoiler warning
This page gives away today's pattern. Stop here if you still want to solve it yourself.
Hint 1 — the folds
Hint 2 — how many holes
…
The opened sheet
Dark squares are holes. Notice that the pattern is symmetric across both centre lines — every correct answer is.
The rule behind every Unfold puzzle
Folding a sheet in half and punching through it produces a mirror image of the punch on the other side of the fold line. Fold twice — once vertically, once horizontally — and you have four layers, so a single punch opens intofour holes, arranged symmetrically about the centre of the sheet.
Because the grid is six squares across, there is no middle row or column for a punch to sit on. That means the four holes from one punch are always four distinct squares, and the arithmetic is simple: punches × 4 = holes, unless two punches mirror onto the same square.
Solving it reliably
- Take one punch at a time. Mirror it left-to-right. Now mirror both squares top-to-bottom. That punch is done — four squares.
- Repeat for each punch. Resist the urge to picture the whole opened sheet at once; that is where reflections get dropped.
- Check symmetry before you check the answer. Your marked grid must be a mirror image of itself both horizontally and vertically. If it is not, you have missed a reflection — and finding that yourself costs nothing, while a failed check costs an attempt.
Does the fold direction change the answer?
No — and this trips up a lot of players who assume it must. Whether you fold the left half onto the right or the right onto the left, the mirror line is the same line down the centre of the sheet. What changes is which quadrant you are looking at, so the punches appear in a different place on screen even though the opened pattern is identical.
Where this puzzle comes from
Paper-folding problems of this shape have been used in spatial-reasoning tests for decades, because they isolate one specific skill: holding a transformation in mind and applying it twice. Unlike most puzzle formats there is nothing to memorise and no vocabulary involved, which is why it reads the same in any language.