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Countdown Math gives you six numbers and a three-digit target, and asks you to reach the target using addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. It is the numbers round from the British television programme Countdown. You do not have to use every number, and you rarely can — the skill is in finding a route, not in calculating fast.
You are dealt six numbers and a three-digit target.
Combine them with + − × ÷ to reach the target.
Each number can be used at most once.
Intermediate results must be whole and positive.
Five rounds; getting close still scores if exact is out of reach.
Flexible numerical reasoning and search — trying, abandoning and re-trying routes rather than executing a known procedure. It is much closer to problem solving than the arithmetic drills are.
Start by finding a multiple near the target. 7 × 100 = 700 gets you inside 50 of most targets in one move.
The large numbers are levers, not obstacles. 25, 50, 75 and 100 exist to get you into range quickly.
Work out the gap between your big product and the target, then hunt for that gap among the leftovers.
Exact is worth more, but close still scores. Bank a near miss with ten seconds left rather than finding nothing.
No. Most solutions use four or five, and many use three.
No. Every intermediate result has to be a whole positive number, which is the rule the television game uses.
Not always. Some deals genuinely have no exact solution, which is why close answers still score.
Multiply the largest two numbers you hold and see how far off you are. It puts you in range more often than any other first move.