Three identical numbers.

A handful of matchsticks.

And what sounds like an incredibly straightforward instruction.

This The 1% Club puzzle presents players with 888, with each digit constructed from matchsticks, before asking:

“What is the fewest number of matches that have to be removed to turn eight hundred and eighty-eight into three hundred and twenty-four?”

In other words:

888 → 324

But there is one crucial restriction.

You aren’t allowed to rearrange the matches.

You don’t get to move one matchstick somewhere else to create a different digit.

You can only remove them.

And you need to work out the fewest possible number that must disappear.

It looks like the sort of puzzle you might find in a primary school activity book.

Then you actually try solving it.

Give yourself 30 seconds before scrolling down to the answer.

The Three 8s Make It Look Easier Than It Is

There is an obvious reason the puzzle begins with 888.

A digital-style 8 uses every segment available, meaning you can transform it into several other numbers simply by removing parts.

That sounds helpful.

But the challenge isn’t merely to create three different digits.

You must turn the first 8 into 3, the second into 2, and the third into 4 — without adding or repositioning a single match.

And every match you remove counts toward your final answer.

So the real question becomes:

How much of each 8 needs to disappear?

Start With The First 8

Look closely at the first digit.

To transform an 8 into a 3, most of the original shape can remain exactly where it is.

The top, middle and bottom horizontal matches are all needed.

So are the two matches forming the right-hand side.

Only the two vertical matches on the left-hand side are unnecessary.

Remove those, and your first 8 becomes:

3

So far, you’ve removed two matches.

Now comes the second digit.

Turning The Next 8 Into A 2 Requires Another Tiny Change

Again, you don’t need to rebuild the number.

To make a digital 2 from an 8, keep the three horizontal sections, the upper-right section and the lower-left section.

That means only two pieces need to disappear.

Remove the upper-left vertical match and the lower-right vertical match.

Your second 8 is now:

2

That’s another two matches removed.

So after transforming the first two digits, your running total is:

4 matches.

But the final 8 is where the number starts climbing.

The Last Digit Is The Key

You now need to transform the final 8 into a 4.

A digital 4 doesn’t need either the top or bottom horizontal sections.

It also doesn’t need the lower-left vertical section.

Remove those three matches and the remaining pieces form:

4

Now the original:

888

has become:

324

So how many matches did you remove altogether?

Final chance to work it out before scrolling.

The Answer: 7 Matches

The fewest number of matches that need to be removed is:

7

Here’s the breakdown.

To change the first 8 into 3, remove 2 matches.

8 → 3 = 2 removed

To change the second 8 into 2, remove another 2 matches.

8 → 2 = 2 removed

Finally, changing the third 8 into 4 requires 3 matches to be removed.

8 → 4 = 3 removed

Add them together:

2 + 2 + 3 = 7

So:

888 → 324 requires 7 matches to be removed.

The trick is that there is no clever rearrangement and no matchstick needs to be moved from one digit to another.

You simply have to recognize which parts of each 8 are unnecessary.

And once the seven unwanted matches disappear, 324 has been sitting inside 888 all along.