Patches solver
Only here Gives hints that hold in every solution, including squares proven before a whole rectangle is settled, for any Patches or Shikaku board you enter, with or without areas on the clues.
For LinkedIn Patches and Shikaku: split the grid into rectangles so each one holds exactly one clue, with the clue's area and shape (square, wide, tall or any). Enter the clues, then play with hints.
Tap a square to put a clue there, then set its area and shape. Tap an existing clue to edit it.
How the hints work
Every hint holds in every solution, so it never sends you down a wrong path. The solver looks for, in order:
- Only one way to fit: a clue whose area and shape fit in just one place.
- Everything else clashes: every other way to draw a clue would cover another clue's squares or cut off a square nobody can reach.
- Only one clue can reach it: a square that only one clue's rectangles can cover belongs to that clue.
- Covered either way: squares that every remaining rectangle of a clue covers.
Squares a hint proves but that don't settle a whole rectangle are striped in the clue's colour, and later hints build on them. "Check board" tries every arrangement, so it can say for certain whether the board has exactly one solution and whether any of your rectangles are wrong.
You enter the boards yourself; Grind Toolkit doesn't copy anyone's puzzles. Not affiliated with LinkedIn.