Puzzle Help
Get instructions and tips on all your favorite puzzles and games.
Puzzle Books
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Place lightbulbs (circles) in any white square to illuminate every white square in the four compass directions until reaching either a black square or the puzzle frame. Every white square must be illuminated, but a lightbulb can not illuminate another lightbulb. A black square with a number indicates how many lightbulbs can be next to it, vertically and horizontally.
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The puzzle consists of a grid containing blocks outlined by bold lines.
Fill all empty squares with numbers from 1 to N, where N is the grid's number of rows or columns. Each number can appear only once in each row and column, and the numbers in each block produce the result of the math operation shown in the top-left corner of the block. A number may be used more than once in the same block, but not in the same row or column.
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Most cryptograms are short phrases or quotes encrypted using a substitution cipher, where one letter is substituted for another letter, number, or symbol.
For example, the letter "I" in a phrase may be substituted with "E" in the puzzle. In this case, all instances of "I" will be written as "E" in that puzzle.
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Hidden in the puzzle are several dominos. Each domino contains two numbers (horizontally or vertically) which, depending on the grid size, can range from 0-0 to 9-9. For example, dominos can include 0-0, 0-1, 8-4, etc. There are no duplicate dominos. Find and highlight all dominos in the grid.
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Item description
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Each puzzle consists of a square grid with some squares containing a single digit number. Place numbers in the blank squares (horizontally and vertically) to divide the board into blocks. Each block contains as many squares as the number provided in the block. Blocks can take any shape, but blocks having the same number of squares may not touch each other.
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Discover the numbers hidden inside the board’s empty cells. Each cell is filled with a number between 1 and the board size (usually between 4 and 9). Like Sudoku, each number appears only once in each row and column. Unlike Sudoku, the puzzle contains “inequality symbols” of less than (<) and greater than (>) that must be obeyed. For example, <2 would mean the number before the 2 must be less than 2, and >3 means the number before the 3 must be greater than 3.
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Place a diagonal line in every cell in the grid. The numbers at the corners of some of the cells indicate the number of diagonals that converge on that point. The diagonal lines must not form a loop of any size.
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Fill in the blank squares with numbers from 1 to 9 so that the entered numbers add up to the sum required in the grey clue squares vertically and horizontally. The numbers in consecutive white cells that make up a sum must be unique (no duplicates).
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Maze puzzles come in different shapes, sizes, and difficulty levels. However, the central concept for each is to enter the maze at the starting point or entrance and navigate through the maze to find the one path that will bring you to the exit.
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A Number Search Puzzle is very similar to the popular Word Search Puzzle, except that instead of finding hidden words, you find number sequences such as 10234.
The puzzle consists of a grid of numbers and a list of number sequences to find in the grid.
The objective of the puzzle is to find and mark all the number sequences from the list hidden within the grid. The numbers in the grid may be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. The direction of the numbers may be left to right, right to left, up, or down.
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Create islands by partitioning between clues (numbered squares) with walls so that:
Each island contains only one number clue.
The number of squares on each island equals the clue’s value.
All islands are isolated from each other horizontally and vertically.
There are no wall areas of 2X2 or larger.
When completed, all walls form a continuous path.
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Divide the grid into a series of rectangles. Each rectangle must have only one of the numbers provided in the puzzle. The numbers represent the total number of spaces allowed in that rectangle.
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To complete the puzzle, fill the empty spaces in each row, column, and 3x3 square (outlined in bold) with numbers 1 to 9. The numbers cannot repeat in any row, column, or 3x3 square. Some of the numbers are provided for you already.
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The puzzle consists of a square grid covered with rectangular mats, each one being from 1 to N (where N is the number of spaces in the mat) in length. Place numbers from 1 to N into the puzzle cells. The numbers within a mat must all be different. Horizontally or vertically adjacent cells must not contain the same number. Each row and column of the puzzle must have the same number of appearances of each number.
