Vol. I · No. 1 All the puzzles fit to solve Price: Free
The Puzzle Post
The Puzzles & Logic Edition An Informational Gazette
The Puzzles How to Solve History Glossary

The Solver's Column

How to Solve.

Five techniques that carry across nearly every puzzle in the paper. Learn them in one grid and take them to them all.

Technique No. 1

Start with What's Certain

Every solvable puzzle has a foothold — a clue or cell with only one possible answer. Find it first, and the rest begins to open up.

  1. Scan for the clue or cell with the fewest options
  2. Fill only what you can prove, not what you suspect
  3. Let each certainty create the next
  4. Resist guessing until logic truly runs out

Technique No. 2

Pencil in the Possibilities

When a cell has more than one candidate, don't leave it blank — note every option lightly. Shrinking those lists is how the hardest puzzles fall.

  1. Jot small candidates in the corner of a cell
  2. Cross one off each time a clue rules it out
  3. When a list drops to one, you've found an answer
  4. Keep the marks tidy so you can read them later

Technique No. 3

Work the Intersections

The richest information sits where two lines of a puzzle cross. A single confirmed letter or number there can unlock both directions at once.

  1. Look where an across and a down answer meet
  2. Use a known letter to test an uncertain word
  3. Let one confirmed crossing suggest the next
  4. Move along the chain of crossings as it grows

Technique No. 4

Eliminate, Don't Guess

A good puzzle never needs a guess. Ruling out the impossible is slower than guessing, but it's the only path that always reaches the right answer.

  1. Mark what cannot be true, clue by clue
  2. Trust that one answer always remains
  3. If you're tempted to guess, look for another clue
  4. Check a finished section against every rule

Technique No. 5

Come Back with Fresh Eyes

Stuck fast? The oldest trick in solving is to walk away. A short break resets the mind, and the answer you couldn't see is often obvious on return.

  1. Set the puzzle down when you stall
  2. Do something else for a few minutes
  3. Return and re-read the clues from the top
  4. Trust that a rested mind spots what a tired one missed

Now take a technique to a grid.

Pick a puzzle, keep one habit in mind, and watch the blanks begin to fill themselves.

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