Let’s weed out some retards: what’s the answer

[Hoppo]

You fucked up order of operations on the last line - almost got it though

No he didn't. You solve the products before solving the sums.

However... the real problem I have with this question is that we are left to assume that the single shoe and the single are half portions of their respective doubles, and not discretely different symbols with their own meanings. In a software/product development context, I would expect an interviewee to tell me that the answer is inconclusive and they need to gather more requirements from the customer.

 

[QuanChi]

No he didn't. You solve the products before solving the sums.

However... the real problem I have with this question is that we are left to assume that the single shoe and the single are half portions of their respective doubles, and not discretely different symbols with their own meanings. In a software/product development context, I would expect an interviewee to tell me that the answer is inconclusive and they need to gather more requirements from the customer.

Right,

5 + 5 x 2 = ?
5 + 10 = 15

Here is what he had:
5 + 5 x 2 = 20