Comment by jacobolus

There are lots of good ways to break down this multiplication problem:

8 × 12 = 8 × (10 + 2) = 8 × 10 + 8 × 2 = 80 + 16 = 96

8 × 12 = (10 − 2) × 12 = 10 × 12 − 2 × 12 = 120 − 24 = 96

8 × 12 = (10 − 2) × (10 + 2) = 10 × 10 − 2 × 2 = 100 − 4 = 96

8 × 12 = (5 + 3) × 12 = 5 × 12 + 3 × 12 = 60 + 36 = 96

8 × 12 = 4 × 24 = 2 × 48 = 96

8 × 12 = 2³ × (2² × 3) = 2⁵ × 3 = 32 × 3 = 96

etc.