2013-03-15
Explanation
This comic is a votey-style single panel showing an older woman saying "Anal." with a caption below reading "Hey, remember that time your mom thought she'd found a simple solution to the 3 body problem?"
The joke operates on a double entendre. The three-body problem is a famous unsolved problem in physics and mathematics concerning the motion of three celestial bodies interacting through gravity -- there is no general closed-form solution, and it has fascinated mathematicians since Newton's time. The "simple solution" the mother claims to have found reinterprets "3 body problem" in a sexual context, with "anal" being her proposed answer to a problem involving three bodies (i.e., people) in a sexual encounter. The humor comes from the collision of highbrow physics with crude sexual humor, made even more uncomfortable by the fact that it's someone's mother delivering the punchline. The awkward expression on the woman's face adds to the comedy of the situation.