1 Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection
2 =========================================
4 This is a collection of small one-player puzzle games.
6 This manual is copyright 2004-2009 Simon Tatham. All rights reserved. You
7 may distribute this documentation under the MIT licence. See appendix A for
8 the licence text in full.
10 Chapter 1: Introduction
11 -----------------------
13 I wrote this collection because I thought there should be more small
14 desktop toys available: little games you can pop up in a window and
15 play for two or three minutes while you take a break from whatever
16 else you were doing. And I was also annoyed that every time I found
17 a good game on (say) Unix, it wasn't available the next time I was
18 sitting at a Windows machine, or vice versa; so I arranged that
19 everything in my personal puzzle collection will happily run on
20 both, and have more recently done a port to Mac OS X as well. When I
21 find (or perhaps invent) further puzzle games that I like, they'll
22 be added to this collection and will immediately be available on
23 both platforms. And if anyone feels like writing any other front
24 ends - PocketPC, Mac OS pre-10, or whatever it might be - then all
25 the games in this framework will immediately become available on
26 another platform as well.
28 The actual games in this collection were mostly not my invention;
29 they are re-implementations of existing game concepts within my
30 portable puzzle framework. I do not claim credit, in general, for
31 inventing the rules of any of these puzzles. (I don't even claim
32 authorship of all the code; some of the puzzles have been submitted
35 This collection is distributed under the MIT licence (see appendix
36 A). This means that you can do pretty much anything you like with
37 the game binaries or the code, except pretending you wrote them
38 yourself, or suing me if anything goes wrong.
40 The most recent versions, and source code, can be found at
41 http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/puzzles/.
43 Please report bugs to anakin@pobox.com. You might find it helpful to
44 read this article before reporting a bug:
46 http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html
48 Patches are welcome. Especially if they provide a new front end (to
49 make all these games run on another platform), or a new game.
51 Chapter 2: Common features
52 --------------------------
54 This chapter describes features that are common to all the games.
58 These actions are all available from the `Game' menu and via
59 keyboard shortcuts, in addition to any game-specific actions.
61 (On Mac OS X, to conform with local user interface standards, these
62 actions are situated on the `File' and `Edit' menus instead.)
64 _New game_ (`N', Ctrl+`N')
66 Starts a new game, with a random initial state.
70 Resets the current game to its initial state. (This can be
75 Loads a saved game from a file on disk.
79 Saves the current state of your game to a file on disk.
81 The Load and Save operations preserve your entire game history
82 (so you can save, reload, and still Undo and Redo things you had
87 Where supported (currently only on Windows), brings up a dialog
88 allowing you to print an arbitrary number of puzzles randomly
89 generated from the current parameters, optionally including
90 the current puzzle. (Only for puzzles which make sense to
91 print, of course - it's hard to think of a sensible printable
92 representation of Fifteen!)
94 _Undo_ (`U', Ctrl+`Z', Ctrl+`_')
96 Undoes a single move. (You can undo moves back to the start of
99 _Redo_ (`R', Ctrl+`R')
101 Redoes a previously undone move.
105 Copies the current state of your game to the clipboard in text
106 format, so that you can paste it into (say) an e-mail client or
107 a web message board if you're discussing the game with someone
108 else. (Not all games support this feature.)
112 Transforms the puzzle instantly into its solved state. For some
113 games (Cube) this feature is not supported at all because it is
114 of no particular use. For other games (such as Pattern), the
115 solved state can be used to give you information, if you can't
116 see how a solution can exist at all or you want to know where
117 you made a mistake. For still other games (such as Sixteen),
118 automatic solution tells you nothing about how to _get_ to
119 the solution, but it does provide a useful way to get there
120 quickly so that you can experiment with set-piece moves and
123 Some games (such as Solo) are capable of solving a game ID you
124 have typed in from elsewhere. Other games (such as Rectangles)
125 cannot solve a game ID they didn't invent themself, but when
126 they did invent the game ID they know what the solution is
127 already. Still other games (Pattern) can solve _some_ external
128 game IDs, but only if they aren't too difficult.
130 The `Solve' command adds the solved state to the end of the undo
131 chain for the puzzle. In other words, if you want to go back to
132 solving it yourself after seeing the answer, you can just press
135 _Quit_ (`Q', Ctrl+`Q')
137 Closes the application entirely.
139 2.2 Specifying games with the game ID
141 There are two ways to save a game specification out of a puzzle and
142 recreate it later, or recreate it in somebody else's copy of the
145 The `Specific' and `Random Seed' options from the `Game' menu (or
146 the `File' menu, on Mac OS X) each show a piece of text (a `game
147 ID') which is sufficient to reconstruct precisely the same game at a
150 You can enter either of these pieces of text back into the program
151 (via the same `Specific' or `Random Seed' menu options) at a later
152 point, and it will recreate the same game. You can also use either
153 one as a command line argument (on Windows or Unix); see section 2.4
156 The difference between the two forms is that a descriptive game ID
157 is a literal _description_ of the initial state of the game, whereas
158 a random seed is just a piece of arbitrary text which was provided
159 as input to the random number generator used to create the puzzle.
162 - Descriptive game IDs tend to be longer in many puzzles
163 (although some, such as Cube (chapter 4), only need very short
164 descriptions). So a random seed is often a _quicker_ way to
165 note down the puzzle you're currently playing, or to tell it to
166 somebody else so they can play the same one as you.
168 - Any text at all is a valid random seed. The automatically
169 generated ones are fifteen-digit numbers, but anything will do;
170 you can type in your full name, or a word you just made up, and
171 a valid puzzle will be generated from it. This provides a way
172 for two or more people to race to complete the same puzzle:
173 you think of a random seed, then everybody types it in at the
174 same time, and nobody has an advantage due to having seen the
175 generated puzzle before anybody else.
177 - It is often possible to convert puzzles from other sources (such
178 as `nonograms' or `sudoku' from newspapers) into descriptive
179 game IDs suitable for use with these programs.
181 - Random seeds are not guaranteed to produce the same result
182 if you use them with a different _version_ of the puzzle
183 program. This is because the generation algorithm might have
184 been improved or modified in later versions of the code, and
185 will therefore produce a different result when given the same
186 sequence of random numbers. Use a descriptive game ID if you
187 aren't sure that it will be used on the same version of the
190 (Use the `About' menu option to find out the version number of
191 the program. Programs with the same version number running on
192 different platforms should still be random-seed compatible.)
194 A descriptive game ID starts with a piece of text which encodes the
195 _parameters_ of the current game (such as grid size). Then there is
196 a colon, and after that is the description of the game's initial
197 state. A random seed starts with a similar string of parameters, but
198 then it contains a hash sign followed by arbitrary data.
200 If you enter a descriptive game ID, the program will not be able
201 to show you the random seed which generated it, since it wasn't
202 generated _from_ a random seed. If you _enter_ a random seed,
203 however, the program will be able to show you the descriptive game
204 ID derived from that random seed.
206 Note that the game parameter strings are not always identical
207 between the two forms. For some games, there will be parameter
208 data provided with the random seed which is not included in the
209 descriptive game ID. This is because that parameter information is
210 only relevant when _generating_ puzzle grids, and is not important
211 when playing them. Thus, for example, the difficulty level in Solo
212 (chapter 11) is not mentioned in the descriptive game ID.
214 These additional parameters are also not set permanently if you type
215 in a game ID. For example, suppose you have Solo set to `Advanced'
216 difficulty level, and then a friend wants your help with a `Trivial'
217 puzzle; so the friend reads out a random seed specifying `Trivial'
218 difficulty, and you type it in. The program will generate you the
219 same `Trivial' grid which your friend was having trouble with, but
220 once you have finished playing it, when you ask for a new game it
221 will automatically go back to the `Advanced' difficulty which it was
226 The `Type' menu, if present, may contain a list of preset game
227 settings. Selecting one of these will start a new random game with
228 the parameters specified.
230 The `Type' menu may also contain a `Custom' option which allows you
231 to fine-tune game parameters. The parameters available are specific
232 to each game and are described in the following sections.
234 2.4 Specifying game parameters on the command line
236 (This section does not apply to the Mac OS X version.)
238 The games in this collection deliberately do not ever save
239 information on to the computer they run on: they have no high score
240 tables and no saved preferences. (This is because I expect at least
241 some people to play them at work, and those people will probably
242 appreciate leaving as little evidence as possible!)
244 However, if you do want to arrange for one of these games to default
245 to a particular set of parameters, you can specify them on the
248 The easiest way to do this is to set up the parameters you want
249 using the `Type' menu (see section 2.3), and then to select `Random
250 Seed' from the `Game' or `File' menu (see section 2.2). The text
251 in the `Game ID' box will be composed of two parts, separated by a
252 hash. The first of these parts represents the game parameters (the
253 size of the playing area, for example, and anything else you set
254 using the `Type' menu).
256 If you run the game with just that parameter text on the command
257 line, it will start up with the settings you specified.
