Totle #6: make 19 from 2, 3, 6, 9 and 10
Sunday, October 18, 2026
Use all five numbers with + − × ÷ to make 19. Combine two at a time; every result has to be a positive whole number.
A Sunday puzzle, so level 1 of 7 (they get harder from Sunday to Saturday). There were 35 different answers. Harder than 14% of all Totle puzzles, and these five numbers can make 478 different totals.
About this puzzle
A Sunday puzzle, the gentlest day of the week, and a friendly one: thirty-five different answers, and it's easier than most Tōtle puzzles.
With that many answers, almost any good idea leads somewhere. Two of the numbers give you a big head start on 19, and the small ones are flexible enough to tidy up whatever is left. It's a nice puzzle for trying a second or third route once you've found the first.
Playing past puzzles needs a free account. They don't count toward your streak.
How people did
On the day, 6 people played it and 5 solved it (83%).
Medals among the 5 who solved it:
How to think about it
- Work backward. Ask what two numbers make 19, then whether you can build them from what you have.
- Find the even splits. Division has to come out even, so spot the pairs that divide cleanly early.
- Make a 1 to use up a spare number. Two numbers one apart subtract to 1, and × 1 or ÷ 1 changes nothing.
- Break big numbers into tens. 7 × 16 is 70 + 42; 91 ÷ 7 is 70 ÷ 7 + 21 ÷ 7, or 10 + 3.
Hints and an answer
Tap one at a time to open it.
Hint 1: think about the target
The last move makes 19. It can add or subtract two numbers you've built, multiply two (19 is prime, so only 1 × 19), or divide a multiple of 19 by the right number (38 ÷ 2, 57 ÷ 3, 76 ÷ 4…). Look at the numbers you have: which of those could you build?
Hint 2: a first move
Try 2 + 3 = 5.
Hint 3: how it ends
The last move is 1 × 19 = 19. So the job is building 1 and 19 from the numbers.
Walk through it
Start from the target. 19 is prime, so the last move is likely a + or a −, or a × 1 once you've already made 19.
Look for a pair that's close. The 9 and 10 add up to exactly 19, so 9 + 10 = 19 straight away. That's most of the work done.
Now the 2, 3 and 6 still have to be used. The neat trick is to turn them into a 1, because multiplying by 1 changes nothing. 2 + 3 = 5, and 6 − 5 = 1.
Put it together: 2 + 3 = 5, 6 − 5 = 1, 9 + 10 = 19, and 1 × 19 = 19.
Show an answer
- 2 + 3 = 5
- 6 − 5 = 1
Two numbers one apart make 1, which is handy: multiplying or dividing by 1 leaves a number as it is. - 9 + 10 = 19
- 1 × 19 = 19
1 × leaves 19 as it is: that's how the spare 1 gets used.
One of 35 different answers.
Other ways to get there
- (9 + 6) + ((2 + 10) ÷ 3)
Build up to it: 9 + 6 = 15, and 2 + 10 = 12 with 12 ÷ 3 = 4. Then 15 + 4 = 19. - (2 × 10) − (3 ÷ (9 − 6))
Go just past 19 and step back: 2 × 10 = 20, then 9 − 6 = 3 and 3 ÷ 3 = 1. Finish with 20 − 1 = 19. - (10 × (6 − 3)) − (2 + 9)
Or overshoot by more: 6 − 3 = 3 and 10 × 3 = 30, then 2 + 9 = 11. Then 30 − 11 = 19.