Number Target
Also known as 24 Game and Numbers Game
Four numbers and a target. Combine them with plus, minus, times and divide — each number used exactly once — until you land on the total. Every deal has a solution, and undo costs you nothing, so it rewards experimenting rather than punishing it.
How it works
- Use all four numbers exactly once to reach the target shown.
- Pick a number, choose + − × or ÷, then pick a second number.
- The result replaces both numbers, so four become three, then two, then one.
- Fractions are allowed along the way — some deals can only be solved through one.
- Undo as often as you like. Landing on the wrong total costs you nothing.
- Every deal has a solution.
Good if you want…
- Mental arithmetic with a puzzle around it
- Trying things freely with nothing to lose
- A few minutes rather than an evening
How to solve Number Target
Work backwards from the target
Rather than combining numbers at random, ask what the last step could be. If the target is 24 and you hold a 6, can the other three numbers make 4? If you hold an 8, can they make 3? Turning one hard question into a smaller one is how most deals fall.
Look for factors
Targets with lots of factors are usually reached by multiplying. For 24, pairs like 3 × 8, 4 × 6 and 2 × 12 are worth trying first. For a prime target such as 23 or 29, the last step is almost always an addition or subtraction — 25 − 2, 27 + 2 — so aim for a nearby round number.
Do not fear fractions
Some deals can only be solved through a fraction. The classic example is 1, 5, 5, 5 making 24: divide 1 by 5 to get one fifth, take it from 5 to get 24/5, then multiply by the last 5. Winters Puzzles keeps the fraction exactly, so nothing is lost to rounding along the way. When the obvious routes all fail, try dividing a small number by a large one.
Experiment freely
Undo costs nothing and landing on the wrong total is not a mistake, so the fastest way to learn the game is to try things. Combine two numbers, see what you are left with, and undo if it goes nowhere. Every deal has a solution.
Common mistakes
- Leaving a number unused. Every one of the four must go into the answer exactly once.
- Dismissing subtraction. Making a number larger than the target and taking a little off is often the only way.
- Rounding in your head. One fifth really is one fifth here; treat it as exact.
Where Number Target comes from
Games of this kind have long been used in classrooms to practise mental arithmetic. The best known is the 24 Game, in which four numbers must make 24; television number rounds use the same idea with a larger set of numbers and a new target each time.
Number Target questions
Can I use a number twice?
No. Each of the four numbers is used exactly once, and the result of each step replaces the two numbers that made it.
Can I join digits to make 55 from two 5s?
No — only plus, minus, times and divide.
Is every deal solvable?
Yes. Every deal is checked for a solution before it is dealt.
Number Target in Winters Puzzles
Number Target is one of 40 puzzles in Winters Puzzles, so it sits alongside Sudoku, Nonogram, KenKen and everything else in the app rather than being a download of its own. It counts towards your stats and streak like any other puzzle. It also has a published board in Pip’s dailies, with earlier dates available in the archive.
Play Number Target.
Free on iPhone and iPad, with 39 other puzzles alongside it. Or play it in your browser — no download, nothing to sign up for.