259 For example: if you run Cube (see chapter 4), select `Octahedron'
260 from the `Type' menu, and then go to the game ID selection, you
261 will see a string of the form `o2x2#338686542711620'. Take only the
262 part before the hash (`o2x2'), and start Cube with that text on the
263 command line: `cube o2x2'.
265 If you copy the _entire_ game ID on to the command line, the game
266 will start up in the specific game that was described. This is
267 occasionally a more convenient way to start a particular game ID
268 than by pasting it into the game ID selection box.
270 (You could also retrieve the encoded game parameters using the
271 `Specific' menu option instead of `Random Seed', but if you do then
272 some options, such as the difficulty level in Solo, will be missing.
273 See section 2.2 for more details on this.)
275 2.5 Unix command-line options
277 (This section only applies to the Unix port.)
279 In addition to being able to specify game parameters on the command
280 line (see section 2.4), there are various other options:
286 These options respectively determine whether the command-line
287 argument is treated as specifying game parameters or a save
288 file to load. Only one should be specified. If neither of these
289 options is specified, a guess is made based on the format of the
294 If this option is specified, instead of a puzzle being
295 displayed, a number of descriptive game IDs will be invented and
296 printed on standard output. This is useful for gaining access
297 to the game generation algorithms without necessarily using the
300 If game parameters are specified on the command-line, they will
301 be used to generate the game IDs; otherwise a default set of
302 parameters will be used.
304 The most common use of this option is in conjunction with `--
305 print', in which case its behaviour is slightly different; see
310 If this option is specified, instead of a puzzle being
311 displayed, a printed representation of one or more unsolved
312 puzzles is sent to standard output, in PostScript format.
314 On each page of puzzles, there will be _w_ across and _h_ down.
315 If there are more puzzles than _w_x_h_, more than one page will
318 If `--generate' has also been specified, the invented game
319 IDs will be used to generate the printed output. Otherwise,
320 a list of game IDs is expected on standard input (which can
321 be descriptive or random seeds; see section 2.2), in the same
322 format produced by `--generate'.
326 net --generate 12 --print 2x3 7x7w | lpr
328 will generate two pages of printed Net puzzles (each of which
329 will have a 7x7 wrapping grid), and pipe the output to the `lpr'
330 command, which on many systems will send them to an actual
333 There are various other options which affect printing; see
336 --save _file-prefix_ [ --save-suffix _file-suffix_ ]
338 If this option is specified, instead of a puzzle being
339 displayed, saved-game files for one or more unsolved puzzles are
340 written to files constructed from the supplied prefix and/or
343 If `--generate' has also been specified, the invented game
344 IDs will be used to generate the printed output. Otherwise,
345 a list of game IDs is expected on standard input (which can
346 be descriptive or random seeds; see section 2.2), in the same
347 format produced by `--generate'.
351 net --generate 12 --save game --save-suffix .sav
353 will generate twelve Net saved-game files with the names
354 game0.sav to game11.sav.
358 Prints version information about the game, and then quits.
360 The following options are only meaningful if `--print' is also
365 The set of pages filled with unsolved puzzles will be followed
366 by the solutions to those puzzles.
370 Adjusts how big each puzzle is when printed. Larger numbers make
371 puzzles bigger; the default is 1.0.
375 Puzzles will be printed in colour, rather than in black and
376 white (if supported by the puzzle).
381 (_Note:_ the Windows version of this game is called NETGAME.EXE to
382 avoid clashing with Windows's own NET.EXE.)
384 I originally saw this in the form of a Flash game called FreeNet [1]
385 , written by Pavils Jurjans; there are several other implementations
386 under the name NetWalk. The computer prepares a network by
387 connecting up the centres of squares in a grid, and then shuffles
388 the network by rotating every tile randomly. Your job is to rotate
389 it all back into place. The successful solution will be an entirely
390 connected network, with no closed loops. As a visual aid, all tiles
391 which are connected to the one in the middle are highlighted.
393 [1] http://www.jurjans.lv/stuff/net/FreeNet.htm
397 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse. The
400 _Select tile_: mouse pointer, arrow keys
402 _Rotate tile anticlockwise_: left mouse button, `A' key
404 _Rotate tile clockwise_: right mouse button, `D' key
406 _Rotate tile by 180 degrees_: `F' key
408 _Lock (or unlock) tile_: middle mouse button, shift-click, `S' key
410 You can lock a tile once you're sure of its orientation. You
411 can also unlock it again, but while it's locked you can't
412 accidentally turn it.
414 The following controls are not necessary to complete the game, but
417 _Shift grid_: Shift + arrow keys
419 On grids that wrap, you can move the origin of the grid, so
420 that tiles that were on opposite sides of the grid can be seen
423 _Move centre_: Ctrl + arrow keys
425 You can change which tile is used as the source of highlighting.
426 (It doesn't ultimately matter which tile this is, as every tile
427 will be connected to every other tile in a correct solution,
428 but it may be helpful in the intermediate stages of solving the
431 _Jumble tiles_: `J' key
433 This key turns all tiles that are not locked to random
436 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
440 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
445 Size of grid in tiles.
449 If checked, flow can pass from the left edge to the right edge,
450 and from top to bottom, and vice versa.
452 _Barrier probability_
454 A number between 0.0 and 1.0 controlling whether an immovable
455 barrier is placed between two tiles to prevent flow between
456 them (a higher number gives more barriers). Since barriers
457 are immovable, they act as constraints on the solution (i.e.,
460 The grid generation in Net has been carefully arranged so that
461 the barriers are independent of the rest of the grid. This
462 means that if you note down the random seed used to generate
463 the current puzzle (see section 2.2), change the _Barrier
464 probability_ parameter, and then re-enter the same random seed,
465 you should see exactly the same starting grid, with the only
466 change being the number of barriers. So if you're stuck on a
467 particular grid and need a hint, you could start up another
468 instance of Net, set up the same parameters but a higher barrier
469 probability, and enter the game seed from the original Net
472 _Ensure unique solution_
474 Normally, Net will make sure that the puzzles it presents have
475 only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be more
476 difficult and more subtle, so if you like you can turn off this
477 feature and risk having ambiguous puzzles. (Also, finding _all_
478 the possible solutions can be an additional challenge for an
484 This is another one I originally saw as a web game. This one was a
485 Java game [2], by Paul Scott. You have a grid of 16 squares, six of
486 which are blue; on one square rests a cube. Your move is to use the
487 arrow keys to roll the cube through 90 degrees so that it moves to
488 an adjacent square. If you roll the cube on to a blue square, the
489 blue square is picked up on one face of the cube; if you roll a blue
490 face of the cube on to a non-blue square, the blueness is put down
491 again. (In general, whenever you roll the cube, the two faces that
492 come into contact swap colours.) Your job is to get all six blue
493 squares on to the six faces of the cube at the same time. Count your
494 moves and try to do it in as few as possible.
496 Unlike the original Java game, my version has an additional feature:
497 once you've mastered the game with a cube rolling on a square grid,
498 you can change to a triangular grid and roll any of a tetrahedron,
499 an octahedron or an icosahedron.
501 [2] http://www3.sympatico.ca/paulscott/cube/cube.htm
505 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
507 Left-clicking anywhere on the window will move the cube (or other
508 solid) towards the mouse pointer.
510 The arrow keys can also used to roll the cube on its square grid in
511 the four cardinal directions. On the triangular grids, the mapping
512 of arrow keys to directions is more approximate. Vertical movement
513 is disallowed where it doesn't make sense. The four keys surrounding
514 the arrow keys on the numeric keypad (`7', `9', `1', `3') can be
515 used for diagonal movement.
517 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
521 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
526 Selects the solid to roll (and hence the shape of the grid):
527 tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, or icosahedron.
529 _Width / top_, _Height / bottom_
531 On a square grid, horizontal and vertical dimensions. On a
532 triangular grid, the number of triangles on the top and bottom
538 The old ones are the best: this is the good old `15-puzzle' with
539 sliding tiles. You have a 4x4 square grid; 15 squares contain
540 numbered tiles, and the sixteenth is empty. Your move is to choose a
541 tile next to the empty space, and slide it into the space. The aim
542 is to end up with the tiles in numerical order, with the space in
543 the bottom right (so that the top row reads 1,2,3,4 and the bottom
544 row reads 13,14,15,_space_).
548 This game can be controlled with the mouse or the keyboard.
550 A left-click with the mouse in the row or column containing the
551 empty space will move as many tiles as necessary to move the space
552 to the mouse pointer.
554 The arrow keys will move a tile adjacent to the space in the
555 direction indicated (moving the space in the _opposite_ direction).
557 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
559 5.2 Fifteen parameters
561 The only options available from the `Custom...' option on the `Type'
562 menu are _Width_ and _Height_, which are self-explanatory. (Once
563 you've changed these, it's not a `15-puzzle' any more, of course!)
568 Another sliding tile puzzle, visually similar to Fifteen (see
569 chapter 5) but with a different type of move. This time, there is no
570 hole: all 16 squares on the grid contain numbered squares. Your move
571 is to shift an entire row left or right, or shift an entire column
572 up or down; every time you do that, the tile you shift off the grid
573 re-appears at the other end of the same row, in the space you just
574 vacated. To win, arrange the tiles into numerical order (1,2,3,4 on
575 the top row, 13,14,15,16 on the bottom). When you've done that, try
576 playing on different sizes of grid.
