At first glance, this puzzle appears simple: count every square hidden inside the unusual white grid. But the challenge becomes harder the longer you look because the lines create several overlapping shapes of different sizes. The “narcissist” wording is simply part of the fictional puzzle’s playful challenge, designed to make people confident enough to answer quickly.

Most viewers immediately begin counting the smallest obvious squares. That approach usually produces an answer within seconds, but it also causes people to overlook larger squares formed when several smaller sections are combined. The irregular layout makes the puzzle especially deceptive because not every part of the grid is divided in exactly the same way.

The trick is to stop looking at each compartment individually. Starting with the smallest complete squares, you then have to search for medium-sized squares whose borders stretch across multiple sections. Finally, the entire outside border must also be counted because it forms the largest square in the image.

Another reason people disagree about the answer is that they sometimes count rectangles or shapes with incomplete borders as squares. A valid square needs four complete sides of equal length. Once those false shapes are eliminated and the overlapping larger ones are included, the puzzle becomes much easier to solve systematically.

The intended answer to this fictional visual puzzle is 17 squares. The challenge has nothing to do with actually determining whether someone is a narcissist; it is simply a visual brain teaser meant to test careful observation and encourage people to look twice before settling on their first answer.