ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Associative magic square

An associative magic square is like a puzzle that has numbers arranged in a square shape that all add up to the same number. You can think of it like a magic trick where the numbers seem to move around in the square and still end up adding up to the same final number.

But it's even cooler because an associative magic square also has a special property where you can split it into smaller squares and each of those squares will still add up to the same magic number. It's like having smaller puzzles within a larger puzzle.

And the best part is that you can move those smaller squares around within the larger square and they will still add up to the magic number! It's like a big puzzle that can be played with in many different ways and still end up with the same result.

So an associative magic square is like a super cool math puzzle that has a special trick where the numbers always add up to the same amount, no matter how you move them around.