Nerdle #1617 Answer
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
42+45=87
- Structure
- AB+CD=EF
- Type
- Double-Digit Addition
- Result
- 87
How the clues would have read
- Today's equation begins with a two-digit number in the 40s.
- This puzzle uses addition only.
- The result is a 2-digit odd number.
The numbers behind it
- Divisibility: 42 is divisible by 2, 3, 6, 7, 14, and 21, 45 is divisible by 3, 5, 9, and 15, and 87 is divisible by 3 and 29
- Digital roots: 42 → 4+2 = 6, 45 → 4+5 = 9, 87 → 8+7 = 15 → 6
- Prime factorization: 42 = 2×3×7, 45 = 3²×5, 87 = 3×29
Why the structure matters
This puzzle's shape is AB+CD=EF — a double-digit addition, where each letter stands for one digit. Recognising the shape before the arithmetic is what separates a three-guess solve from a six-guess struggle: once you know the equation is a double-digit addition, most of the search space is gone before you have spent a single guess.
The result, 87, factors as 3×29 — those factors are exactly the operations that could have produced it.
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