578 I _might_ have invented this game myself, though only by accident
579 if so (and I'm sure other people have independently invented it). I
580 thought I was imitating a screensaver I'd seen, but I have a feeling
581 that the screensaver might actually have been a Fifteen-type puzzle
582 rather than this slightly different kind. So this might be the one
583 thing in my puzzle collection which represents creativity on my part
584 rather than just engineering.
588 Left-clicking on an arrow will move the appropriate row or column in
589 the direction indicated. Right-clicking will move it in the opposite
592 Alternatively, use the cursor keys to move the position indicator
593 around the edge of the grid, and use the return key to move the
594 row/column in the direction indicated.
596 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
598 6.2 Sixteen parameters
600 The parameters available from the `Custom...' option on the `Type'
603 - _Width_ and _Height_, which are self-explanatory.
605 - You can ask for a limited shuffling operation to be performed on
606 the grid. By default, Sixteen will shuffle the grid in such a
607 way that any arrangement is about as probable as any other. You
608 can override this by requesting a precise number of shuffling
609 moves to be performed. Typically your aim is then to determine
610 the precise set of shuffling moves and invert them exactly,
611 so that you answer (say) a four-move shuffle with a four-move
612 solution. Note that the more moves you ask for, the more likely
613 it is that solutions shorter than the target length will turn
619 Twiddle is a tile-rearrangement puzzle, visually similar to Sixteen
620 (see chapter 6): you are given a grid of square tiles, each
621 containing a number, and your aim is to arrange the numbers into
624 In basic Twiddle, your move is to rotate a square group of four
625 tiles about their common centre. (Orientation is not significant
626 in the basic puzzle, although you can select it.) On more advanced
627 settings, you can rotate a larger square group of tiles.
629 I first saw this type of puzzle in the GameCube game `Metroid
630 Prime 2'. In the Main Gyro Chamber in that game, there is a puzzle
631 you solve to unlock a door, which is a special case of Twiddle. I
632 developed this game as a generalisation of that puzzle.
636 To play Twiddle, click the mouse in the centre of the square group
637 you wish to rotate. In the basic mode, you rotate a 2x2 square,
638 which means you have to click at a corner point where four tiles
641 In more advanced modes you might be rotating 3x3 or even more at a
642 time; if the size of the square is odd then you simply click in the
643 centre tile of the square you want to rotate.
645 Clicking with the left mouse button rotates the group anticlockwise.
646 Clicking with the right button rotates it clockwise.
648 You can also move an outline square around the grid with the cursor
649 keys; the square is the size above (2x2 by default, or larger).
650 Pressing the return key or space bar will rotate the current square
651 anticlockwise or clockwise respectively.
653 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
655 7.2 Twiddle parameters
657 Twiddle provides several configuration options via the `Custom'
658 option on the `Type' menu:
660 - You can configure the width and height of the puzzle grid.
662 - You can configure the size of square block that rotates at a
665 - You can ask for every square in the grid to be distinguishable
666 (the default), or you can ask for a simplified puzzle in which
667 there are groups of identical numbers. In the simplified puzzle
668 your aim is just to arrange all the 1s into the first row, all
669 the 2s into the second row, and so on.
671 - You can configure whether the orientation of tiles matters. If
672 you ask for an orientable puzzle, each tile will have a triangle
673 drawn in it. All the triangles must be pointing upwards to
676 - You can ask for a limited shuffling operation to be performed
677 on the grid. By default, Twiddle will shuffle the grid so much
678 that any arrangement is about as probable as any other. You can
679 override this by requesting a precise number of shuffling moves
680 to be performed. Typically your aim is then to determine the
681 precise set of shuffling moves and invert them exactly, so that
682 you answer (say) a four-move shuffle with a four-move solution.
683 Note that the more moves you ask for, the more likely it is that
684 solutions shorter than the target length will turn out to be
687 Chapter 8: Rectangles
688 ---------------------
690 You have a grid of squares, with numbers written in some (but
691 not all) of the squares. Your task is to subdivide the grid into
692 rectangles of various sizes, such that (a) every rectangle contains
693 exactly one numbered square, and (b) the area of each rectangle is
694 equal to the number written in its numbered square.
696 Credit for this game goes to the Japanese puzzle magazine Nikoli
697 [3]; I've also seen a Palm implementation at Puzzle Palace [4]
698 . Unlike Puzzle Palace's implementation, my version automatically
699 generates random grids of any size you like. The quality of puzzle
700 design is therefore not quite as good as hand-crafted puzzles would
701 be, but on the plus side you get an inexhaustible supply of puzzles
702 tailored to your own specification.
704 [3] http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/7/index_text-e.htm
706 [4] http://www.puzzle.gr.jp/puzzle/sikaku/palm/index.html.en
708 8.1 Rectangles controls
710 This game is played with the mouse or cursor keys.
712 Left-click any edge to toggle it on or off, or left-click and
713 drag to draw an entire rectangle (or line) on the grid in one go
714 (removing any existing edges within that rectangle). Right-clicking
715 and dragging will allow you to erase the contents of a rectangle
716 without affecting its edges.
718 Alternatively, use the cursor keys to move the position indicator
719 around the board. Pressing the return key then allows you to use the
720 cursor keys to drag a rectangle out from that position, and pressing
721 the return key again completes the rectangle. Using the space bar
722 instead of the return key allows you to erase the contents of a
723 rectangle without affecting its edges, as above.
725 When a rectangle of the correct size is completed, it will be
728 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
730 8.2 Rectangles parameters
732 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
737 Size of grid, in squares.
741 This is a mechanism for changing the type of grids generated by
742 the program. Some people prefer a grid containing a few large
743 rectangles to one containing many small ones. So you can ask
744 Rectangles to essentially generate a _smaller_ grid than the
745 size you specified, and then to expand it by adding rows and
748 The default expansion factor of zero means that Rectangles will
749 simply generate a grid of the size you ask for, and do nothing
750 further. If you set an expansion factor of (say) 0.5, it means
751 that each dimension of the grid will be expanded to half again
752 as big after generation. In other words, the initial grid will
753 be 2/3 the size in each dimension, and will be expanded to its
754 full size without adding any more rectangles.
756 Setting an expansion factor of around 0.5 tends to make the
757 game more difficult, and also (in my experience) rewards a
758 less deductive and more intuitive playing style. If you set it
759 _too_ high, though, the game simply cannot generate more than a
760 few rectangles to cover the entire grid, and the game becomes
763 _Ensure unique solution_
765 Normally, Rectangles will make sure that the puzzles it presents
766 have only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be
767 more difficult and more subtle, so if you like you can turn off
768 this feature and risk having ambiguous puzzles. Also, finding
769 _all_ the possible solutions can be an additional challenge for
770 an advanced player. Turning off this option can also speed up
776 This game combines the grid generation of Net (see chapter 3) with
777 the movement of Sixteen (see chapter 6): you have a Net grid, but
778 instead of rotating tiles back into place you have to slide them
779 into place by moving a whole row at a time.
781 As in Sixteen, control is with the mouse or cursor keys. See section
784 The available game parameters have similar meanings to those in Net
785 (see section 3.2) and Sixteen (see section 6.2).
787 Netslide was contributed to this collection by Richard Boulton.
792 You have a grid of squares, which must all be filled in either black
793 or white. Beside each row of the grid are listed the lengths of the
794 runs of black squares on that row; above each column are listed the
795 lengths of the runs of black squares in that column. Your aim is to
796 fill in the entire grid black or white.
798 I first saw this puzzle form around 1995, under the name
799 `nonograms'. I've seen it in various places since then, under
802 Normally, puzzles of this type turn out to be a meaningful picture
803 of something once you've solved them. However, since this version
804 generates the puzzles automatically, they will just look like random
805 groupings of squares. (One user has suggested that this is actually
806 a _good_ thing, since it prevents you from guessing the colour of
807 squares based on the picture, and forces you to use logic instead.)
808 The advantage, though, is that you never run out of them.
810 10.1 Pattern controls
812 This game is played with the mouse.
814 Left-click in a square to colour it black. Right-click to colour it
815 white. If you make a mistake, you can middle-click, or hold down
816 Shift while clicking with any button, to colour the square in the
817 default grey (meaning `undecided') again.
819 You can click and drag with the left or right mouse button to colour
820 a vertical or horizontal line of squares black or white at a time
821 (respectively). If you click and drag with the middle button, or
822 with Shift held down, you can colour a whole rectangle of squares
825 You can also move around the grid with the cursor keys. Pressing the
826 return key will cycle the current cell through empty --> black -->
827 white --> empty, and the space bar does the same cycle in reverse.
829 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
831 10.2 Pattern parameters
833 The only options available from the `Custom...' option on the `Type'
834 menu are _Width_ and _Height_, which are self-explanatory.
