Missing Operator: Hard

The numbers are right. Which sign makes the sentence true?

Smart Mathematician Arithmetic Games Maths Games for Teenagers Maths Games for Adults

Beginner Standard Times & Divide Hard

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How Missing Operator: Hard works

You get an equation with the operator removed — something like 12 ? 4 = 3 — and four signs to choose from. It sounds trivial until you are doing it against the clock, because it forces you to read a calculation backwards rather than forwards.

Working backwards from the answer is a genuinely different mental skill from computing forwards, and it is the one that makes people good at checking their own work.

This version: Three-digit numbers, all operations. Your best score is saved in this browser, so you can come back and try to beat it. Nothing is uploaded and no sign-up is needed.

Frequently asked questions

Why is working backwards useful?

Because it is how you check anything. A person who can look at 12 ? 4 = 3 and instantly see division is the same person who catches their own arithmetic slips before anyone else does.

Can more than one sign ever work?

No. Every round is generated so that exactly one of the four operators produces the stated result.

Is this suitable for a young child?

The Beginner variant uses only addition and subtraction with numbers under 20, which suits most children from about age six.

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