A frozen yogurt store polled its customers to see which of the three new flavors they liked the best. The results are shown in the table. find the probability of randomly selecting an adult from among those who preferred the sweet mint flavor.

Normal way:
Use the distributive property
-4x - 2 = 26
-4x = 28
x = -7

And the lousy way:
Try making x every single number from -100 to 100. Stop when you find the number that makes the equation true.

Trying -100: -2(2(-100)+1)=398
Trying -99: -2(2(-99)+1)=394
Trying -98: -2(2(-98)+1)=390
Trying -97: -2(2(-97)+1)=386
Trying -96: -2(2(-96)+1)=382
Trying -95: -2(2(-95)+1)=378
Trying -94: -2(2(-94)+1)=374
Trying -93: -2(2(-93)+1)=370
Trying -92: -2(2(-92)+1)=366
Trying -91: -2(2(-91)+1)=362
Trying -90: -2(2(-90)+1)=358
Trying -89: -2(2(-89)+1)=354
Trying -88: -2(2(-88)+1)=350
Trying -87: -2(2(-87)+1)=346
Trying -86: -2(2(-86)+1)=342
Trying -85: -2(2(-85)+1)=338
Trying -84: -2(2(-84)+1)=334
Trying -83: -2(2(-83)+1)=330
Trying -82: -2(2(-82)+1)=326
Trying -81: -2(2(-81)+1)=322
Trying -80: -2(2(-80)+1)=318
Trying -79: -2(2(-79)+1)=314
Trying -78: -2(2(-78)+1)=310
Trying -77: -2(2(-77)+1)=306
Trying -76: -2(2(-76)+1)=302
Trying -75: -2(2(-75)+1)=298
Trying -74: -2(2(-74)+1)=294
Trying -73: -2(2(-73)+1)=290
Trying -72: -2(2(-72)+1)=286
Trying -71: -2(2(-71)+1)=282
Trying -70: -2(2(-70)+1)=278
Trying -69: -2(2(-69)+1)=274
Trying -68: -2(2(-68)+1)=270
Trying -67: -2(2(-67)+1)=266
Trying -66: -2(2(-66)+1)=262
Trying -65: -2(2(-65)+1)=258
Trying -64: -2(2(-64)+1)=254
Trying -63: -2(2(-63)+1)=250
Trying -62: -2(2(-62)+1)=246
Trying -61: -2(2(-61)+1)=242
Trying -60: -2(2(-60)+1)=238
Trying -59: -2(2(-59)+1)=234
Trying -58: -2(2(-58)+1)=230
Trying -57: -2(2(-57)+1)=226
Trying -56: -2(2(-56)+1)=222
Trying -55: -2(2(-55)+1)=218
Trying -54: -2(2(-54)+1)=214
Trying -53: -2(2(-53)+1)=210
Trying -52: -2(2(-52)+1)=206
Trying -51: -2(2(-51)+1)=202
Trying -50: -2(2(-50)+1)=198
Trying -49: -2(2(-49)+1)=194
Trying -48: -2(2(-48)+1)=190
Trying -47: -2(2(-47)+1)=186
Trying -46: -2(2(-46)+1)=182
Trying -45: -2(2(-45)+1)=178
Trying -44: -2(2(-44)+1)=174
Trying -43: -2(2(-43)+1)=170
Trying -42: -2(2(-42)+1)=166
Trying -41: -2(2(-41)+1)=162
Trying -40: -2(2(-40)+1)=158
Trying -39: -2(2(-39)+1)=154
Trying -38: -2(2(-38)+1)=150
Trying -37: -2(2(-37)+1)=146
Trying -36: -2(2(-36)+1)=142
Trying -35: -2(2(-35)+1)=138
Trying -34: -2(2(-34)+1)=134
Trying -33: -2(2(-33)+1)=130
Trying -32: -2(2(-32)+1)=126
Trying -31: -2(2(-31)+1)=122
Trying -30: -2(2(-30)+1)=118
Trying -29: -2(2(-29)+1)=114
Trying -28: -2(2(-28)+1)=110
Trying -27: -2(2(-27)+1)=106
Trying -26: -2(2(-26)+1)=102
Trying -25: -2(2(-25)+1)=98
Trying -24: -2(2(-24)+1)=94
Trying -23: -2(2(-23)+1)=90
Trying -22: -2(2(-22)+1)=86
Trying -21: -2(2(-21)+1)=82
Trying -20: -2(2(-20)+1)=78
Trying -19: -2(2(-19)+1)=74
Trying -18: -2(2(-18)+1)=70
Trying -17: -2(2(-17)+1)=66
Trying -16: -2(2(-16)+1)=62
Trying -15: -2(2(-15)+1)=58
Trying -14: -2(2(-14)+1)=54
Trying -13: -2(2(-13)+1)=50
Trying -12: -2(2(-12)+1)=46
Trying -11: -2(2(-11)+1)=42
Trying -10: -2(2(-10)+1)=38
Trying -9: -2(2(-9)+1)=34
Trying -8: -2(2(-8)+1)=30
Trying -7: -2(2(-7)+1)=26
We got it! the answer is -7