Daily Math Puzzle: Equal Groups
Sixteen tiles, each showing a sum, a product, a fraction or some other piece of arithmetic, fall into four hidden groups of four. Every tile in a group comes to the same number. Pick the four tiles you think are equal and press Check. A right group locks in at the top with its value; a wrong guess costs one of your four mistakes. There is a new board every day, and everyone who plays on the same date sees the same one.
The only way in is to work the tiles out. The four numbers to find are close together, so a big tile is not a big answer, and the same numbers turn up in different groups on most boards, so spotting a 7 does not settle where a tile belongs. After a wrong guess the page tells you how many of the four tiles are equal: three, two or none. If three are, one tile belongs elsewhere, and working out that tile's value is the way to find which. For example, 6 × 2, 7 + 5, 24 ÷ 2 and 19 − 7 are one group, because each comes to 12.
Choose Grades 3–5 or Grades 6–8 with the buttons above the board. Grades 3–5 mixes addition, subtraction, multiplication and exact division, with answers from 6 to 48. Grades 6–8 brings in negative numbers, fractions, decimals and percents of a whole number, squares and cubes, and order of operations, with answers from −20 to 60. When the board ends, the groups you missed are shown with their values, and Copy result puts a line of ticks and crosses on the clipboard to send to a friend or a class. After the daily board, Play a practice puzzle deals as many extra boards as you like.
Frequently asked questions
How do you play the Daily Math Puzzle?
Tap or click four tiles to select them, then press Check. With a keyboard, the arrow keys move between the tiles and Space or Enter selects one. If the four tiles all have the same value, they lock in a row above the board with its value, and the other tiles close up. If not, you lose one of your four mistakes and the tiles stay where they are. The board ends when all four groups are found or the fourth mistake is made, and any groups left over are then shown with their values. Clear unselects your tiles, and Shuffle mixes up the tiles still on the board.
What does it mean when the puzzle says some of my tiles are equal?
After a wrong guess the page says how many of the four tiles share a value: “Three of these are equal — one belongs elsewhere”, “Only two of these are equal” or “No two of these are equal”. It never says which tile is the odd one out. Suppose you pick 6 × 2, 7 + 5, 24 ÷ 2 and 18 − 5 and hear that three are equal. Those first three are all 12 and 18 − 5 is 13, so 18 − 5 is the one that belongs elsewhere. Trying the same four tiles again costs nothing; the page just says you have tried them.
What maths is on the Grades 3–5 and Grades 6–8 boards?
Grades 3–5 uses whole numbers: sums, differences, multiplication facts up to 12 × 12, and division with no remainder. The four answers fall in a window of at most 12 numbers between 6 and 48, and each group mixes the operations where its number allows. Grades 6–8 uses integers with negatives (−7 + 19, 5 − (−7) and (−3) × (−4) are all 12), a fraction or percent of a whole number (¾ of 16, 25% of 48), a decimal times a whole number (0.5 × 24), squares and cubes (2³ + 4) and order of operations (2 + 3 × 4 is 14, not 20). The answers are whole numbers from −20 to 60, in a window of at most 15, and roughly one board in three has a negative answer.
Is today's puzzle the same for everyone, and when does it change?
Each board is made in your browser from the date and the level, so everyone who plays the same level on the same date sees the same sixteen tiles. The date is the one on your own device, so a class in one town gets one board and a new one starts at midnight local time. The number in the title, such as Equal Groups #18, counts the days since the first puzzle on 29 October 2026, which was #1. No server picks the board and nothing has to load to get it.
How do the streak, Copy result and practice puzzles work?
The streak counts the days in a row you solved the daily board, separately for each level. It is kept in this browser on this device only, so it does not follow you to another device and clearing site data resets it. A day you lose the board does not add to it, and a day you skip ends it. Copy result gives the puzzle name and number, the level, a ✓ or ✗ for each guess in order and the page address, with no tiles in it, so it gives nothing away. A practice puzzle is a new random board at the same level; it has no number and does not touch your streak or the saved daily board.