Daily Number: a deduction strategy that actually works

Daily Number hands you a hidden 4-digit code and six tries to crack it. With a method instead of vibes, most boards fall in three or four guesses. Here is how to read every clue and never waste a turn.

By the LOOP team · Strategy guide

The rules, stated exactly

Before strategy, get the rules straight, because the whole method depends on them. Each of the four positions holds a digit from 0 to 9, chosen independently. That means repeats are allowed: a code can be 4407, 9090, or even 5555. After each guess, every tile gets a color:

• Green — right digit, right spot.
• Yellow — right digit, but in a different spot.
• Gray — that copy of the digit is not needed here.

You get six tries on a normal day. Roughly one day in seven the daily is a harder board with only five. The clues are scored the same way Mastermind and Bulls and Cows score theirs, with one important twist for repeats that trips up most players. We will get to it.

How much each color tells you

Treat the three colors as three different jobs. A green pins a digit to a position and removes both questions at once: which digit, and where. It is the most valuable clue on the board, so anything that earns greens early is worth doing.

A yellow is half an answer. It confirms the digit lives in the code but rules out the exact slot you tried. Each yellow you collect is a digit you now have to relocate, and the relocation choices shrink fast. A gray usually means "drop this digit entirely" — but not always, and that exception is the single biggest source of wasted guesses.

Open with a guess that gathers information

Your first guess should not try to win. It should try to learn. With repeats in play, a strong opener uses four different digits so each tile reports cleanly on its own digit. Something like 0 1 2 3 or 4 5 6 7 tests four candidates at once with no ambiguity from doubles.

A common follow-up is to cover the other half of the number line on guess two — for example 4 5 6 7 after 0 1 2 3, then a third probe with the remaining digits. After two spread-out guesses you have usually learned which digits are in the code and which are out, which is exactly the information you need before you start placing.

Turn clues into a shrinking candidate list

The mental model that wins is simple bookkeeping. Keep three running buckets in your head, or jot them on paper:

1. Confirmed — digits known to be in the code, and any position locked by a green.
2. Eliminated — digits that came back gray with no colored copy elsewhere. Never test these again.
3. Floating — yellow digits that are in the code but still need a home.

Every clue moves a digit between buckets. A yellow on the 3 means 3 is confirmed and floating; the slot you tried is now off the table for it. A green locks a position for good. A clean gray eliminates a digit. After each guess, ask one question: how many four-digit codes still fit everything I know? When that count is small, your next guess can simply be one of the survivors.

Three mistakes that cost you the board

• Re-testing an eliminated digit. Once a digit is cleanly gray, putting it back in a later guess burns a tile that could have carried new information. Cross it off and mean it.
• Ignoring position clues. A yellow does not just say "this digit is in." It says "not here." Players who only track which digits are present, and forget where they have already been ruled out, end up re-guessing dead positions.
• Panicking on guess five. When two tries remain, the instinct is to throw a hopeful full answer. Resist it if you still have ambiguity. A guess that splits the remaining candidates — testing two uncertain digits in new positions — is usually worth more than a long-shot solve.

A worked mini-example

Say the hidden code is 4 1 7 4 (note the repeated 4). You do not know that yet. Here is a clean three-guess path.

Guess 1 — 0 1 2 3. The 1 comes back green (right digit, second spot). The 0, 2, and 3 are gray. You now know 1 is locked in position two, and 0, 2, 3 are out.

Guess 2 — 4 1 5 6. Keep the green 1 where it sits. The 4 comes back green (position one). The 5 and 6 are gray, eliminating two more digits. Two positions are locked: 4 and 1. Only positions three and four remain, and your unused digits are 7, 8, 9 — minus anything gray.

Guess 3 — 4 1 7 4. You try 7 in slot three and a second 4 in slot four, since a repeat is allowed and 4 is the most confirmed digit you have to spend. Everything turns green. Solved in three.

The point is not the exact digits. It is the rhythm: spend early guesses learning, lock greens as anchors, place floating yellows into the slots they have not failed in, and remember that a digit you already confirmed can legally repeat.

Build the habit in practice mode

The ranked daily is one solve per day, shared by everyone worldwide, with a streak for showing up. That is great for the standings but slow for drilling technique. Switch to the unlimited practice mode and run the opener-then-place routine on ten boards in a row. After a handful you will start "seeing" the candidate list shrink without writing it down, and your average guess count will drop on its own.