Easy number target in large print

The rules

• Choose a number, choose a sign, then choose a second number. The result becomes a new number you can use.
• Each number, given or made, can be used only once. You do not have to use them all.
• On the first level the only signs are plus and minus. The second level adds times. There is no division on this page.
• A result must be a whole number above zero, so you cannot take a larger number from a smaller one.
• The puzzle is solved when one of the numbers you hold equals the target. Undo last step takes back one step.

How to reach the target

Look at the target first and then at the largest number you have been given. The gap between them tells you what the other numbers need to make. If the target is 21 and your largest number is 9, you need 12 more, and the question becomes whether the remaining numbers can make 12 between them.

On the first level every number is between 1 and 10 and you may only add and take away, so a quick check is to add all four numbers together. If the total is the target, you are done. If it is a little over, look for a number that is half of the difference and take it away instead of adding it: turning a plus into a minus lowers the total by twice that number.

On the second level one of the numbers is larger, and multiplying is allowed. Here it usually pays to get close to the target with one multiplication and then adjust with the small numbers. For a target of 54 with a 25 among your numbers, 25 times 2 is 50, and the 4 you still need may be a number you hold or the difference of two.

There is no single right route. On paper, write each step on its own line so that you can see which numbers are still unused. If two people do the same numbered puzzle, compare the routes afterwards; they are often different.

Tips for printing and playing

• The printed sheet shows the numbers and the target in large type, with space underneath to write your working.
• This is an easy one to do aloud in a group: read out the four numbers and the target and let people call out a way.
• Each puzzle needs at least two steps, so the target is never one of the given numbers or a single sum away.
• On screen, Reveal one shows the next step of a stored solution, and Reset starts the puzzle again.
• Print with solution adds a second sheet with one way of reaching the target. Other ways are just as correct.

How these puzzles are made and checked

The stored solution is worked through again step by step with whole numbers, each number used once. A separate search confirms the target cannot be reached in fewer steps than the level promises.

The puzzle of the day is chosen by the date on your device: puzzle 1 was the puzzle for 1 January 2026, and the number goes up by one each day. Add and take away: 366 puzzles, so the same puzzle comes round again after 366 days. With times: 366 puzzles, so the same puzzle comes round again after 366 days. Every number stays open in the archive control above the grid. More detail is on the page how the puzzles are made, checked and printed.