How to play SumHunt

Every letter is worth its place in the alphabet. Spell words, total their letters, and combine them to land exactly on the target.

SumHunt is a free daily word and number puzzle. There is one new puzzle every day and every one of them is themed. It takes a few minutes, it runs in your browser, and there is no sign-up and no app to install.

The one rule everything else rests on

Each letter is worth its position in the alphabet — A=1, B=2, C=3 … Z=26. A word is worth its letters added together. That is the whole scoring system.

Hitting the target

Each day gives you a rack of eighteen letter tiles and a target number. You spell a word from the tiles, then chain another word onto it with +, − or ×, until your running total lands on the target exactly. Landing on the number is the whole satisfaction, and getting within one of it is its own kind of fun.

The clue

Every puzzle carries a cryptic-flavoured clue pointing at the words you need. It is a nudge towards the idea, not a definition — the clue tells you what the words have in common, and the letter values tell you whether you are right.

Tips, misses and giving up

• A miss is a wrong guess. It costs you nothing but time, so guess as often as you like.
• A tip opens the ladder one rung: a hint about the day's words. You get up to four, and taking one is not failing. It is how the puzzle stays solvable on a bad morning.
• Flawless means you solved it with no tips and no misses.
• You can give up and see the answer at any point. The day is then done, but you can replay it in practice mode as many times as you like.

Streaks

Solve on consecutive days and your streak grows. Give up and it resets. Nothing is stored on a server and there is no account. Your streak lives in your own browser, so it is yours, and nobody else is scoring you on it.

Common questions

Is SumHunt free?

Yes. It is completely free, with no account, no sign-up and no app download. It runs in any browser on a phone, tablet or computer.

Is there a new puzzle every day?

Yes. A fresh puzzle every day, rolling over at midnight UTC, and every day is themed — the answer words always share a hidden connection.

Do I need to be good at maths?

No. The arithmetic is addition, subtraction and multiplication of two-digit numbers. The difficulty is in finding the right words, not in the sums.

How long does a puzzle take?

Usually two to five minutes. It is built to sit alongside a morning coffee, not to take over your afternoon.

What happens if I get it wrong?

Nothing. A wrong guess costs no lives and no time limit is running. You can keep trying, take a tip, or give up and see the answer.

Can I replay a puzzle?

Yes, the one you have just finished. Once you have solved or given up, a ↻ Practice button appears on the result card — that replays the same day as many times as you like, and a practice run never changes the result that was recorded or your streak.

Can I see earlier puzzles?

Yes. The puzzle archive has every day that has already closed, each with its clue, its target and the answer worked through letter by letter. Today’s is never there — it appears the morning after, once nobody can be spoiled by it.