839 You have a square grid, which is divided into as many equally sized
840 sub-blocks as the grid has rows. Each square must be filled in with
841 a digit from 1 to the size of the grid, in such a way that
843 - every row contains only one occurrence of each digit
845 - every column contains only one occurrence of each digit
847 - every block contains only one occurrence of each digit.
849 - (optionally, by default off) each of the square's two main
850 diagonals contains only one occurrence of each digit.
852 You are given some of the numbers as clues; your aim is to place the
853 rest of the numbers correctly.
855 Under the default settings, the sub-blocks are square or
856 rectangular. The default puzzle size is 3x3 (a 9x9 actual grid,
857 divided into nine 3x3 blocks). You can also select sizes with
858 rectangular blocks instead of square ones, such as 2x3 (a 6x6 grid
859 divided into six 3x2 blocks). Alternatively, you can select `jigsaw'
860 mode, in which the sub-blocks are arbitrary shapes which differ
861 between individual puzzles.
863 Another available mode is `killer'. In this mode, clues are not
864 given in the form of filled-in squares; instead, the grid is divided
865 into `cages' by coloured lines, and for each cage the game tells
866 you what the sum of all the digits in that cage should be. Also,
867 no digit may appear more than once within a cage, even if the cage
868 crosses the boundaries of existing regions.
870 If you select a puzzle size which requires more than 9 digits, the
871 additional digits will be letters of the alphabet. For example, if
872 you select 3x4 then the digits which go in your grid will be 1 to 9,
873 plus `a', `b' and `c'. This cannot be selected for killer puzzles.
875 I first saw this puzzle in Nikoli [5], although it's also been
876 popularised by various newspapers under the name `Sudoku' or `Su
877 Doku'. Howard Garns is considered the inventor of the modern form of
878 the puzzle, and it was first published in _Dell Pencil Puzzles and
879 Word Games_. A more elaborate treatment of the history of the puzzle
880 can be found on Wikipedia [6].
882 [5] http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/1/index_text-e.htm
884 [6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudoku
888 To play Solo, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then
889 type a digit or letter on the keyboard to fill that square. If you
890 make a mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and press
891 Space to clear it again (or use the Undo feature).
893 If you _right_-click in a square and then type a number, that
894 number will be entered in the square as a `pencil mark'. You can
895 have pencil marks for multiple numbers in the same square. Squares
896 containing filled-in numbers cannot also contain pencil marks.
898 The game pays no attention to pencil marks, so exactly what you
899 use them for is up to you: you can use them as reminders that a
900 particular square needs to be re-examined once you know more about
901 a particular number, or you can use them as lists of the possible
902 numbers in a given square, or anything else you feel like.
904 To erase a single pencil mark, right-click in the square and type
905 the same number again.
907 All pencil marks in a square are erased when you left-click and type
908 a number, or when you left-click and press space. Right-clicking and
909 pressing space will also erase pencil marks.
911 Alternatively, use the cursor keys to move the mark around the grid.
912 Pressing the return key toggles the mark (from a normal mark to a
913 pencil mark), and typing a number in is entered in the square in the
914 appropriate way; typing in a 0 or using the space bar will clear a
917 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
921 Solo allows you to configure two separate dimensions of the puzzle
922 grid on the `Type' menu: the number of columns, and the number of
923 rows, into which the main grid is divided. (The size of a block is
924 the inverse of this: for example, if you select 2 columns and 3
925 rows, each actual block will have 3 columns and 2 rows.)
927 If you tick the `X' checkbox, Solo will apply the optional extra
928 constraint that the two main diagonals of the grid also contain
929 one of every digit. (This is sometimes known as `Sudoku-X' in
930 newspapers.) In this mode, the squares on the two main diagonals
931 will be shaded slightly so that you know it's enabled.
933 If you tick the `Jigsaw' checkbox, Solo will generate randomly
934 shaped sub-blocks. In this mode, the actual grid size will be taken
935 to be the product of the numbers entered in the `Columns' and `Rows'
936 boxes. There is no reason why you have to enter a number greater
937 than 1 in both boxes; Jigsaw mode has no constraint on the grid
938 size, and it can even be a prime number if you feel like it.
940 If you tick the `Killer' checkbox, Solo will generate a set of
941 of cages, which are randomly shaped and drawn in an outline of a
942 different colour. Each of these regions contains a smaller clue
943 which shows the digit sum of all the squares in this region.
945 You can also configure the type of symmetry shown in the generated
946 puzzles. More symmetry makes the puzzles look prettier but may also
947 make them easier, since the symmetry constraints can force more
948 clues than necessary to be present. Completely asymmetric puzzles
949 have the freedom to contain as few clues as possible.
951 Finally, you can configure the difficulty of the generated puzzles.
952 Difficulty levels are judged by the complexity of the techniques
953 of deduction required to solve the puzzle: each level requires a
954 mode of reasoning which was not necessary in the previous one. In
955 particular, on difficulty levels `Trivial' and `Basic' there will be
956 a square you can fill in with a single number at all times, whereas
957 at `Intermediate' level and beyond you will have to make partial
958 deductions about the _set_ of squares a number could be in (or the
959 set of numbers that could be in a square). At `Unreasonable' level,
960 even this is not enough, and you will eventually have to make a
961 guess, and then backtrack if it turns out to be wrong.
963 Generating difficult puzzles is itself difficult: if you select one
964 of the higher difficulty levels, Solo may have to make many attempts
965 at generating a puzzle before it finds one hard enough for you. Be
966 prepared to wait, especially if you have also configured a large
972 You have a grid of covered squares, some of which contain mines, but
973 you don't know which. Your job is to uncover every square which does
974 _not_ contain a mine. If you uncover a square containing a mine, you
975 lose. If you uncover a square which does not contain a mine, you
976 are told how many mines are contained within the eight surrounding
979 This game needs no introduction; popularised by Windows, it is
980 perhaps the single best known desktop puzzle game in existence.
982 This version of it has an unusual property. By default, it will
983 generate its mine positions in such a way as to ensure that you
984 never need to _guess_ where a mine is: you will always be able
985 to deduce it somehow. So you will never, as can happen in other
986 versions, get to the last four squares and discover that there are
987 two mines left but you have no way of knowing for sure where they
992 This game is played with the mouse.
994 If you left-click in a covered square, it will be uncovered.
996 If you right-click in a covered square, it will place a flag which
997 indicates that the square is believed to be a mine. Left-clicking in
998 a marked square will not uncover it, for safety. You can right-click
999 again to remove a mark placed in error.
1001 If you left-click in an _uncovered_ square, it will `clear around'
1002 the square. This means: if the square has exactly as many flags
1003 surrounding it as it should have mines, then all the covered squares
1004 next to it which are _not_ flagged will be uncovered. So once you
1005 think you know the location of all the mines around a square, you
1006 can use this function as a shortcut to avoid having to click on each
1007 of the remaining squares one by one.
1009 If you uncover a square which has _no_ mines in the surrounding
1010 eight squares, then it is obviously safe to uncover those squares in
1011 turn, and so on if any of them also has no surrounding mines. This
1012 will be done for you automatically; so sometimes when you uncover a
1013 square, a whole new area will open up to be explored.
1015 You can also use the cursor keys to move around the minefield.
1016 Pressing the return key in a covered square uncovers it, and in
1017 an uncovered square will clear around it (so it acts as the left
1018 button), pressing the space bar in a covered square will place a
1019 flag (similarly, it acts as the right button).
1021 All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.
1023 Even Undo is available, although you might consider it cheating to
1024 use it. If you step on a mine, the program will only reveal the mine
1025 in question (unlike most other implementations, which reveal all of
1026 them). You can then Undo your fatal move and continue playing if you
1027 like. The program will track the number of times you died (and Undo
1028 will not reduce that counter), so when you get to the end of the
1029 game you know whether or not you did it without making any errors.
1031 (If you really want to know the full layout of the grid, which other
1032 implementations will show you after you die, you can always use the
1035 12.2 Mines parameters
1037 The options available from the `Custom...' option on the `Type' menu
1042 Size of grid in squares.
1046 Number of mines in the grid. You can enter this as an absolute
1047 mine count, or alternatively you can put a % sign on the end
1048 in which case the game will arrange for that proportion of the
1049 squares in the grid to be mines.
1051 Beware of setting the mine count too high. At very high
1052 densities, the program may spend forever searching for a
1057 When this option is enabled (as it is by default), Mines will
1058 ensure that the entire grid can be fully deduced starting
1059 from the initial open space. If you prefer the riskier grids
1060 generated by other implementations, you can switch off this
1063 Chapter 13: Same Game
1064 ---------------------
1066 You have a grid of coloured squares, which you have to clear by
1067 highlighting contiguous regions of more than one coloured square;
1068 the larger the region you highlight, the more points you get (and
1069 the faster you clear the arena).
1071 If you clear the grid you win. If you end up with nothing but single
1072 squares (i.e., there are no more clickable regions left) you lose.
1074 Removing a region causes the rest of the grid to shuffle up: blocks
1075 that are suspended will fall down (first), and then empty columns
1076 are filled from the right.
