All puzzles A–Z
All 104 puzzles and games on Puzzle Solvers. Every one makes a fresh puzzle each time you play, has a plain-English guide, and most have a solver that explains each step. Prefer to browse by type or age? Pick a collection below.
A
Arrow Loop
One loop, arrows count the shading. Shade some squares and draw one loop through all the others, so that arrows count the shaded squares in their direction and shaded squares never touch.
B
Bagh Chal
4 tigers against 20 goats. Nepal's tigers-and-goats game: four tigers try to capture five goats; twenty goats try to trap every tiger.
Balance Scales
Every scale balances. Every set of scales balances — work out the whole-number weight of each shape.
Between Sums
The sum between the shaded squares. Shade two squares in every row and column and write 1 to N−2 in the rest, so each outside number is the sum of the numbers between that line’s two shaded squares.
Binary Puzzle
0s and 1s, never three in a row. Fill the grid with 0s and 1s: never three the same in a row, half of each in every line, and no two rows or columns alike.
BODMAS Game
Build equations that hit the target. Build equations that hit the target by applying the order of operations correctly.
Bridges
Join the islands · bridges never cross. Join the islands with straight bridges so each island has as many bridges as its number, nothing crosses, and every island is connected.
C
Calcudoku
Cages, targets and + − × ÷. Fill an N×N grid with 1 to N — no repeats in a row or column — so every cage hits its target using its operation.
Cave
One cave, every rock on the edge. Shade the rock so the white squares form one connected cave, every rock joins the edge, and each number sees exactly that many cave squares.
Circuit Paths
Every dot on exactly one path. Divide every dot into separate paths; each path follows the rules for length, endpoints and anything else the puzzle sets.
Cluster Count
Circles count the clusters they touch. Shade squares so every circled number equals the total size of all the shaded groups touching that circle.
Code Breaker
Crack the colour code. Work out a hidden code of coloured pegs from black pins (right place) and white pins (right colour, wrong place).
CodeBreaker
Crack the 4-digit code. Find the hidden 4-digit code from Bulls and Cows feedback — deduce, don't guess.
Cross Numbers
A crossword where every answer is a number. Fill the grid with numbers so every across and down answer fits its maths clue, sharing digits where answers cross.
D
Disc Towers
One disc at a time. Move a stack of discs to the last peg, one at a time, never putting a bigger disc on a smaller one.
Domino Hunt
Find every domino of the set. Split the grid into dominoes so that every domino of the set appears exactly once.
Domino Shade
Two in every region — all dominoes. Shade exactly two squares in every region so the shaded squares form dominoes that never touch side to side.
Dot Sudoku
White: consecutive · black: double. A sudoku where white dots join consecutive numbers, black dots join a number and its double, and no dot means neither.
Dynamic Path
Flash · find · connect. A maths question flashes up: find its answer on the grid and step onto it, building one connected path until every question is answered.
E
Edge Letters
Each letter once — the edges show who comes first. Place each letter exactly once in every row and column, with blank squares between; edge letters show which letter you meet first from that side.
Equation Square
Place 1–9 so every sum works. Place 1 to 9 once each so every row and column, worked through with its signs, gives the answer at its end.
F
Factor Trail
Factors · multiples · primes. Find the only trail from start to flag, stepping across or down to numbers that follow the rule.
Fence Regions
Split the grid into equal regions. Draw fences along the grid lines to split the grid into regions of the same size, with each number counting the fences around its square.
Fenced Field
One fence · numbers see. Fence in one field so that every number is inside and sees exactly that many field squares across and down.
Fleet Finder
Find the fleet from the counts. Place the whole fleet so that each row and column has the right number of ship squares, with no ships touching.
Flexi Cages
Any numbers · cages make targets. Fill the grid so each row and column uses every number of the set once, and every cage makes its target with its operation.
Four Colours
Colour the map — neighbours never match. Colour every region with one of four colours so that regions sharing a border never match.
Futoshiki
A Latin square with < and > signs. Fill a Latin square so each row and column holds 1 to N once, and every inequality sign is true.
G
Galaxies
Split the sky into balanced galaxies. Split the grid into galaxies, each holding one dot and looking the same after a half turn around it.
H
Hidden Snake
Head to tail · never touching. Find the snake — one unbroken line from head to tail — using the row and column counts. It never touches itself.
Hitori
Shade out the repeats. Shade cells so no number repeats in a row or column, shaded cells never touch, and the rest stay connected.
Hundred Square Pieces
Right adds 1 · down adds 10. Fill the missing numbers on pieces cut from a number square, using right adds 1 and down adds 10.
K
Kakurasu
Shade squares to make every total. Shade squares so each row and column adds up to its total — a shaded square is worth its column number in its row and its row number in its column.
