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Nerdle's Hidden Rules#
Details enforced by NerdleBuddy's generated answer model:
Left-Side Lone Zeros Never Appear in Answers
Equations like "0+12=12" or "5*0=0" are mathematically valid and are included in NerdleBuddy's guess model, but they are not in its answer pool. The model excludes any equation with a standalone zero to the left of the equals sign. A result of exactly 0 is fine — 367 modelled answers end in =0, like 10-3-7=0. This is why there are 49,623 "guess-only" equations—valid guesses that can never win.
67,346 Guess Forms vs 17,723 Candidate Answer Forms
NerdleBuddy generates nearly 4× more guess strings than candidate answer strings, and the gap breaks down cleanly within this model:
Lone zeros account for every one of the 49,623 modelled guess-only equations. Each has a standalone zero on the left side (like 0+1+9=10), and 41,490 of them also evaluate to exactly zero (like 0*1234=0). All are legal guesses; none can ever be a candidate answer in this model. A zero result on its own doesn't disqualify an equation — 367 modelled answer forms end in =0, like 10-2-8=0; it's the left-side lone zero that does.
Commutative rearrangements inflate both tallies. Every ordering of added terms and multiplied factors is counted separately — 12+34=46 and 34+12=46, but also three-term forms like 7+8+9=24 and 9+8+7=24 — so NerdleBuddy's 17,723 written forms collapse into 10,757 modelled winning groups. Nerdle accepts these rearrangements as a win, which makes the effective pool of winning entries larger than the number of groups. In that sense the usable guess count is even more generous than 67,346 suggests.
Smart players use the surplus strategically: a guess-only equation can't win, but it can eliminate possibilities no possible answer could — that's a probe guess, explained below.
Probe Guesses: Playing to Learn, Not to Win
A probe guess is an equation you play purely for information — often one that provably cannot be the daily answer, like a lone-zero equation. Because a probe doesn't need to be a possible answer, it's free to test exactly the characters and positions you're unsure about, which can split the remaining candidates more evenly than any real candidate could.
The clearest probes are lone-zero equations like 0+1+9=10 — legal guesses that can never be the answer, so every tile they test is pure information (see the hardest answers for how tight the endgames can get). Our solver marks probe suggestions with a magnifying-glass icon, and its "only possible answers" setting hides them if you prefer to only ever play possible answers.
Commutative Answers Both Count
By default, Nerdle accepts commutatively equivalent guesses: if the answer is "12+34=46" and you enter "34+12=46", you win — and the same goes for multi-term rearrangements like "9+8+7=24" for "7+8+9=24" or "6/2*9=27" for "6*9/2=27". In NerdleBuddy's model, 11,843 of the 17,723 forms have at least one such rearrangement in the pool, producing 10,757 normalised winning groups. For added terms and multiplied factors you don't need to worry about order—our solver can collapse these forms so you don't count them twice.
Single-Digit Results Are Common
The most common results are single digits: 9 (747 times), 8 (714 times), and 7 (636 times). One-digit results cover 33.2% of answers, while three-digit results appear in just 7.4% — see where the equals sign goes for the structural breakdown. If your result area shows a single digit, you're in good company.
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