Did you solve it? Are you ready for twenty twenty-six…seven?

New Year preparations in Senegalese capital Dakar
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Earlier today I set you the following set of numerical challenges to celebrate the arrival of 2026.

Auld lang signs

Here is an expression equal to 26 that uses six 1s:

(1+1)×(1+1+11)

Find expressions equal to 26 using:

• Five 9s

• Six 8s.

• Six 7s.

• Six 6s.

• Four 5s.

• Six 4s.

• Four 3s.

• Four 2s.

• a partridge in a pair tree. (Only joking)

You are only allowed the four basic operations, +, –, x, ÷, brackets, exponentiation and concatenation. (Exponentiation is when you make a digit the exponent, such as 1¹. Concatenation is when you join digits together, such as taking a two 1s and making 11.)

Solutions

9+9+9−(9/9)

8+8+8+((8+8)/8)

7+7+((77+7)/7)

6×6+(6−66)/6

5×5+(5/5)

4+(44×4/(4+4))

3³ − 3/3

22 + 2 + 2

Good tidings to all! I’ll be back in 7+7+((77+7)/7)

Thanks to Inder Taneja, author of the website numbers-magic.com. He has many more facts about the coming year in his paper 26 and 2026 in Numbers and Magic Squares

I’ve been setting a puzzle here on alternate Mondays since 2015. I’m always on the look-out for great puzzles. If you would like to suggest one, email me.