Countdown Solver — Letters & Numbers Rounds
Practice both halves of the classic Channel 4 game. Enter your nine letters to find the longest word, or set six numbers and a target to see a step-by-step arithmetic solution — all free, all in your browser.
Letters Round Solver
Numbers Round Solver
How to Use the Letters Round Solver
Enter your nine letters
Type the letters from your round — vowels and consonants in any order. The solver accepts anywhere from 6 to 9 letters, matching the classic show format.
Press Find Words
The solver checks every word that can be built from any subset of your letters, instantly, right in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server.
Read top-down
Results are grouped by length, longest first, with the best word called out at the top. In Countdown your score equals the word length — and a full 9-letter word doubles to 18 points.
How to Use the Numbers Round Solver
Enter the six numbers
Fill in the six tiles from your round. On the show these are drawn from four large numbers (25, 50, 75, 100) and twenty small numbers (two each of 1 through 10).
Set the target
Enter the 3-digit target the random number generator produced — anything from 100 to 999.
Follow the steps
The solver shows a readable calculation like "75 × 4 = 300; 300 + 50 = 350." If the target is unreachable, it shows the closest possible result and how far away it lands.
Countdown Rules Refresher
Countdown has aired on Channel 4 since 1982 — it was the channel's very first programme — and the format has barely changed. In the letters round, one contestant chooses nine tiles, calling "vowel" or "consonant" for each. Both players then have 30 seconds, set to that famous clock music, to find the longest word they can using each tile at most once. The longer valid word scores its length in points, and a nine-letter word earns a double bonus of 18.
In the numbers round, a contestant picks six tiles from a mix of large numbers (25, 50, 75, 100) and small numbers (1–10), and a random 3-digit target appears. Using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division — with every intermediate result a positive whole number — players have 30 seconds to reach the target. Exact scores 10 points, within 5 scores 7, within 10 scores 5. Episodes finish with the Countdown Conundrum, a nine-letter anagram worth 10 points.
Letters Round Strategy
- Pick a balanced selection. Most strong players call four vowels and five consonants (or 3–6). Too many vowels strands you with unusable letters; too few consonants does the same. E, A, I plus a spread of common consonants gives the richest word pool.
- Hunt suffixes first. If your tiles contain I, N, G, mentally set them aside as -ING and build a 6-letter stem from the rest. The same trick works for -ERS, -IER, -EST, and -TION — suffix-spotting is the fastest route to 7- and 8-letter words under time pressure.
- Learn the RETSINA family. The letters of RETSINA (A, E, I, N, R, S, T) are the most productive seven in English — they anagram to ANESTRI, NASTIER, RATINES, RETAINS, RETINAS, STAINER, and STEARIN. Add a D and you reach STRAINED; add a U and you get URINATES. If your rack is close to this set, a long word is almost certainly hiding in it.
- Bank a safe word early. Find any solid 5- or 6-letter word in the first ten seconds, then spend the rest of the clock hunting longer. Declaring something always beats declaring nothing.
- Practice letter-set recall, not word lists. Reviewing your rounds with this solver afterward — seeing what you missed — trains pattern recognition far faster than memorizing dictionaries.
Numbers Round Strategy
- Anchor on a multiple. Find the multiple of 25, 50, 75, or 100 nearest the target first — if the target is 812, note that 75 × 11 = 825 or 100 × 8 = 800 — then adjust with the small numbers. Working from a big anchor down beats building up from small numbers.
- Six small is a trap. The "six small numbers" selection looks friendly but produces the most unreachable targets. One large and five small is the statistically safest pick; the classic "two large, four small" balances reach and flexibility.
- Subtraction is your fine-tuner. Overshooting on purpose and subtracting back (75 × 11 = 825, then 825 − 13) is often easier than landing exactly. Keep one or two small numbers in reserve for the final adjustment.
- Don't fear "close enough." Within 5 of the target still scores 7 points. If the exact solve isn't appearing, lock in your nearest result and declare it — points within ten beat an unfinished exact attempt.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there always a 9-letter word in the Countdown letters round?
No — and that is part of the drama. A 9-letter word exists in only a fraction of letter selections, and even when one is there, spotting it under a 30-second clock is genuinely hard. Most winning rounds are won with 7- and 8-letter words. If our solver shows no 9-letter result, an 8 is usually still a very strong play.
Which dictionary does this solver use?
The Countdown programme uses the Oxford Dictionary of English as its arbiter, with Susie Dent in Dictionary Corner making the call. Our solver uses a curated list of common English words instead — it deliberately favors words most players would recognize and be able to find, so a handful of obscure Oxford-valid words will not appear here, and the occasional word here may differ from an Oxford ruling. Treat it as a practice partner, not an official adjudicator.
How is the letters round scored?
You score one point per letter of your word — a 5-letter word scores 5, an 8-letter word scores 8. The single exception is a 9-letter word, which uses every tile and scores a double bonus of 18 points. Only the player with the longer valid word scores; if both players offer valid words of equal length, both score.
Do I have to use all six numbers in the numbers round?
No. You may use each of the six numbers at most once, but you do not have to use them all. Many targets fall to just three or four numbers. Reaching the target exactly scores 10 points; finishing within 5 away scores 7; within 10 away scores 5. Our solver follows the same rules — every intermediate result must be a positive whole number, and division must be exact.
Is every numbers round target solvable?
No. Depending on the six numbers drawn, some 3-digit targets are mathematically unreachable — famously, certain small-numbers-only selections cannot reach high targets at all. When an exact solution does not exist, our solver shows the closest reachable number and how far away it is, exactly the way contestants declare "I got within two."
Related Tools
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