Puzzle guide
How to solve Nonograms
A Nonogram is a picture hidden in a grid. The numbers beside each row and column tell you which cells to fill. You never need to draw well: you only need to count. This guide shows you how, one small trick at a time.
The rules
- The numbers next to a row or column are its blocks of filled cells, in order. A 3 means three filled cells side by side.
- Row numbers are read from left to right, column numbers from top to bottom.
- Between two blocks there is always at least one empty cell.
- When every row and column fits its numbers, the filled cells make a picture.
A solved puzzle
Your first moves
- Look for big numbers first. A row whose numbers almost fill it gives away many cells at once.
- Add up a row: its numbers, plus one gap between each pair of blocks. If that equals the length of the row, the whole row is decided.
- Every time you fill a cell, look at the crossing column. One new cell often unlocks the next line.
- Put an X on every cell you know stays empty. X marks show you where blocks still fit.
Techniques, step by step
Numbers that fill the row
The coloured row says 1 1 1. Three blocks with a gap between each need exactly five cells: block, gap, block, gap, block. The row is five cells long, so nothing can move. Fill the first, the middle and the last cell, and put an X in the two gaps. The same works for 3 1 in five cells, or 5 in five cells.
Every block is there
This row says 4, and four filled cells side by side are already there. A row has only the blocks its numbers say, so the block is finished. Every other cell in the row stays empty: put an X on them. When a row is finished, the app crosses out its number, so you can see it at a glance.
Slide the block
A row of ten cells says 7. Push the block of 7 as far left as it goes: it covers cells 1 to 7. Now push it as far right: cells 4 to 10. Cells 4 to 7 are covered both times, so wherever the block lies, they are filled. A quick way to count: the row has 3 spare cells (10 − 7), so a block gives you its length minus 3 for free. Long blocks give you cells like this before you have filled anything.
Cells no block can reach
This row says 3, and one cell is already filled. The block of 3 must cover that cell, so it can start two cells before it at most, and end two cells after it at most. Everything further away is out of reach: put an X on it. Look at what is already filled. It often tells you more than the numbers alone.
Too small for the block
X marks split a row into pieces. Here the row says 3, and an X leaves a piece of only two cells on the left. A block of 3 does not fit into two cells, so both get an X. Now the block has to fit into the five cells on the right, and sliding it there shows that the middle cell of that piece is filled.
Rows and columns work together
In the heart, rows 2 and 3 say 5, so they are full. Now look at the first column: it says 2, and its two filled cells are already there, in rows 2 and 3. So the top cell of that column stays empty. This is how big puzzles are solved: you finish what one row tells you, then read the crossing columns again with the new cells, and back and forth. On hard boards, check a row against every way its blocks could still lie. A cell that is filled in all of them is filled, and a cell no way fills stays empty.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting the gap. Two blocks always have at least one empty cell between them. 2 2 needs five cells, not four.
- Mixing up the order. 1 3 is not 3 1. The numbers are in the order the blocks appear, from the left or from the top.
- Guessing a cell to see what happens. A wrong guess spreads quickly through the crossing lines. If you are stuck, go back over every row and column: one of them has a new cell to give.
- Not marking empty cells. Without X marks, it is hard to see where a block still fits. Mark them as soon as you know them.
Questions and answers
Ready to play?
That is the whole method: count, slide, mark the empties, and let rows and columns help each other. Every board on Solvarium is ready to play in your browser.