Blog

Difficulty: Tricky

At the 2022 World Darts Championship, William Borland beat Bradley Brooks with a perfect final leg, scoring precisely 501 points.

On a dart board, there are areas numbered 1 through to 20. Near the rim, the points are doubled, and on a small ring closer in, the points are tripled instead. Right in the middle, there is an outer bullseye worth 25 points and an inner one worth 50 points.

William got exactly 501 points with only 9 darts. His final throw was a double 12, worth 24 points.

Can you work out what his other throws were?

Scroll down or click for a hint, or the answer!

 

Brainteaser hint

• It’s possible to hit an area more than once.
• While it’s helpful to know the highest score, you’re actually looking for a precise score.
• Although the bullseye is in the middle of the board, it’s not the highest scoring spot. Some of the triple point regions are worth more!

Brainteaser answer

William needed 501 points and scored 24 with his last throw. So in the other 8 throws, he made 501 – 24 = 477 points.

The triple 20 is the highest scoring spot on the board, worth 3 x 20 = 60 points. If he hit triple 20 all 8 times, he would have scored 60 x 8 = 480 points. William scored only 3 points less than the maximum!

The second highest scoring spot is the triple 19, which is worth 3 x 19 = 57 points, 3 points less than the triple 20. Replace one triple 20 with a triple 19 to get the right answer: 7 x 60 + 57 + 24 = 501 points.

For more brainteasers and puzzles for kids, subscribe to Double Helix magazine!