Keep a daily puzzle streak going on a falling number board

A Daily Drop board starts on a 4x4 grid. Two cells in the top row are empty, and one column has a 3 sitting at its bottom. Players look at the 3 first: any number dropped into that column lands on top of it, and the row, column and box rules apply to that cell right away.

The Daily Drop is one puzzle per day, and it is the same for every player. Starting numbers sit in the same cells for a player who opens the board in the morning and for one who opens it late at night. The puzzle has one solution, and any player can reach it by logic, since no numbers are shuffled for each person.

The streak counts finished puzzles on consecutive days, so each day's board must be completed to count. Each finished day raises the count by one. The count changes only when a day's puzzle is completed, so opening a board and leaving it unfinished leaves the count where it was.

Set one time and one board size each day

Many players who finish the Daily Drop most days choose a set time and stick to it, such as right after breakfast with the coffee still on the table. No time of day has an advantage, since the board is the same for everyone, but a regular slot makes the habit easier to repeat.

Players pick the board size with the same attention. The 4x4 Quick board fits a short sitting, but the 6x6 Classic and 9x9 Master boards take longer and need a block of time the player can count on.

Try a Tuesday session on a 4x4 board. Before the first drop, the player checks each row, column and box for numbers already in place and notes which ones are still missing. For example, a column with a 3 at the bottom cannot take another 3 anywhere above it.

The Daily Drop uses the drop order, since each number falls to the lowest empty cell in its column. On that Tuesday the player mentally tests two orders, perhaps filling the bottom row first and then the column with the 3, and settles only on the order that leaves every cell with a legal number.

What to do on a day the puzzle is missed

A player with a full Wednesday, say a long shift followed by an evening errand, may have only five minutes before bed. A short session on the 4x4 board can fit that time. The player looks at the filled cells, writes down the missing numbers for one row and one column and tries the first few drops in order. If the board is not finished, nothing is lost yet, because the puzzle can wait.

The Daily Drop stays the same for everyone until the next date begins. A player who closes board at noon can open the same puzzle at nine that night and find the same starting numbers in the same cells. The notes on missing numbers from the first sitting still apply, which lets the second sitting pick up where the first one stopped.

When the date passes with the puzzle unfinished, the day counts as missed. On the paper record, the player puts a dash or an X beside that date. Opening the new puzzle at the usual time the next morning, the player plays only that day's board. The count starts again from one once that day's board is finished, and no extra puzzle is played to cover the gap.

Keeping a paper record and a stopping rule

All a paper record needs is a notebook or an index card with one line per date. A player writes the date, then puts a check mark beside it once that day's Daily Drop is finished. Each missed day gets a dash. After a few weeks, the page shows at a glance how many finished days sit in a row, so the player does not have to rely on memory.

Players choose a stopping rule before the first drop, not in the middle of a hard board. Some players stop as soon as they finish one board. Others put the puzzle down when a kitchen timer set for ten minutes rings, and come back to the same board later in the day. Because the Daily Drop is the same all day, a stop at ten minutes loses nothing.

The next step is to open the following day's Daily Drop at the chosen time and check the rows, columns and boxes for placed numbers before making the first drop.

NumFall is made by the publisher of this site. Any health or brain-training points here are general information, not medical advice.