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A Word Search puzzle is a word game consisting of a grid of letters and a list of words to find. Some difficult word search puzzles do not provide a word list.
The objective of the puzzle is to find and mark all the words from the list hidden within the grid.
The words may be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal in the grid. The direction of the words may be left to right, right to left, up, or down.
Many word search puzzles have a theme that unites the words, whereas others contain random words.
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Online Puzzles
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You can solve the clues in any order. Click or tap on either a clue or a box in the grid to start entering an answer. You can also use the arrow keys, enter/shift-enter, or tab/shift-tab to move around the grid. The clues for words that have been entirely filled in are marked gray, whether the answer is correct or not.
Reveal
If you are stuck, click on a Reveal option under Assist at the top of the puzzle. You have three options. You can reveal a single box. You can reveal an entire word. Or you can reveal the entire grid.
Check
To verify that you've entered the correct letters, click the Check option under Assist at the top of the puzzle. You can verify a single letter, a word, or a grid. Incorrect letters will be shown in red until they are overwritten.
Error check mode
If you want to know whether you’ve typed incorrect entries, use the Error Check mode. You can find it under Settings at the top right of the puzzle. When this option is turned on, incorrect clues are marked in red and incorrect entries are marked in red.
Score
You get 10 points for each correct word completed. Revealing letters or words will cost you points. You lose 1 point(s) for each square you reveal, but you can still get the 10 points if you get the word right. You get no points for a word if you reveal it entirely. The target time to complete this puzzle is 15 minutes. When you complete the puzzle, you will get a bonus of 15 points for every full minute under the target. There is no penalty for going over the time limit.
Start again
Use the Start again option to reset the entire grid. The empty grid will be displayed, and the clock will be set back to zero.
Print
Use the Print menu to print the empty puzzle, the grid with the letters filled in so far, or the grid with the entire solution.
Timer
The timer can be turned on or off. Click on Settings to find the switch.
Play together
Use the Play together option in the navigation bar to invite a friend to play this puzzle. Once connected, your friend's icon will turn green. If you are disconnected from the internet, the icon will turn red. If either of you is inactive, the icon will turn gray. You and your friend can now enter letters at the same time. Click the chat icon at the bottom right to talk with your friend. (Chat is unavailable if either player is on a mobile device.)
Keyboard shortcuts
In addition to the regular keyboard navigation, you can use the following physical keyboard shortcuts:
Control + Shift + H to open "How to Play"
Control + R to reveal word
Control + B to reveal box
Control + G to reveal grid
Control + C to check word
Control + X to check box
Screen reader (beta)
Turn on screen reader mode in settings to have clues and answers read aloud. Use these physical keyboard shortcuts for quick access:
Control + Shift + V to enable or disable screen reader
Control + Shift + R to repeat current clue
Control + Shift + C to read out crossing clue
Control + Shift + B to read out current box
Control + T to read out time elapsed
Press Control to stop speechtion
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The objective of the game is to assemble the jigsaw puzzle. You can move the pieces around by dragging them. If two pieces are in the correct position, they will snap together.
Edges only
Hide all pieces except the ones that form the edge of the jigsaw. This is helpful if you’d like to put together the outer frame and then fill in the pieces in the middle. Press the button again to show all pieces.
Image
To refer to the reference image for the jigsaw while solving it, use the image button on the bottom left.
Hint
If you are stuck, click the hint button on the bottom right. You can get a hint which shakes two connectable pieces.
Sound
Hearing two pieces of the jigsaw puzzle click together can be satisfying. You can turn off game sounds via the Settings menu if you’d rather not have sound while solving the puzzle.
Background color
Change the background color of the player from the Settings menu. Pick your favorite color or just one that suits the puzzle.
Play together
Use the Play together option in the navigation bar to invite a friend to play this puzzle. Once connected, your friend’s icon will turn green. If you are disconnected from the Internet, the icon will turn red. If either of you is inactive, the icon will turn gray. You and your friend can now solve the jigsaw at the same time.