1078 Same Game was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1080 13.1 Same Game controls
1082 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
1084 If you left-click an unselected region, it becomes selected
1085 (possibly clearing the current selection).
1087 If you left-click the selected region, it will be removed (and the
1088 rest of the grid shuffled immediately).
1090 If you right-click the selected region, it will be unselected.
1092 The cursor keys move a cursor around the grid. Pressing the Space or
1093 Enter keys while the cursor is in an unselected region selects it;
1094 pressing Space or Enter again removes it as above.
1096 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1098 13.2 Same Game parameters
1100 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1105 Size of grid in squares.
1109 Number of different colours used to fill the grid; the more
1110 colours, the fewer large regions of colour and thus the more
1111 difficult it is to successfully clear the grid.
1115 Controls the precise mechanism used for scoring. With the
1116 default system, `(n-2)^2', only regions of three squares or more
1117 will score any points at all. With the alternative `(n-1)^2'
1118 system, regions of two squares score a point each, and larger
1119 regions score relatively more points.
1123 If this option is ticked (the default state), generated grids
1124 will be guaranteed to have at least one solution.
1126 If you turn it off, the game generator will not try to guarantee
1127 soluble grids; it will, however, still ensure that there are at
1128 least 2 squares of each colour on the grid at the start (since a
1129 grid with exactly one square of a given colour is _definitely_
1130 insoluble). Grids generated with this option disabled may
1131 contain more large areas of contiguous colour, leading to
1132 opportunities for higher scores; they can also take less time to
1138 You have a grid of squares, some light and some dark. Your aim is to
1139 light all the squares up at the same time. You can choose any square
1140 and flip its state from light to dark or dark to light, but when you
1141 do so, other squares around it change state as well.
1143 Each square contains a small diagram showing which other squares
1144 change when you flip it.
1148 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
1150 Left-click in a square to flip it and its associated squares, or use
1151 the cursor keys to choose a square and the space bar or Enter key to
1154 If you use the `Solve' function on this game, it will mark some of
1155 the squares in red. If you click once in every square with a red
1156 mark, the game should be solved. (If you click in a square _without_
1157 a red mark, a red mark will appear in it to indicate that you will
1158 need to reverse that operation to reach the solution.)
1160 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1162 14.2 Flip parameters
1164 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1169 Size of grid in squares.
1173 This control determines the shape of the region which is flipped
1174 by clicking in any given square. The default setting, `Crosses',
1175 causes every square to flip itself and its four immediate
1176 neighbours (or three or two if it's at an edge or corner). The
1177 other setting, `Random', causes a random shape to be chosen for
1178 every square, so the game is different every time.
1183 You have a set of coloured pegs, and have to reproduce a
1184 predetermined sequence of them (chosen by the computer) within a
1185 certain number of guesses.
1187 Each guess gets marked with the number of correctly-coloured pegs
1188 in the correct places (in black), and also the number of correctly-
1189 coloured pegs in the wrong places (in white).
1191 This game is also known (and marketed, by Hasbro, mainly) as a board
1192 game `Mastermind', with 6 colours, 4 pegs per row, and 10 guesses.
1193 However, this version allows custom settings of number of colours
1194 (up to 10), number of pegs per row, and number of guesses.
1196 Guess was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1200 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
1202 With the mouse, drag a coloured peg from the tray on the left-hand
1203 side to its required position in the current guess; pegs may also
1204 be dragged from current and past guesses to copy them elsewhere. To
1205 remove a peg, drag it off its current position to somewhere invalid.
1207 Right-clicking in the current guess adds a `hold' marker; pegs that
1208 have hold markers will be automatically added to the next guess
1211 Alternatively, with the keyboard, the up and down cursor keys can
1212 be used to select a peg colour, the left and right keys to select a
1213 peg position, and the space bar or Enter key to place a peg of the
1214 selected colour in the chosen position. `D' or Backspace removes a
1215 peg, and `H' adds a hold marker.
1217 When the guess is complete, the smaller feedback pegs will be
1218 highlighted; clicking on these (or moving the peg cursor to them
1219 with the arrow keys and pressing the space bar or Enter key) will
1220 mark the current guess, copy any held pegs to the next guess, and
1221 move the `current guess' marker.
1223 If you correctly position all the pegs the solution will be
1224 displayed below; if you run out of guesses (or select `Solve...')
1225 the solution will also be revealed.
1227 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1229 15.2 Guess parameters
1231 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1232 `Type' menu. The default game matches the parameters for the board
1237 Number of colours the solution is chosen from; from 2 to 10
1242 Number of pegs per guess (more is harder).
1246 Number of guesses you have to find the solution in (fewer is
1251 Allows blank pegs to be given as part of a guess (makes it
1252 easier, because you know that those will never be counted as
1253 part of the solution). This is turned off by default.
1255 Note that this doesn't allow blank pegs in the solution; if you
1256 really wanted that, use one extra colour.
1260 Allows the solution (and the guesses) to contain colours more
1261 than once; this increases the search space (making things
1262 harder), and is turned on by default.
1267 A number of pegs are placed in holes on a board. You can remove a
1268 peg by jumping an adjacent peg over it (horizontally or vertically)
1269 to a vacant hole on the other side. Your aim is to remove all but
1270 one of the pegs initially present.
1272 This game, best known as `Peg Solitaire', is possibly one of the
1273 oldest puzzle games still commonly known.
1277 To move a peg, drag it with the mouse from its current position to
1278 its final position. If the final position is exactly two holes away
1279 from the initial position, is currently unoccupied by a peg, and
1280 there is a peg in the intervening square, the move will be permitted
1281 and the intervening peg will be removed.
1283 Vacant spaces which you can move a peg into are marked with holes. A
1284 space with no peg and no hole is not available for moving at all: it
1285 is an obstacle which you must work around.
1287 You can also use the cursor keys to move a position indicator around
1288 the board. Pressing the return key while over a peg, followed by a
1289 cursor key, will jump the peg in that direction (if that is a legal
1292 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1294 16.2 Pegs parameters
1296 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1301 Size of grid in holes.
1305 Controls whether you are given a board of a standard shape or
1306 a randomly generated shape. The two standard shapes currently
1307 supported are `Cross' and `Octagon' (also commonly known as the
1308 English and European traditional board layouts respectively).
1309 Selecting `Random' will give you a different board shape every
1310 time (but always one that is known to have a solution).
1312 Chapter 17: Dominosa
1313 --------------------
1315 A normal set of dominoes - that is, one instance of every
1316 (unordered) pair of numbers from 0 to 6 - has been arranged
1317 irregularly into a rectangle; then the number in each square has
1318 been written down and the dominoes themselves removed. Your task is
1319 to reconstruct the pattern by arranging the set of dominoes to match
1320 the provided array of numbers.
1322 This puzzle is widely credited to O. S. Adler, and takes part of its
1323 name from those initials.
1325 17.1 Dominosa controls
1327 Left-clicking between any two adjacent numbers places a domino
1328 covering them, or removes one if it is already present. Trying to
1329 place a domino which overlaps existing dominoes will remove the ones
1332 Right-clicking between two adjacent numbers draws a line between
1333 them, which you can use to remind yourself that you know those two
1334 numbers are _not_ covered by a single domino. Right-clicking again
1337 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1339 17.2 Dominosa parameters
1341 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1344 _Maximum number on dominoes_
1346 Controls the size of the puzzle, by controlling the size of the
1347 set of dominoes used to make it. Dominoes with numbers going
1348 up to N will give rise to an (N+2) x (N+1) rectangle; so, in
1349 particular, the default value of 6 gives an 8x7 grid.
1351 _Ensure unique solution_
1353 Normally, Dominosa will make sure that the puzzles it presents
1354 have only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be
1355 more difficult and sometimes more subtle, so if you like you
1356 can turn off this feature. Also, finding _all_ the possible
1357 solutions can be an additional challenge for an advanced player.
1358 Turning off this option can also speed up puzzle generation.
1360 Chapter 18: Untangle
1361 --------------------
1363 You are given a number of points, some of which have lines drawn
1364 between them. You can move the points about arbitrarily; your aim is
1365 to position the points so that no line crosses another.
1367 I originally saw this in the form of a Flash game called Planarity
1368 [7], written by John Tantalo.
1370 [7] http://home.cwru.edu/~jnt5/Planarity
1372 18.1 Untangle controls
1374 To move a point, click on it with the left mouse button and drag it
1375 into a new position.
1377 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1379 18.2 Untangle parameters
1381 There is only one parameter available from the `Custom...' option on
1386 Controls the size of the puzzle, by specifying the number of
1387 points in the generated graph.
1389 Chapter 19: Black Box
1390 ---------------------
1392 A number of balls are hidden in a rectangular arena. You have to
1393 deduce the positions of the balls by firing lasers from positions on
1394 the edge of the arena and observing how they are deflected.
