Seven Mistakes That Cost Solves
Nearly every "this should have worked" moment comes down to one of seven things. None of them are about being bad at arithmetic.
1. Pushing two dice together into a bigger number
A 3 and a 7 do not make 37. Each die is its own value. This is the rule new players break most often, usually within their first few boards, because the target is so obviously spelled out by two faces.
The fix is to treat every die as an independent term from the start. If you catch yourself reading two adjacent dice as a two-digit number, reset.
2. Leaving a die unplaced
All seven dice must be used. An equation that reaches exactly 37 with six dice is not a solution and will not submit. This is the single most common cause of a correct-looking board being rejected.
The fix is the set of spending tricks from the strategy guide: x/x makes 1, x-x makes 0, *1 absorbs a one, ^1 absorbs anything.
3. Expecting multiplication to beat division
PEMDAS puts M before D, but they share a precedence level and resolve left to right. 12/2*3 is 18, not 2. The same trap applies to addition and subtraction.
The fix is brackets. If you mean 12/(2*3), write the brackets — do not rely on a reading of the acronym that was never true.
4. Assuming an exponent covers a whole term
In 2*3^2, the power applies only to the 3. The result is 18, not 36. Exponents bind tighter than multiplication and only attach to the value immediately beside them.
The fix, again, is brackets: (2*3)^2 is the 36 you were picturing. Full detail in the order-of-operations guide.
5. Using a power die with the wrong operation
A green die that ends up multiplied does not count. A blue die that ends up added does not count. The colour is a requirement about the operation, and getting it wrong silently drops you from a Perfect solve to a Valid one — or below the bar entirely in Expert mode.
The fix is placement order: red first, then blue, then green. See the power-dice guide.
6. Reaching for an exponent too early
Powers grow fast. 5^3 is 125 and 6^3 is 216 — both hopeless on a board with nothing large enough to cancel them. Players who lead with the red die often build themselves somewhere they cannot get back from.
The fix is to check the anchor first. If 6*6 or 6*5 gets you close, take it — the red die can be satisfied later with ^1.
7. Leaving a Daily mid-solve
Every Daily — Easy, Challenge and Expert alike — is one puzzle, one attempt, in one sitting. Navigating away before you finish counts as a forfeit: it does not pause, and you do not get a second run at that day’s board.
The fix is simply to know it. If you are not ready to commit a few minutes, use a practice round instead — every tier has one, untimed and unlimited, and it costs you nothing. The modes page explains the split.
A pre-submit checklist
Before you submit, run these five checks. They take a few seconds and they catch every mistake on this page.
- Seven dice placed? Count them. This is the one that gets everyone.
- Does it actually equal 37? Resolve it in precedence passes — parentheses, then exponents, then × and ÷, then + and −.
- Any accidental two-digit number? Two dice side by side with no operator between them is not a bigger number, it is an error.
- Is each coloured die attached to the right kind of operation? Green added or subtracted, blue multiplied or divided, red in a power.
- Did you mean that exponent to cover more than it does? If so, add brackets.
If all five pass and it still will not submit, the arithmetic is the thing to re-check — walk it through one precedence level at a time using the method in the order-of-operations guide.