The stunningly simple rule that will always get you out of a maze

GETTING lost in a maze is no fun, and on that rare occasion when you find yourself stuck in one without a map or a bird’s-eye view, it can be difficult to choose which way to go. Mathematics gives us a few tools we can use – in particular, topology, which concerns shapes and how they connect.

The most devious mazes are designed to be as confusing as possible, with dead ends and identical-looking junctions. But there is a stunningly simple rule that will always get you out of a maze, no matter how complicated: always turn right.

Any standard maze…