1396 Lasers will fire straight until they hit the opposite side of the
1397 arena (at which point they emerge), unless affected by balls in one
1398 of the following ways:
1400 - A laser that hits a ball head-on is absorbed and will never re-
1401 emerge. This includes lasers that meet a ball on the first rank
1404 - A laser with a ball to its front-left square gets deflected 90
1405 degrees to the right.
1407 - A laser with a ball to its front-right square gets similarly
1408 deflected to the left.
1410 - A laser that would re-emerge from the entry location is
1411 considered to be `reflected'.
1413 - A laser which would get deflected before entering the arena
1414 (down the `firing range') by a ball to the front-left or front-
1415 right of its entry point is also considered to be `reflected'.
1417 Lasers that are reflected appear as a `R'; lasers that hit balls
1418 dead-on appear as `H'. Otherwise, a number appears at the firing
1419 point and the location where the laser emerges (this number is
1420 unique to that shot).
1422 You can place guesses as to the location of the balls, based on the
1423 entry and exit patterns of the lasers; once you have placed enough
1424 balls a button appears enabling you to have your guesses checked.
1426 Here is a diagram showing how the positions of balls can create each
1427 of the laser behaviours shown above:
1440 As shown, it is possible for a ball to receive multiple reflections
1441 before re-emerging (see turn 3). Similarly, a ball may be reflected
1442 (possibly more than once) before receiving a hit (the `H' on the
1443 left side of the example).
1445 Note that any layout with more that 4 balls may have a non-unique
1446 solution. The following diagram illustrates this; if you know the
1447 board contains 5 balls, it is impossible to determine where the
1448 fifth ball is (possible positions marked with an x):
1461 For this reason when you have your guesses checked the game will
1462 check that your solution _produces the same results_ as the
1463 computer's, rather than that your solution is identical to the
1464 computer's. So in the above example, you could put the fifth ball at
1465 _any_ of the locations marked with an x, and you would still win.
1467 Black Box was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1469 19.1 Black Box controls
1471 To fire a laser, left-click in a square around the side of the
1472 arena. The results will be displayed immediately. Lasers may not be
1473 fired twice (because the results will never change). Holding down
1474 the left button will highlight the current go (or a previous go) to
1475 confirm the exit point for that laser, if applicable.
1477 To guess the location of a ball, left-click within the arena and a
1478 black circle will appear marking the guess; to remove the guessed
1481 Locations in the arena may be locked against modification by right-
1482 clicking; whole rows and columns may be similarly locked by right-
1483 clicking in the laser firing range above/below that column, or to
1484 the left/right of that row.
1486 The cursor keys may also be used to move around the grid. Pressing
1487 the Enter key will add a new ball-location guess, and pressing Space
1488 will lock a cell or a row/column.
1490 When an appropriate number of balls have been guessed a button will
1491 appear at the top-left corner of the grid; clicking that (with mouse
1492 or cursor) will mark your guesses.
1494 If you click the `mark' button and your guesses are not correct, the
1495 game will show you as little information as possible to demonstrate
1496 this to you, so you can try again. If your ball positions are not
1497 consistent with the laser paths you already know about, one laser
1498 path will be circled to indicate that it proves you wrong. If your
1499 positions match all the existing laser paths but are still wrong,
1500 one new laser path will be revealed (written in red) which is not
1501 consistent with your current guesses.
1503 If you decide to give up completely, you can select Solve to reveal
1504 the actual ball positions. At this point, correctly-placed balls
1505 will be displayed as filled black circles; incorrectly-placed balls
1506 are displayed as filled black circles with red crosses, and missing
1507 balls are filled red circles. In addition, a red circle marks any
1508 laser you had already fired which is not consistent with your ball
1509 layout (just as when you press the mark button), and red text marks
1510 any laser you _could_ have fired in order to distinguish your ball
1511 layout from the right one.
1513 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1515 19.2 Black Box parameters
1517 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1522 Size of grid in squares. There are 2 x _Width_ x _Height_ lasers
1523 per grid, two per row and two per column.
1527 Number of balls to place in the grid. This can be a single
1528 number, or a range (separated with a hyphen, like `2-6'),
1529 and determines the number of balls to place on the grid.
1530 The `reveal' button is only enabled if you have guessed an
1531 appropriate number of balls; a guess using a different number
1532 to the original solution is still acceptable, if all the laser
1533 inputs and outputs match.
1538 You have a grid of squares. Your aim is to draw a diagonal line
1539 through each square, and choose which way each line slants so that
1540 the following conditions are met:
1542 - The diagonal lines never form a loop.
1544 - Any point with a circled number has precisely that many lines
1545 meeting at it. (Thus, a 4 is the centre of a cross shape,
1546 whereas a zero is the centre of a diamond shape - or rather, a
1547 partial diamond shape, because a zero can never appear in the
1548 middle of the grid because that would immediately cause a loop.)
1550 Credit for this puzzle goes to Nikoli [8].
1552 [8] http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/39/index.htm (in Japanese)
1556 Left-clicking in a blank square will place a \ in it (a line leaning
1557 to the left, i.e. running from the top left of the square to the
1558 bottom right). Right-clicking in a blank square will place a / in it
1559 (leaning to the right, running from top right to bottom left).
1561 Continuing to click either button will cycle between the three
1562 possible square contents. Thus, if you left-click repeatedly in a
1563 blank square it will change from blank to \ to / back to blank, and
1564 if you right-click repeatedly the square will change from blank to /
1565 to \ back to blank. (Therefore, you can play the game entirely with
1566 one button if you need to.)
1568 You can also use the cursor keys to move around the grid. Pressing
1569 the return or space keys will place a \ or a /, respectively, and
1570 will then cycle them as above.
1572 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1574 20.2 Slant parameters
1576 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1581 Size of grid in squares.
1585 Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. At Hard
1586 level, you are required to do deductions based on knowledge of
1587 _relationships_ between squares rather than always being able to
1588 deduce the exact contents of one square at a time. (For example,
1589 you might know that two squares slant in the same direction,
1590 even if you don't yet know what that direction is, and this
1591 might enable you to deduce something about still other squares.)
1592 Even at Hard level, guesswork and backtracking should never be
1595 Chapter 21: Light Up
1596 --------------------
1598 You have a grid of squares. Some are filled in black; some of the
1599 black squares are numbered. Your aim is to `light up' all the empty
1600 squares by placing light bulbs in some of them.
1602 Each light bulb illuminates the square it is on, plus all squares
1603 in line with it horizontally or vertically unless a black square is
1606 To win the game, you must satisfy the following conditions:
1608 - All non-black squares are lit.
1610 - No light is lit by another light.
1612 - All numbered black squares have exactly that number of lights
1613 adjacent to them (in the four squares above, below, and to the
1616 Non-numbered black squares may have any number of lights adjacent to
1619 Credit for this puzzle goes to Nikoli [9].
1621 Light Up was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1623 [9] http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/32/index-e.htm (beware of Flash)
1625 21.1 Light Up controls
1627 Left-clicking in a non-black square will toggle the presence of a
1628 light in that square. Right-clicking in a non-black square toggles a
1629 mark there to aid solving; it can be used to highlight squares that
1630 cannot be lit, for example.
1632 You may not place a light in a marked square, nor place a mark in a
1635 The game will highlight obvious errors in red. Lights lit by other
1636 lights are highlighted in this way, as are numbered squares which do
1637 not (or cannot) have the right number of lights next to them.
1639 Thus, the grid is solved when all non-black squares have yellow
1640 highlights and there are no red lights.
1642 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1644 21.2 Light Up parameters
1646 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1651 Size of grid in squares.
1653 _%age of black squares_
1655 Rough percentage of black squares in the grid.
1657 This is a hint rather than an instruction. If the grid generator
1658 is unable to generate a puzzle to this precise specification, it
1659 will increase the proportion of black squares until it can.
1663 Allows you to specify the required symmetry of the black squares
1664 in the grid. (This does not affect the difficulty of the puzzles
1669 `Easy' means that the puzzles should be soluble without
1670 backtracking or guessing, `Hard' means that some guesses will
1671 probably be necessary.
1676 You are given a map consisting of a number of regions. Your task is
1677 to colour each region with one of four colours, in such a way that
1678 no two regions sharing a boundary have the same colour. You are
1679 provided with some regions already coloured, sufficient to make the
1680 remainder of the solution unique.
1682 Only regions which share a length of border are required to be
1683 different colours. Two regions which meet at only one _point_ (i.e.
1684 are diagonally separated) may be the same colour.
1686 I believe this puzzle is original; I've never seen an implementation
1687 of it anywhere else. The concept of a four-colouring puzzle was
1688 suggested by Owen Dunn; credit must also go to Nikoli and to Verity
1689 Allan for inspiring the train of thought that led to me realising
1690 Owen's suggestion was a viable puzzle. Thanks also to Gareth Taylor
1691 for many detailed suggestions.
1695 To colour a region, click the left mouse button on an existing
1696 region of the desired colour and drag that colour into the new
1699 (The program will always ensure the starting puzzle has at least one
1700 region of each colour, so that this is always possible!)
1702 If you need to clear a region, you can drag from an empty region, or
1703 from the puzzle boundary if there are no empty regions left.
