Sums (Mind Loft)
A daily kakuro: every run of squares adds up to the clue at its head.
Every day: One kakuro a day, the same for every player: 7x7 on weekdays, getting harder through the week, and an 11x11 Sunday Edition. Every run adds up to its clue with no repeated digit; one solution by deduction. Leaderboard on the clock. New puzzle: Midnight US Eastern Time.
Sums is the free daily kakuro from Mind Loft. The crossword-shaped grid has a total at the head of every run of white squares, and you fill each run with digits 1 to 9 that add up to it without repeating. Weekdays are 7x7 and Sundays 11x11.
About Sums (Mind Loft)
Sums is the kakuro on Mind Loft, a free site of daily browser games. Kakuro is often called a crossword of sums. The grid looks like a small crossword, and every run of white squares has a total printed in the black square at its head: the across total at top right, the down total at bottom left. Each run must be filled with digits 1 to 9 that add up to its total, with no digit repeated in the run.
The way in is the totals that can only be made one way. Three in two squares is always 1 and 2, sixteen in two is always 7 and 9, and twenty-four in three is always 7, 8 and 9. Those runs are footholds, and where one crosses another the shared square usually settles both. When you select a square, a line under the board lists every set of digits that still fits it.
Each grid has a single solution reachable by deduction. Wrong entries are not flagged, and since nothing is counted against you, the leaderboard is a straight race on the clock.
A new grid goes up at midnight US Eastern Time. Weekday boards are 7x7 (30 white squares on the day we looked) and get harder through the week; the Sunday Edition is 11x11. Mind Loft suggests Cages (killer sudoku), Sando (sandwich sudoku) and Crunch (a numbers round) for more arithmetic.
How to play Sums (Mind Loft)
- Open mindloftdaily.com/sums and press Start to show the day's grid.
- Read the totals: across totals sit at the top right of a black square, down totals at the bottom left.
- Fill each run with digits 1 to 9 that add up to its total, with no repeats inside a run.
- Use the digit sets listed under the board for the square you select.
- Finish the grid; your time sets your place on the daily leaderboard.
Screenshots
Tips
- Learn the one-way totals: 3 and 4 in two squares, 16 and 17 in two, 6 and 7 in three, 23 and 24 in three.
- Start where two fixed runs cross; the shared square usually has only one possible digit.
- A two-square run of 10 can never use 5, since the digits may not repeat.
- Wrong entries are not flagged, so add up each run before you finish.
Questions
What is kakuro?
A number puzzle shaped like a crossword. Each run of white squares must add up to the total at its head, using digits 1 to 9 with no repeats in a run.
How big is the Sums grid?
Seven by seven on weekdays and eleven by eleven in the Sunday Edition.
Is Sums free?
Yes. Sums runs in the browser on mindloftdaily.com at no cost. There is no app and no account to make; entering a display name only puts your result on the daily leaderboard.
When does a new Sums come out?
Every day at midnight US Eastern Time, with the same grid for every player. Sundays bring an 11x11 edition.
Can I play old Sums grids?
Yes. Mind Loft keeps past days in its puzzle archive, together with each day's standings.
Games like Sums (Mind Loft)
Daily Kakuro
A daily cross-sum grid with the same rules
Daily Kakuro (SudokuWiki)
A numbered daily kakuro, graded through the week
Kakuro (Daily Mail)
Another daily kakuro, a crossword of sums
Cages (Mind Loft)
Mind Loft's killer sudoku, named on the Sums page
Sando (Mind Loft)
Mind Loft's sandwich sudoku, also built on sums
Crunch (Mind Loft)
Mind Loft's numbers round, suggested for more arithmetic
Tally (Mind Loft)
Place a rack of number tiles so every row and column hits its target.
Mercury (Mind Loft)
A daily sudoku with thermometers: digits rise from each bulb to its tip.