# Make a Number **URL:** \ **Category:** Games\ **Tags:** puzzle-games\ **Created:** [September 18, 2020, 2:47am UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/make-a-number/191 "2020-09-18T02:47:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/soyleche/32/42_2.png) [@soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/u/soyleche)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 2:47am UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/make-a-number/191/1 "2020-09-18T02:47:29Z")
Fairly simple game - one that I like to play with my kids. You are given 5 numbers between 1 and 9. Using just +, -, x, / and () use the first 4 to make the 5th. You have to use all 4, and can only use them once. Example: [3 9 8 3 | 8] ( 9 / ( 3 x 3 ) ) x 8 = 8 Probably best to spoiler your answers. Apparently this is how to do that: > [@Using spoilers in your posts](https://community.goactuary.com/t/using-spoilers-in-your-posts/121/1): > > Turns out we have a spoiler feature (put the details lines in square parentheses) > details=“Summary” > This text will be hidden > /details I generated these randomly. Some will probably be trivially easy. Hopefully some will provide a bit of a challenge. Some may even be impossible. 1: [2 3 5 6 | 8] 2: [3 3 2 6 | 8] 3: [7 3 2 7 | 9] 4: [5 5 4 4 | 4] 5: [4 8 4 8 | 2] 6: [8 8 9 4 | 1] 7: [6 9 3 5 | 6] 8: [4 8 8 2 | 5] 9: [3 8 6 1 | 2] 10: [3 7 9 7 | 8] ---
**Author:** ![SpaceLobster](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/spacelobster/32/38216_2.png) [@SpaceLobster](https://community.goactuary.com/u/SpaceLobster)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 3:32am UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/make-a-number/191/2 "2020-09-18T03:32:11Z")
Interesting. I feel like I want to look for an algorithm or patterns. ---
**Author:** ![soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/soyleche/32/42_2.png) [@soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/u/soyleche)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 3:48am UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/make-a-number/191/3 "2020-09-18T03:48:06Z")
There are a few go-to “tricks” that I usually start with. Often making a 0 or a 1 is very helpful. I’ve found that there aren’t all that many that are impossible. Obviously something like [1 1 1 1 | 6] isn’t going to work, but most of them do. I usually play this with my kids using playing cards (A through 9). ---
**Author:** ![SpaceLobster](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/spacelobster/32/38216_2.png) [@SpaceLobster](https://community.goactuary.com/u/SpaceLobster)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/make-a-number/191/4 "2020-09-18T15:28:50Z")
Now I want to create a program to play this here. ---
**Author:** ![soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/soyleche/32/42_2.png) [@soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/u/soyleche)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 4:33pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/make-a-number/191/5 "2020-09-18T16:33:32Z")
I’ll start posting my solutions: 1: [2 3 5 6 | 8] > **Solution #1** > > ( ( 6 / 3 ) x 5 ) - 2 = 8 ---
**Author:** ![soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/soyleche/32/42_2.png) [@soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/u/soyleche)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 4:35pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/make-a-number/191/6 "2020-09-18T16:35:38Z")
2: [3 3 2 6 | 8] > **Solution #2** > > ( ( 3 / 3 ) x 2 ) + 6 = 8 ---
**Author:** ![soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/soyleche/32/42_2.png) [@soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/u/soyleche)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 4:37pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/make-a-number/191/7 "2020-09-18T16:37:52Z")
3: [7 3 2 7 | 9] > **Solution #3** > > ( ( 7 / 7 ) + 2 ) x 3 = 9 > > Alternatively: > > 7 + 7 - 3 - 2 = 9 ---
**Author:** ![soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/soyleche/32/42_2.png) [@soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/u/soyleche)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/make-a-number/191/8 "2020-09-18T16:39:57Z")
4: [5 5 4 4 | 4] > **Solution #4** > > ( ( 5 - 5 ) x 4 ) + 4 = 4 ---
**Author:** ![soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/soyleche/32/42_2.png) [@soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/u/soyleche)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 4:41pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/make-a-number/191/9 "2020-09-18T16:41:35Z")
5: [4 8 4 8 | 2] > **Solution #5** > > (4 / 4 ) + ( 8 / 8 ) = 2 I’ll do some more a bit later. ---
**Author:** ![soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/soyleche/32/42_2.png) [@soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/u/soyleche)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 10:17pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/make-a-number/191/10 "2020-09-18T22:17:39Z")
6: [8 8 9 4 | 1] > **Solution #6** > > ( 8 / 4 ) + 8 - 9 = 1 ---
**Author:** ![soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/soyleche/32/42_2.png) [@soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/u/soyleche)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 10:19pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/make-a-number/191/11 "2020-09-18T22:19:22Z")
7: [6 9 3 5 | 6] > **Solution #7** > > ( ( 9 - 6 ) / 3 ) + 5 = 6 ---
**Author:** ![soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/soyleche/32/42_2.png) [@soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/u/soyleche)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 10:21pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/make-a-number/191/12 "2020-09-18T22:21:17Z")
8: [4 8 8 2 | 5] [details="Solution #8] 4 + 2 - ( 8 / 8 ) = 5 [/details] ---
**Author:** ![soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/soyleche/32/42_2.png) [@soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/u/soyleche)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 10:22pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/make-a-number/191/13 "2020-09-18T22:22:42Z")
9: [3 8 6 1 | 2] > **Solution #9** > > 6 + 3 + 1 - 8 = 2 ---
**Author:** ![soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/soyleche/32/42_2.png) [@soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/u/soyleche)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 10:23pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/make-a-number/191/14 "2020-09-18T22:23:49Z")
10: [3 7 9 7 | 8] > **Solution #10** > > ( 7 - 3 ) x ( 9 - 7 ) = 8 ---
**Author:** ![BruteForce](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/bruteforce/32/175_2.png) [@BruteForce](https://community.goactuary.com/u/BruteForce)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 4:44pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/make-a-number/191/15 "2020-09-24T16:44:22Z")
And the winner is… > **let the suspense build....** > > > **hey, you can nest spoilers!** > > > > > **Doesn't look quite as cool as the AO though** > > > > > > soyleche! I know, everyone is really surprised. ---
**Author:** ![soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/soyleche/32/42_2.png) [@soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/u/soyleche)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 6:15pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/make-a-number/191/16 "2020-09-24T18:15:17Z")
A more complicated one. I didn’t figure out the solution - I had to be shown: [1 1 5 8 | 10] ---
**Author:** ![meshuga](https://community.goactuary.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@meshuga](https://community.goactuary.com/u/meshuga)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 8:37pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/make-a-number/191/17 "2020-09-30T20:37:05Z")
[1 1 5 8 | 10] > **solution** > > 8 / ( 1 - ( 1 / 5 ) ) ---
**Author:** ![soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/soyleche/32/42_2.png) [@soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/u/soyleche)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 9:34pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/make-a-number/191/18 "2020-09-30T21:34:17Z")
Yay! Good job.