4 games, one of each a day

A secret code of four symbols is hidden. You have eight tries to work out which symbols they are, and what order they go in.

1. 1

   Build a code

   Tap the symbols at the bottom to fill the four slots. Tap a slot to empty it again.
2. 2

   Try it and read the answer

   Every try comes back with two counts:2right place0wrong placemeans two of your symbols are exactly right — right symbol, right slot.0right place1wrong placemeans one of your symbols is in the code, but you have put it in the wrong slot. Move it somewhere else.
3. 3

   It never tells you which one

   This is the whole game. “2 right place” tells you two are home; finding out which two is your job. That is why shuffling the symbols you already have, without changing any of them, is often the smartest next move.

Crack it and the day is solved. Run out of tries and it counts as failed — either way you get to see the code, and either way your streak survives. It counts the days you turned up, not the days you won.

A place is hidden — some days a country, some days a city. The board says which at the top. You have eight guesses to name it.

1. 1

   Name any place of today’s kind

   Type a few letters and pick from the list. You cannot guess something that is not on it, so there is nothing to spell wrong.
2. 2

   Read how it compares

   You are never told a fact about the answer on its own. You are told how it compares to the place you just guessed:↑the answer has a bigger population than your guess↓it has a smaller one✓it matches — same continent, same country, also a capital✗it does not match
3. 3

   Narrow it down

   Guess Peru and learn the answer is in Asia, smaller, and not a capital, and you have cut the world down in one move. A good guess is one that splits what is left in half — which is why guessing somewhere you are sure is wrong can still be the smartest thing to do.
4. 4

   Take a clue if you are stuck

   Every third guess brings a written clue. They cost nothing except the guesses you already spent, and they never name the place.

Get it and the day is solved. Run out of guesses and it counts as failed — either way you get to see the answer, and either way your streak survives. It counts the days you turned up, not the days you won.

Six events from history, in the wrong order. Put them oldest at the top, newest at the bottom. You have five tries.

1. 1

   Move them around

   Drag an event by its handle, or nudge it with the up and down arrows. Both do the same thing — the arrows are usually easier on a phone.
2. 2

   Check the order

   You are told two numbers, and neither says which:3in place — three events are sitting at exactly the right position4neighbours right — four of the five touching pairs are the right way round
3. 3

   Read the second number first

   “In place” is brittle: move one event and everything below it shifts, so the number can crash for a good move. “Neighbours right” only asks whether each pair is the right way round, so it climbs steadily as you fix things. It is the one to steer by.

Get all six in place and the day is solved. Run out of tries and it counts as failed — either way you see the true order with the years, and either way your streak survives. It counts the days you turned up, not the days you won.

Two things, one number showing. Is the hidden one higher or lower? Ten rounds, and the winner of each round becomes the one to beat in the next.

1. 1

   Call it

   You see one thing with its number and one without. Say whether the hidden number is higher or lower.
2. 2

   Keep going either way

   A wrong call does not end the run. You play all ten rounds whatever happens, and the thing you just saw becomes the next thing to beat.
3. 3

   Your score is your mistakes

   Fewer is better, as in every game here. Get through inside the day’s allowance — two or three wrong, depending on how hard the day is — and it counts as solved.

Either way your streak survives — it counts the days you turned up, not the days you won.