1 The rule in plain terms
The style rule is simple: use figures for ages and scores. That means a person is a 7-year-old, not a seven-year-old. A game ends 3-2, not three to two. A season record is 12-6, not twelve and six. The numeral is the default because these are measured quantities, and measured quantities read faster as digits than as words.
Ages take a hyphen when they modify a noun: a 7-year-old child, a 42-year-old coach. When the age stands alone as a noun, the hyphen still holds: the 7-year-old scored twice. Scores take a hyphen between the two figures, with no spaces: 3-2, 21-14, 108-102. That hyphen is a score separator, not a range dash, so it stays tight and unspaced.
The rule applies across news, features, and sports copy. It does not care whether the figure is small or large. Age 4 and age 94 both take numerals. A 2-0 lead and a 50-49 finish both take numerals. Consistency is the point: once a reader sees figures for ages and scores, every spelled-out version looks like an error.
2 Why editors enforce it
Editors enforce the figure rule because numerals are faster to scan and harder to misread. In a story about a youth tournament, a reader moving quickly through the text can spot 11-year-old and 6-4 without slowing down. Spelled-out versions force the eye to parse words that carry no extra meaning. The digit is the shortest path to the fact.
Consistency also protects credibility. When one paragraph says a player is 16 and the next calls someone a sixteen-year-old, the copy looks assembled from different sources. Readers may not articulate the problem, but they feel the friction. A desk that lets mixed styles through invites doubt about the numbers themselves, which is the last thing a story about ages or scores can afford.
There is a practical editing benefit too. Figures are easier to verify at a glance against a box score, a roster, or a birth date. A numeral stands out on the page; a spelled-out number blends into the prose. On deadline, that visibility matters. The rule is not decoration. It is a working tool that keeps numbers accurate and copy clean.
3 Where writers usually slip
The most common slip is spelling out an age out of habit, especially in feature writing where a spelled-out number can feel warmer. A writer types the seven-year-old because it reads smoothly in a sentence about a child, then the same writer types 7-year-old in the next paragraph. The fix is mechanical: convert every age to figures, then check the hyphens.
Scores trip writers in a different way. Some write three to two because the phrase sounds natural in conversation. Others write 3 to 2, which is close but still wrong under the figure rule. The correct form is 3-2, with a tight hyphen and no spaces. Writers also slip when a score begins a sentence, where a numeral can look awkward, and they may reach for words to avoid the leading figure.
A third slip is inconsistency within a single item. A story might say the team won 4-1, then later say it took the series three games to one. Both halves describe scores, so both should use figures: 4-1 and 3-1. The desk catches these by reading for the category, not the individual instance. If it is an age or a score, it takes a numeral, every time.
4 Applying the rule on deadline
On deadline, apply the rule with two quick passes. First, scan for age words: seven-year-old, twelve-year-old, forty-two-year-old. Convert each to figures and confirm the hyphens. Second, scan for score words: three to two, twenty-one to fourteen, and the hybrid 3 to 2. Convert each to a tight hyphenated figure: 3-2, 21-14.
When a score or age falls at the start of a sentence, do not let the numeral lead if it looks jarring. Rewrite the sentence so the figure lands inside it. Instead of 3-2 was the final score, write The final score was 3-2. Instead of 7-year-old won the race, write The 7-year-old won the race. This keeps the figure rule intact while avoiding a numeral that looks like a typo at the margin.
Check compound modifiers carefully. A 12-year-old pitcher takes hyphens between all three parts. A pitcher who is 12 takes no hyphens. A 3-2 victory takes a hyphen between the figures; a victory by 3-2 also takes the hyphen. The hyphen in a score is not a range dash and never takes spaces. Read the sentence aloud once. If the number sounds like a quantity, it should look like a figure.
5 Legitimate exceptions
The figure rule bends in a few narrow places. At the start of a sentence, a spelled-out age or score can be acceptable when rewriting would distort the sentence or when the figure would be genuinely confusing. A sentence that begins with a year, for instance, may read better with words, though the desk still prefers a rewrite that moves the figure inside the sentence.
Casual or literary prose may spell out ages and scores when numerals would break the voice. A personal essay might say he was seven when his family moved, and that choice can be defensible if the piece is not news copy and the number is not a data point. The exception is about register, not convenience. If the piece is reporting ages or scores as facts, figures win.
Quotations are their own case. If a speaker says three to two, the quotation keeps the words, because the desk does not edit inside quotation marks except for obvious errors. The same holds for titles, proper names, and fixed phrases. Outside those pockets, the default stands: ages and scores take figures. The exception should be rare, deliberate, and easy to defend to the next editor who reads the line.
6 A worked example from the copy desk
A draft arrives with this sentence: The seven-year-old shortstop went three for four and drove in the winning run in a three to two game. The desk marks three problems. The age becomes 7-year-old. The batting line becomes 3 for 4, since it is a score-like figure. The final score becomes 3-2. The revised sentence reads: The 7-year-old shortstop went 3 for 4 and drove in the winning run in a 3-2 game.
A second sentence in the same story says the team improved to twelve and six. The desk converts that to 12-6. A third sentence calls the coach a forty-two-year-old former player. That becomes a 42-year-old former player. None of these changes alters the meaning. Each one makes the figure easier to scan and keeps the story internally consistent.
The desk then checks the top of the story, where a sentence begins with the score. Rather than let a numeral lead, the editor rewrites the opening so the figure sits inside the sentence. The final read is clean: every age and every score is a figure, every hyphen is tight, and no sentence starts with a number that looks like a stray mark. That is the whole job in one pass.
7 Quick reference and related rules
Keep a short mental list. Ages: figures, with hyphens when they modify a noun or stand as a compound noun. Scores: figures, with a tight hyphen between the two numbers. Records: figures, same tight hyphen. Batting lines and similar counts: figures, often with for between them. If the number is a measured quantity in a news context, it takes a figure.
Related rules follow the same logic. Use figures for percentages, speeds, distances, temperatures, and other measured quantities, with the unit spelled out in most cases. Use words for numbers under 10 in general prose, but let the age and score rule override that default. Ordinals take figures in most news contexts: the 3rd inning, the 42nd parallel. Dates and years take figures without commas.
The unifying principle is category, not size. Ask what the number is doing. If it is an age or a score, it is a figure. If it is a casual count in a feature, words may serve. The desk applies the category first, then checks the hyphens, then reads the sentence once for flow. That order keeps copy clean and keeps the numbers trustworthy.