1705 Dragging a colour using the _right_ mouse button will stipple the
1706 region in that colour, which you can use as a note to yourself that
1707 you think the region _might_ be that colour. A region can contain
1708 stipples in multiple colours at once. (This is often useful at the
1709 harder difficulty levels.)
1711 You can also use the cursor keys to move around the map: the colour
1712 of the cursor indicates the position of the colour you would drag
1713 (which is not obvious if you're on a region's boundary, since it
1714 depends on the direction from which you approached the boundary).
1715 Pressing the return key starts a drag of that colour, as above,
1716 which you control with the cursor keys; pressing the return key
1717 again finishes the drag. The space bar can be used similarly to
1718 create a stippled region. Double-pressing the return key (without
1719 moving the cursor) will clear the region, as a drag from an empty
1720 region does: this is useful with the cursor mode if you have filled
1721 the entire map in but need to correct the layout.
1723 If you press L during play, the game will toggle display of a number
1724 in each region of the map. This is useful if you want to discuss a
1725 particular puzzle instance with a friend - having an unambiguous
1726 name for each region is much easier than trying to refer to them all
1727 by names such as `the one down and right of the brown one on the top
1730 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1734 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1739 Size of grid in squares.
1743 Number of regions in the generated map.
1747 In `Easy' mode, there should always be at least one region whose
1748 colour can be determined trivially. In `Normal' and `Hard'
1749 modes, you will have to use increasingly complex logic to deduce
1750 the colour of some regions. However, it will always be possible
1751 without having to guess or backtrack.
1753 In `Unreasonable' mode, the program will feel free to generate
1754 puzzles which are as hard as it can possibly make them: the
1755 only constraint is that they should still have a unique
1756 solution. Solving Unreasonable puzzles may require guessing and
1762 You are given a grid of dots, marked with yellow lines to indicate
1763 which dots you are allowed to connect directly together. Your aim is
1764 to use some subset of those yellow lines to draw a single unbroken
1765 loop from dot to dot within the grid.
1767 Some of the spaces between the lines contain numbers. These numbers
1768 indicate how many of the lines around that space form part of the
1769 loop. The loop you draw must correctly satisfy all of these clues to
1770 be considered a correct solution.
1772 In the default mode, the dots are arranged in a grid of squares;
1773 however, you can also play on triangular or hexagonal grids, or even
1776 Credit for the basic puzzle idea goes to Nikoli [10].
1778 Loopy was originally contributed to this collection by Mike Pinna,
1779 and subsequently enhanced to handle various types of non-square grid
1782 [10] http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/3/index-e.htm (beware of Flash)
1786 Click the left mouse button on a yellow line to turn it black,
1787 indicating that you think it is part of the loop. Click again to
1788 turn the line yellow again (meaning you aren't sure yet).
1790 If you are sure that a particular line segment is _not_ part of the
1791 loop, you can click the right mouse button to remove it completely.
1792 Again, clicking a second time will turn the line back to yellow.
1794 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1796 23.2 Loopy parameters
1798 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1803 Size of grid, measured in number of regions across and down. For
1804 square grids, it's clear how this is counted; for other types of
1805 grid you may have to think a bit to see how the dimensions are
1810 Allows you to choose between a selection of types of tiling.
1811 Some have all the faces the same but may have multiple different
1812 types of vertex (e.g. the _Cairo_ or _Kites_ mode); others
1813 have all the vertices the same but may have differnt types of
1814 face (e.g. the _Great Hexagonal_). The square, triangular and
1815 honeycomb grids are fully regular, and have all their vertices
1816 _and_ faces the same; this makes them the least confusing to
1821 Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle.
1826 You are a small green ball sitting in a grid full of obstacles. Your
1827 aim is to collect all the gems without running into any mines.
1829 You can move the ball in any orthogonal _or diagonal_ direction.
1830 Once the ball starts moving, it will continue until something stops
1831 it. A wall directly in its path will stop it (but if it is moving
1832 diagonally, it will move through a diagonal gap between two other
1833 walls without stopping). Also, some of the squares are `stops'; when
1834 the ball moves on to a stop, it will stop moving no matter what
1835 direction it was going in. Gems do _not_ stop the ball; it picks
1836 them up and keeps on going.
1838 Running into a mine is fatal. Even if you picked up the last gem in
1839 the same move which then hit a mine, the game will count you as dead
1840 rather than victorious.
1842 This game was originally implemented for Windows by Ben Olmstead
1843 [11], who was kind enough to release his source code on request so
1844 that it could be re-implemented for this collection.
1846 [11] http://xn13.com/
1848 24.1 Inertia controls
1850 You can move the ball in any of the eight directions using the
1851 numeric keypad. Alternatively, if you click the left mouse button
1852 on the grid, the ball will begin a move in the general direction of
1855 If you use the `Solve' function on this game, the program will
1856 compute a path through the grid which collects all the remaining
1857 gems and returns to the current position. A hint arrow will appear
1858 on the ball indicating the direction in which you should move to
1859 begin on this path. If you then move in that direction, the arrow
1860 will update to indicate the next direction on the path. You can
1861 also press Space to automatically move in the direction of the hint
1862 arrow. If you move in a different direction from the one shown by
1863 the arrow, the hint arrows will stop appearing because you have
1864 strayed from the provided path; you can then use `Solve' again to
1865 generate a new path if you want to.
1867 All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available. In
1868 particular, if you do run into a mine and die, you can use the Undo
1869 function and resume playing from before the fatal move. The game
1870 will keep track of the number of times you have done this.
1872 24.2 Inertia parameters
1874 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1879 Size of grid in squares.
1884 You have a grid of squares, some of which contain trees. Your aim is
1885 to place tents in some of the remaining squares, in such a way that
1886 the following conditions are met:
1888 - There are exactly as many tents as trees.
1890 - The tents and trees can be matched up in such a way that each
1891 tent is directly adjacent (horizontally or vertically, but not
1892 diagonally) to its own tree. However, a tent may be adjacent to
1893 other trees as well as its own.
1895 - No two tents are adjacent horizontally, vertically _or
1898 - The number of tents in each row, and in each column, matches the
1899 numbers given round the sides of the grid.
1901 This puzzle can be found in several places on the Internet, and was
1902 brought to my attention by e-mail. I don't know who I should credit
1907 Left-clicking in a blank square will place a tent in it. Right-
1908 clicking in a blank square will colour it green, indicating that you
1909 are sure it _isn't_ a tent. Clicking either button in an occupied
1910 square will clear it.
1912 If you _drag_ with the right button along a row or column, every
1913 blank square in the region you cover will be turned green, and no
1914 other squares will be affected. (This is useful for clearing the
1915 remainder of a row once you have placed all its tents.)
1917 You can also use the cursor keys to move around the grid. Pressing
1918 the return key over an empty square will place a tent, and pressing
1919 the space bar over an empty square will colour it green; either key
1920 will clear an occupied square.
1922 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1924 25.2 Tents parameters
1926 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1931 Size of grid in squares.
1935 Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. More difficult
1936 puzzles require more complex deductions, but at present none
1937 of the available difficulty levels requires guesswork or
1943 You have a set of islands distributed across the playing area.
1944 Each island contains a number. Your aim is to connect the islands
1945 together with bridges, in such a way that:
1947 - Bridges run horizontally or vertically.
1949 - The number of bridges terminating at any island is equal to the
1950 number written in that island.
1952 - Two bridges may run in parallel between the same two islands,
1953 but no more than two may do so.
1955 - No bridge crosses another bridge.
1957 - All the islands are connected together.
1959 There are some configurable alternative modes, which involve
1960 changing the parallel-bridge limit to something other than 2, and
1961 introducing the additional constraint that no sequence of bridges
1962 may form a loop from one island back to the same island. The rules
1963 stated above are the default ones.
1965 Credit for this puzzle goes to Nikoli [12].
1967 Bridges was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1969 [12] http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/14/index-e.htm
1971 26.1 Bridges controls
1973 To place a bridge between two islands, click the mouse down on one
1974 island and drag it towards the other. You do not need to drag all
1975 the way to the other island; you only need to move the mouse far
1976 enough for the intended bridge direction to be unambiguous. (So you
1977 can keep the mouse near the starting island and conveniently throw
1978 bridges out from it in many directions.)
1980 Doing this again when a bridge is already present will add another
1981 parallel bridge. If there are already as many bridges between the
1982 two islands as permitted by the current game rules (i.e. two by
1983 default), the same dragging action will remove all of them.
1985 If you want to remind yourself that two islands definitely _do not_
1986 have a bridge between them, you can right-drag between them in the
1987 same way to draw a `non-bridge' marker.
1989 If you think you have finished with an island (i.e. you have placed
1990 all its bridges and are confident that they are in the right
1991 places), you can mark the island as finished by left-clicking on it.
1992 This will highlight it and all the bridges connected to it, and you
1993 will be prevented from accidentally modifying any of those bridges
1994 in future. Left-clicking again on a highlighted island will unmark
1995 it and restore your ability to modify it.
