How it works
Each day has one rack of six numbers and four targets. The numbers are drawn the way Countdown draws them: one or two of 25, 50, 75 and 100, and the rest from two each of 1 to 10. Everyone gets the same puzzle on the same date, and a new one starts at your midnight.
Pick a number, a sign and another number. The two are used up and the answer becomes a new number you can keep using. Subtraction and division always go the way that gives a whole number above zero; fractions, negatives and zero aren't allowed, as on the show.
Before a target is shown, a solver tries every way of combining the six numbers, so every target is possible. The four targets need at least two, three, four and five steps; the last uses all six numbers.
Exact scores 3 points, within 5 scores 2, within 10 scores 1: Countdown's bands. Finish a target and the shortest way appears under your working. Results stay in this browser; nothing is sent anywhere.
Questions people ask
- What happened to NYT Digits?
- The New York Times ran Digits as a beta from April 10 to August 8, 2023, 120 daily puzzles, and then closed it, calling it "a limited time beta test". Number chain is a different game on the same idea: six numbers, the four operations, and results you can keep using.
- How is this different from the Countdown numbers round?
- It uses Countdown's tiles (two each of 1 to 10, and 25, 50, 75 and 100) and its close-answer bands, but there's no 30-second clock, you get four targets from the same six numbers, and after each one you see the shortest way.
- Is every target possible?
- Yes. Before you see a target, a solver checks every way of combining the six numbers, and each target needs at least 2, 3, 4 or 5 steps; the last one needs all six. In Countdown itself, about 91.2% of all possible games can be solved exactly (Alliot 2015).
- How is it scored?
- 3 points for the exact target, 2 within 5, 1 within 10, so 12 points is a perfect day. The bands are Countdown's (10, 7 and 5 points); Digits gave stars within 10 and 25.
- Can I play past puzzles?
- Yes: "Past puzzles" opens every puzzle since #1. They count in your stats but not your streak.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Countdown (game show), numbers round
- Apterous wiki: the numbers round (tiles, rules, solvability)
- Alliot 2015: (The Final) Countdown
- incoherency.co.uk: the easiest and hardest Countdown numbers games
- Wikipedia: The New York Times Games (Digits)
- TechCrunch: the end of Digits (2023)
- SlashGear: how Digits was played
- bryc: JavaScript PRNGs (sfc32)