Kakuro
A crossword with digits. A crossword with digits: each run of white cells adds up to its clue, using 1–9 without repeats.
Killer Sudoku
Sudoku with cage sums. Sudoku rules plus cages: the digits in each dotted cage add up to its total and never repeat.
Knight's Tour
L-shaped jumps · stars, routes, tours. Move the knight in its L-shaped jump to reach the targets — or visit every square of the board exactly once.
L
Lambs & Tigers
3 tigers against 15 lambs. An ancient South Indian hunt game: three tigers try to capture five lambs; fifteen lambs try to trap all three.
Last One Standing
Capture until one remains. Every move captures — the capturing piece takes the captured piece’s square. Keep going until only one piece is left.
Letter Sums
Each letter is a digit — crack the code. Replace each letter with a digit — different letters, different digits, no leading zeros — so that every sum is correct.
Light Switch
Every press flips its neighbours. Each press flips a square and its neighbours — find the presses that switch every light off.
Light Up
Light every square · bulbs never clash. Place bulbs so every white square is lit, bulbs never shine on each other, and every number counts the bulbs beside its wall.
Lighthouses
Count the boats · never touching. Place one-square boats so each lighthouse counts the boats in its row and column; boats never touch and are always in sight of a lighthouse.
Logic Grid
Read the clues · tick and cross. Use clues and a grid of ticks and crosses to work out which person has which item in every category.
M
Magic Path
Find the numbers that fit the rule. Find every number that fits the rule and join them all in one continuous path.
Magic Sum
Rows, columns and diagonals that agree. Place each number once so every row and column hits its target — by adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing.
Magnets
Place the + and − ends to match every count. Decide which plates are magnets and which way round they go: like signs never touch, and the numbers count the + and − ends in each row and column.
Make the Number
Hit the target with + − × ÷. Combine the numbers you’re given with + − × ÷ to make the target exactly, using each number at most once.
Matchstick Equations
Move one match. An equation made of matchsticks is wrong — move exactly one match to make it true.
Maths Crossword
A crossword of sums. A crossword where every clue is a maths question and the answers are numbers.
Mine Finder
Every mine by logic — no guessing. Use the open numbers to flag every mine in the field — every puzzle can be solved by logic, without guessing.
Mirror Maze
Fish, birds and frogs — the mirrors tell. Place a fish, bird or frog in every empty square so each number counts the creatures seen along its line of sight, bouncing off mirrors.
Mosaic
Numbers count the shaded squares around them. Shade squares so that every number equals the count of shaded squares in the 3×3 block around it.
Movement Patterns
New piece, new move · plan the route. Learn how a new piece moves, then plan a route that collects every gem.
N
Nim
Take the last counter — or don't. Take turns removing objects; play the right move and you can always win — the maths tells you which.
Nonogram
Shade from the clues · reveal the picture. Shade the grid so each row and column shows the blocks in its clue, in order — and reveal a hidden picture.
Number Blocks
1 to n in every block, no touching. Fill each block of n squares with the numbers 1 to n, so that no two touching squares hold the same number.
Number Chain
Follow the steps in your head. Start with a number, follow each step in order, and keep the running total in your head.
Number Crossword
Place every number · crossings match. Place every number from the list in the grid so the digits match wherever across and down numbers cross.
Number March
Find the hidden pattern. Walk from Start to Finish through a number grid, every step following one hidden repeating pattern of operations.
Number Memory
Observe · remember · calculate. Study numbers in coloured shapes for a short time, then answer surprise questions about them from memory.
Number Order
Same numbers · every line a total. Rearrange the same set of numbers in every row and column so each line, worked out with BODMAS, makes its total.
Number Path
One path through every square, in order. Draw one path from 1 that passes through every square once, reaching the numbers in order and ending on the highest number.
Number Pyramid
Each brick is the sum of the two below. Fill every brick so that each one equals the sum (or product) of the two bricks directly below it.
Number Regions
Every region is the size of its number. Write a number in every square so that each region of joined, equal numbers has exactly that many squares.
Number Search
Solve the clue · find the number. Solve each maths clue, then find its answer hidden in the grid of digits.
Number Snake
Join 1 to N in a chain. Fill in the missing numbers so 1, 2, 3 … N form one chain of touching cells.
Number Triangles
Corner + corner = side. Each side number is the sum of the two corners next to it — find the hidden corners and sides.
Nurikabe
Islands in a connected river. Shade a connected river around numbered islands — each island as big as its number.
P
Pair Paths
Join the pairs · fill the grid. Join each pair of matching numbers with a path across or down; paths never cross and together fill the grid.
Pearl Path
One loop through every pearl. Draw one closed loop through every pearl: straight through white pearls, turning on black ones.