1997 You can also use the cursor keys to move around the grid: if
1998 possible the cursor will always move orthogonally, otherwise it will
1999 move towards the nearest island to the indicated direction. Pressing
2000 the return key followed by a cursor key will lay an island in that
2001 direction (if available); pressing the space bar followed by a
2002 cursor key will lay a `non-bridge' marker.
2004 You can mark an island as finished by pressing the return key twice.
2006 Violations of the puzzle rules will be marked in red:
2008 - An island with too many bridges will be highlighted in red.
2010 - An island with too few bridges will be highlighted in red if it
2011 is definitely an error (as opposed to merely not being finished
2012 yet): if adding enough bridges would involve having to cross
2013 another bridge or remove a non-bridge marker, or if the island
2014 has been highlighted as complete.
2016 - A group of islands and bridges may be highlighted in red if it
2017 is a closed subset of the puzzle with no way to connect it to
2018 the rest of the islands. For example, if you directly connect
2019 two 1s together with a bridge and they are not the only two
2020 islands on the grid, they will light up red to indicate that
2021 such a group cannot be contained in any valid solution.
2023 - If you have selected the (non-default) option to disallow loops
2024 in the solution, a group of bridges which forms a loop will be
2027 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
2029 26.2 Bridges parameters
2031 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
2036 Size of grid in squares.
2040 Difficulty level of puzzle.
2044 This is set by default. If cleared, puzzles will be generated in
2045 such a way that they are always soluble without creating a loop,
2046 and solutions which do involve a loop will be disallowed.
2048 _Max. bridges per direction_
2050 Maximum number of bridges in any particular direction. The
2051 default is 2, but you can change it to 1, 3 or 4. In general,
2054 _%age of island squares_
2056 Gives a rough percentage of islands the generator will try and
2057 lay before finishing the puzzle. Certain layouts will not manage
2058 to lay enough islands; this is an upper bound.
2060 _Expansion factor (%age)_
2062 The grid generator works by picking an existing island at random
2063 (after first creating an initial island somewhere). It then
2064 decides on a direction (at random), and then works out how far
2065 it could extend before creating another island. This parameter
2066 determines how likely it is to extend as far as it can, rather
2067 than choosing somewhere closer.
2069 High expansion factors usually mean easier puzzles with fewer
2070 possible islands; low expansion factors can create lots of tightly-
2076 You have a square grid; each square may contain a digit from 1 to
2077 the size of the grid, and some squares have greater-than signs
2078 between them. Your aim is to fully populate the grid with numbers
2081 - Each row contains only one occurrence of each digit
2083 - Each column contains only one occurrence of each digit
2085 - All the greater-than signs are satisfied.
2087 In `Trivial' mode (available via the `Custom' game type selector),
2088 there are no greater-than signs; the puzzle is to solve the Latin
2091 At the time of writing, this puzzle is appearing in the Guardian
2092 weekly under the name `Futoshiki'.
2094 Unequal was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
2096 27.1 Unequal controls
2098 Unequal shares much of its control system with Solo.
2100 To play Unequal, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then
2101 type a digit or letter on the keyboard to fill that square. If you
2102 make a mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and press
2103 Space to clear it again (or use the Undo feature).
2105 If you _right_-click in a square and then type a number, that
2106 number will be entered in the square as a `pencil mark'. You can
2107 have pencil marks for multiple numbers in the same square. Squares
2108 containing filled-in numbers cannot also contain pencil marks.
2110 The game pays no attention to pencil marks, so exactly what you
2111 use them for is up to you: you can use them as reminders that a
2112 particular square needs to be re-examined once you know more about
2113 a particular number, or you can use them as lists of the possible
2114 numbers in a given square, or anything else you feel like.
2116 To erase a single pencil mark, right-click in the square and type
2117 the same number again.
2119 All pencil marks in a square are erased when you left-click and type
2120 a number, or when you left-click and press space. Right-clicking and
2121 pressing space will also erase pencil marks.
2123 As for Solo, the cursor keys can be used in conjunction with the
2124 digit keys to set numbers or pencil marks. You can also use the 'M'
2125 key to auto-fill every numeric hint, ready for removal as required,
2126 or the 'H' key to do the same but also to remove all obvious hints.
2128 Alternatively, use the cursor keys to move the mark around the grid.
2129 Pressing the return key toggles the mark (from a normal mark to a
2130 pencil mark), and typing a number in is entered in the square in the
2131 appropriate way; typing in a 0 or using the space bar will clear a
2134 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
2136 27.2 Unequal parameters
2138 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
2147 Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. At Trivial
2148 level, there are no greater-than signs; the puzzle is to solve
2149 the Latin square only. At Recursive level (only available via
2150 the `Custom' game type selector) backtracking will be required,
2151 but the solution should still be unique. The levels in between
2152 require increasingly complex reasoning to avoid having to
2155 Chapter 28: Galaxies
2156 --------------------
2158 You have a rectangular grid containing a number of dots. Your aim is
2159 to draw edges along the grid lines which divide the rectangle into
2160 regions in such a way that every region is 180-degree rotationally
2161 symmetric, and contains exactly one dot which is located at its
2164 This puzzle was invented by Nikoli [13], under the name `Tentai
2165 Show'; its name is commonly translated into English as `Spiral
2168 Galaxies was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
2170 [13] http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/astronomical_show/
2172 28.1 Galaxies controls
2174 Left-click on any grid line to draw an edge if there isn't one
2175 already, or to remove one if there is. When you create a valid
2176 region (one which is closed, contains exactly one dot, is 180-degree
2177 symmetric about that dot, and contains no extraneous edges inside
2178 it) it will be highlighted automatically; so your aim is to have the
2179 whole grid highlighted in that way.
2181 During solving, you might know that a particular grid square belongs
2182 to a specific dot, but not be sure of where the edges go and which
2183 other squares are connected to the dot. In order to mark this so you
2184 don't forget, you can right-click on the dot and drag, which will
2185 create an arrow marker pointing at the dot. Drop that in a square of
2186 your choice and it will remind you which dot it's associated with.
2187 You can also right-click on existing arrows to pick them up and move
2188 them, or destroy them by dropping them off the edge of the grid.
2189 (Also, if you're not sure which dot an arrow is pointing at, you can
2190 pick it up and move it around to make it clearer. It will swivel
2191 constantly as you drag it, to stay pointed at its parent dot.)
2193 You can also use the cursor keys to move around the grid squares and
2194 lines. Pressing the return key when over a grid line will draw or
2195 clear its edge, as above. Pressing the return key when over a dot
2196 will pick up an arrow, to be dropped the nest time the return key
2197 is pressed; this can also be used to move existing arrows around,
2198 removing them by dropping them on a dot or another arrow.
2200 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
2202 28.2 Galaxies parameters
2204 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
2209 Size of grid in squares.
2213 Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. More difficult
2214 puzzles require more complex deductions, and the `Unreasonable'
2215 difficulty level may require backtracking.
2220 You have a grid of squares, some of which contain digits, and the
2221 rest of which are empty. Your job is to fill in digits in the empty
2222 squares, in such a way that each connected region of squares all
2223 containing the same digit has an area equal to that digit.
2225 (`Connected region', for the purposes of this game, does not count
2226 diagonally separated squares as adjacent.)
2228 For example, it follows that no square can contain a zero, and that
2229 two adjacent squares can not both contain a one. No region has an
2230 area greater than 9 (because then its area would not be a single
2233 Credit for this puzzle goes to Nikoli [14].
2235 Filling was contributed to this collection by Jonas Koelker.
2237 [14] http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/fillomino/
2239 29.1 Filling controls
2241 To play Filling, simply click the mouse in any empty square and
2242 then type a digit on the keyboard to fill that square. By dragging
2243 the mouse, you can select multiple squares to fill with a single
2244 keypress. If you make a mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect
2245 square and press 0, Space, Backspace or Enter to clear it again (or
2246 use the Undo feature).
2248 You can also move around the grid with the cursor keys; typing a
2249 digit will fill the square containing the cursor with that number,
2250 or typing 0, Space, or Enter will clear it. You can also select
2251 multiple squares for numbering or clearing by using the return key,
2252 before typing a digit to fill in the highlighted squares (as above).
2254 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
2256 29.2 Filling parameters
2258 Filling allows you to configure the number of rows and columns of
2259 the grid, through the `Type' menu.
2264 This software is copyright 2004-2009 Simon Tatham.
2266 Portions copyright Richard Boulton, James Harvey, Mike Pinna, Jonas
2267 Koelker, Dariusz Olszewski, Michael Schierl, Lambros Lambrou and
2270 Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person
2271 obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files
2272 (the `Software'), to deal in the Software without restriction,
2273 including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge,
2274 publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software,
2275 and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so,
2276 subject to the following conditions:
2278 The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
2279 included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
2281 THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED `AS IS', WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
2282 EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES
2283 OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
2284 NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS
2285 BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN
2286 ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN
2287 CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
2290 [$Id: puzzles.but 8494 2009-03-19 23:32:30Z jacob $]