Nonograms Strategy Guide

Key Strategies

1. 01

   Use the overlap technique

   For each clue block, find the leftmost and rightmost possible positions. Any cells that appear in both positions must be filled — shade them immediately.

2. 02

   Start with the largest clues

   Rows or columns whose clue numbers sum close to the grid width leave almost no room to slide. Solve these first to unlock neighboring cells.

3. 03

   Mark definite empties

   When two adjacent clue blocks need a gap between them, the cells that cannot belong to either block are definitely empty. Mark them with an X to avoid confusion.

4. 04

   Cross-reference rows and columns

   After filling cells in a row, revisit every column that was affected. New filled cells often force decisions in columns you previously skipped.

5. 05

   Count from both ends

   For a row with multiple clues, work from the left end to find the earliest possible positions and from the right end to find the latest. The overlap between both analyses reveals guaranteed cells.