Square by Square

Start with a row or a column and consider where its ink could go. Square by Square offers three company-authored five-by-five puzzles. Each number describes an unbroken run of ink. Read row clues left to right and column clues top to bottom, leaving at least one empty square between runs. A clue of 0 means no ink.

Choose Ink, Mark empty or Clear, then choose a square. Mark empty adds an optional cross for your own notes. Clear removes either an ink square or a cross.

A check beside a clue means that line’s current ink runs match. It does not certify individual squares: the crossing clues must agree too. Finish when all five rows and all five columns match; empty squares do not need crosses.

Switch boards to leave a picture for a while; each keeps its own marks and Undo history during this visit. Undo restores the previous marks. Restart this board clears only that board as one change, which Undo can restore. Reloading starts all three again, and nothing is saved automatically.