Timer
The timer on the top navigation bar shows how long it takes to solve the puzzle. The Settings menu allows you to enable or disable the timer.
Save
Use the ‘Save’ option from the hamburger menu to save your progress on the jigsaw. You can pick up where you left off when you reopen the game.
Start again
Use the Start again option in the hamburger menu to reset the puzzle. The unsolved jigsaw will be displayed, and the clock will be set back to zero.
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The game aims to fit all clues into the grid without conflicts. You can enter words in any order. Click or tap on a box in the grid to start entering an answer. The easiest way to enter words is by choosing the place in the grid where you would like to enter a word and then choosing the word from the clue list. You can click on any section in the clue list to see the possible places in the grid for words of that length. You can use the arrow keys, enter/shift-enter, or tab/shift-tab to move around the grid. The clue for a word entered somewhere in the grid is marked gray, whether or not the word is in the correct place.
Reveal
If you are stuck, click on a Reveal option under Assist at the top of the puzzle. You have three options. You can reveal a single box. You can reveal an entire word. Or you can reveal the entire grid.
Check
To verify that you've entered the correct letters, click on a Check option under Assist at the top of the puzzle. You can verify a single letter, a word or the entire grid. Incorrect letters will be shown in red until they are overwritten.
Error check mode
If you want to know whether you’ve typed incorrect entries, use the Error Check mode. You can find it under Settings at the top right of the puzzle. When this option is turned on, incorrect clues are marked in red and incorrect entries are marked in red.
Score
You get 10 points for each correct word completed. Revealing letters or words will cost you points. You lose 1 point(s) for each square you reveal, but you can still get the 10 points if you get the word right. You get no points for a word if you reveal it entirely. The target time to complete this puzzle is 15 minutes. When you complete the puzzle, you will get a bonus of 15 points for every full minute under the target. There is no penalty for going over the time limit.
Start again
Use the Start again option to reset the entire grid. The empty grid will be displayed and the clock will be set back to zero.
Print
Use the Print menu to print the empty puzzle, the grid with the letters filled in so far, or the grid with the entire solution.
Timer
The timer can be turned on or off. Click on Settings to find the switch.
Play together
Use the Play together option in the navigation bar to invite a friend to play this puzzle. Once connected, your friend's icon will turn green. If you are disconnected from the internet, the icon will turn red. If either of you is inactive, the icon will turn gray. You and your friend can now enter letters at the same time. Click the chat icon at the bottom right to talk with your friend. (Chat is unavailable if either player is on a mobile device.)
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The objective of this game is to find all the listed words hidden in the grid. To mark words you have found, tap or click the first letter of the word, drag until the last letter and release. Words can run horizontally, vertically or diagonally and may go forward or backward.
A useful strategy to find a word is to look for its first letter and then look in all eight possible directions.Hint
Use the Hint option under Assist at the top of the puzzle to show the first letter of a word that is not yet found. To find a specific word, click or tap on the word first and then click on Hint.
Reveal
If you are stuck, use the Reveal option under Assist at the top of the puzzle to see all the answers.
Start again
Use the Start again option to reset the entire grid. The empty grid will be displayed and the clock will be set back to zero.
Print
Use the Print menu to print the empty puzzle, the grid with found words, or the solution grid. Option to print the solution is not available for contest mode puzzles.
Timer
The timer can be turned on or off. Click on Settings to find the switch.
Play together
Use the Play together option in the navigation bar to invite a friend to play this puzzle with you. Once connected, your friend's icon will turn green. If either of you is disconnected from the internet, the icon will turn red. If either of you is inactive, the icon will turn gray. You and your friend can now enter letters at the same time. Click on the chat icon at bottom right to talk with your friend. (Chat is not available if either player is on a mobile device.)
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Your response is instantly submitted when you click on an option. You can only submit once.
