Grok solves tough problem
Finding these countdowns is surprisingly hard for LLMs. I try it every year. In 2026, Grok was the first to solve it.
Its approach:
• Go for a nearby number that's easy to construct (2016)
• Multiply early to get scale (9 × 8 × 28 = 2016)
• Use the remaining digits to fine-tune the result with addition or subtraction.