Make 26 with four 4s

The classic four fours puzzle: build an expression from exactly four 4s that equals 26. 26 cannot be made with + - × ÷ alone (the solver checked every expression) — you will need to stick 4s together (like 44) or use decimals (like .4).

Solutions using only + - × ÷

No expression made of four plain 4s and + - × ÷ reaches 26 — the solver checked every possible expression.

Solutions with concatenation and decimals

4 × 4 + 4 / .4 = 26
(.4 + 4 / .4) / .4 = 26

Solutions with square roots, factorials, exponents

4! + 4! / 4 - 4 = 26
4! - 4 + 4! / 4 = 26
(4 + 4) / 4 + 4! = 26
.4 × 4 + .4 + 4! = 26
.4 + .4 × 4 + 4! = 26

…and 785 more at this tier.

792 distinct solutions found in total, after removing trivial rearrangements.

How 26 compares

26 has 792 distinct solutions across all three tiers — #15 most plentiful of the 95 solvable targets. Next door, 25 has 552 solutions and 27 has 65 solutions. The nearest impossible target is 73, 47 away — proven unreachable, not just unsolved.

If 26 went down easily, make 27 with four 4s — 65 solutions, the nearest step up in scarcity.

Make 25 with four 4s · Make 27 with four 4s

The Number Lab

Same idea, different constraints: four 9s, four 4s, or any four digits you like.

Four Nines — the daily puzzle
Four Nines solver — every target, solved
Four Fours — the 1881 original
Four Fours solver — including the impossible five
Make 24 solver — any four digits
Today's 24 — one new hand a day

Got what you came for?

Stay for something you did not search for.

Four Nines — the daily sibling: four 9s, one target, new at midnight
The Reflex Lab — nine ways to measure your hands and memory, none of them polite about it
hand me something weird — a random pick from the directory. Could be the horse.

Read up on the 1881 original, pick another number in the solver, or find more free math games.