Navigation
You can answer questions in any order. Use 'next' (or right arrow) to skip the current question and 'previous' (or left arrow) to return.
The numbered circles indicate question numbers. White color shows unanswered questions, red color shows questions answered incorrectly and green shows questions answered correctly. Click on the circle to navigate to that question.Hint
Click on Hint (or press H on keyboard) to see a clue for the correct answer.
Keyboard Controls
- Use left/right arrow to navigate to previous/next question.
- Press H for hint and Esc to go back to the question.
- For audio questions, play and pause using space bar.
- You can answer the question by pressing 1 (top left), 2 (top right), 3 (bottom left) and 4 (bottom right).Screen Reader
If you want to hear out the question and the options, enable the voice-over mode in the Settings panel.
Scoring
You get 10 points for each correct answer. The target time to complete this puzzle is 15 minutes. If you answer all questions correctly, you will get a bonus of 15 points for every full minute under the target. There is no penalty for going over the time limit.
Start again
Use the Start again option to restart the quiz. The clock will be set back to zero.
Timer
The timer can be turned off. Click on Settings to find the switch.
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The objective of the game is to find words that can be made with the given letters, such that all the words include the letter in the center. You can enter letters by clicking on them, or by typing them in. Press the 'Enter' button once you are done typing the word in. You can enter each letter multiple times in a single word.
Reveal
You can use the Reveal option at any time, to see all the words that have not been found yet.
Hint
You can use the Hint option to get a hint for a random remaining word. The hint will show one or more letters of the word and the length of the word.
Score
Longer words get more points. 4 letter words get 1 point, 5 letter words get 2 points, and so on. Pangrams (words with all the letters) get an additional bonus of 5 points.
Start again
Use the Start again option to reset the entire game. The empty word list will be displayed and the clock will be set back to zero.
Play together
Use the Play together option in the navigation bar to invite a friend to play this puzzle with you. Once connected, your friend's icon will turn green. If either of you is disconnected from the internet, the icon will turn red. If either of you is inactive, the icon will turn gray. You and your friend can now enter letters at the same time. Click on the chat icon at bottom right to talk with your friend. (Chat is not available if either player is on a mobile device.)
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Guess the hidden word in as few attempts as possible. Press enter to submit each attempt. You have up to 6 attempts.
After each attempt, letters will be shown in three colors: Green, Yellow, and Grey.S T A R
S: Green - the letter S is present in the word and is in the right place.
Z E R O
R: Yellow - The letter R is in the word and not in the right place.
R I C E
I: Grey - The letter I is not present in the word.
Use Dark mode
You can solve the puzzle in dark mode. Click on the navigation bar button to switch it on and off.
Start again
Use the Start again option to restart from the beginning.
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The objective of this game is to find all the listed words hidden in the grid. To mark words you have found, tap or click the first letter of the word, drag until the last letter and release. Words can run horizontally, vertically or diagonally and may go forward or backward.
A useful strategy to find a word is to look for its first letter and then look in all eight possible directions.Hint
Use the Hint option under Assist at the top of the puzzle to show the first letter of a word that is not yet found. To find a specific word, click or tap on the word first and then click on Hint.
Reveal
If you are stuck, use the Reveal option under Assist at the top of the puzzle to see all the answers.
Start again
Use the Start again option to reset the entire grid. The empty grid will be displayed and the clock will be set back to zero.
Print
Use the Print menu to print the empty puzzle, the grid with found words, or the solution grid. Option to print the solution is not available for contest mode puzzles.
Timer
The timer can be turned on or off. Click on Settings to find the switch.
Play together
Use the Play together option in the navigation bar to invite a friend to play this puzzle with you. Once connected, your friend's icon will turn green. If either of you is disconnected from the internet, the icon will turn red. If either of you is inactive, the icon will turn gray. You and your friend can now enter letters at the same time. Click on the chat icon at bottom right to talk with your friend. (Chat is not available if either player is on a mobile device.)