llamacrunch

About llamacrunch

llamacrunch is the number game beside llamagrama, the daily word ladder. Each day there is one puzzle for everyone: one large number, four small ones and a three-digit target.

The structure is a chain. Step one takes two of your numbers and a sign. Its total starts step two, where you add another number with a sign, and so on down four rows. Every total must stay a whole number above zero, and all five numbers are used, one per step after the first. You drag the tiles and the four signs into place, or tap them, and the puzzle is solved when the last total equals the target. If you give up, the game shows one chain that would have worked.

It is free in the browser.

It suits players of Countdown-style number puzzles who like a fixed structure to work within.

How to play llamacrunch

1. Look at the five numbers and the three-digit target.
2. Build step one from two numbers and a sign.
3. Carry the total down and add one more number with a sign in each row.
4. Keep every total a whole number above zero.
5. Reach the target in the fourth row using all five numbers.

Tips

• Work backwards from the target to see which last step could reach it.
• Multiply by the large number early to get into the right range.
• Remember every total must stay positive and whole.

Questions