Peg Jump
Jump down to one peg. Jump pegs over each other into empty holes, removing the jumped pegs, until only one is left.
Peg Solitaire
Jump until one peg remains. Jump pegs over each other to remove them; finish with one peg — ideally in the centre.
Pentomino Regions
Five squares each, twins never touch. Split the grid into pentominoes — five squares joined side by side — so that two pieces of the same shape never touch, using the letters as clues.
Pipe Link
Turn the pieces into one network. Turn the pipe pieces so they all join into one network, with no leaks, no loops and nothing pointing off the board.
Pot of Gold
Climb with maths to the golden pot. Start from a number at the bottom of the grid, apply the maths in each cell you step on, and climb to the golden pot with exactly the target number.
R
Rectangles
Split the grid · each number is an area. Split the grid into rectangles so each holds exactly one number, and that number is its area.
Ripple Rooms
Fill the rooms, mind the ripples. Fill each room with 1 to its size so that any two equal numbers in the same row or column have at least that many squares between them.
Room Shade
Shade the rooms, keep the white joined. Shade squares so each numbered room has that many shaded, shaded squares never touch, white squares stay joined, and no straight white line crosses two walls.
S
Shape Sudoku
Each shape once. Fill the grid so every row, column and box has each shape exactly once.
Sightlines
Numbers count the squares they can see. Shade some squares so every number sees exactly that many white squares along its row and column, counting itself.
Signpost Path
Follow the arrows from 1 to the star. Number every square from 1 to the star so that each next square lies somewhere in the direction of the arrow on the square before it.
Skyscrapers
Count the towers you can see. Fill the grid with towers so every row and column holds each height once — and the edge clues count how many towers you can see.
Slant Lines
\ or / · no loops. Draw \ or / in every square so that each corner number counts the lines touching it, with no closed loops.
Sliding Tiles
Slide every tile home. Slide tiles into the empty square, one at a time, until they are back in order with the gap at the bottom right.
Slitherlink
Draw one loop around the numbers. Join the dots into one closed loop so that each number says how many of its square’s four sides the loop uses.
Star Battle
One per row, column & region · no touching. Place stars so every row, column and region holds the same number, and no two stars touch — not even diagonally.
Straights
No repeats — every compartment a straight. Fill white cells so no digit repeats in a row or column, and each white compartment forms a straight — a set of consecutive numbers.
Sudoku
Every digit once in each row, column and box. Fill the grid so every row, column and box contains each digit exactly once.
Sudoku Variants
Fifteen twists on classic sudoku. Classic sudoku — every row, column and box holds each digit once — plus one extra rule that depends on the variant.
Sum Circles
Place 1–9 so every circle adds up. Place 1 to 9 once each so every circle equals the total of the four squares around it.
Sun & Moon
Balance suns and moons with = and × signs. Fill the grid with suns and moons: the same number of each in every row and column, never three alike in a row, and every = or × sign obeyed.
T
Tafl
The Viking king must escape. The Viking board game: the king must escape to the edge or a corner while attackers try to surround him.
Tangram
Seven pieces, 202 shapes. Use all seven pieces to fill the silhouette exactly — no gaps, no overlaps.
Tap Shade
One wall, every ring clue right. Shade one connected wall so that every clue lists the runs of shaded squares in the eight squares around it, with no 2×2 shaded blocks.
Tents
A tent for every tree · never touching. Pitch a tent beside every tree — one each — so no two tents touch and every row and column has its count.
Tetro Shade
One piece of four in every region. Shade one piece of four connected squares (an L, I, T or S) in every region so that everything joins up, with no 2×2 blocks and no matching shapes touching.
Thermometers
Fill from the bulb to match the counts. Fill thermometers with mercury from the bulb up, with no gaps, so every row and column has the right number of filled squares.
Times Grid
Divide · multiply · complete. A multiplication square with the headers and most products hidden — divide to find the headers, then multiply to fill it in.
Traffic Jam
Slide the cars · free the red car. Slide cars and trucks along their own lanes until the red car can drive out of the car park.
Train Tracks
Lay one line from A to B. Lay a single railway line from A to B through the squares, matching the row and column counts.
W
Water Jugs
Measure the exact amount. Measure an exact amount of water using jugs with no markings — fill, empty and pour.
Water Tanks
Water lies flat — fill to match every count. Fill tanks with water that lies flat and settles at the bottom, so every row and column has the right number of filled squares.
Wedge Rooms
Triangles make every room a rectangle. Put dark half-square triangles in some white squares so that every white area becomes a rectangle — upright or tilted 45° — and every number counts the triangles beside it.
Y
Yin and Yang
Two colours · two groups. Fill every square black or white so that each colour forms one connected group, with no solid or checkerboard 2×2.
