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Puzzles Info Page
Fillomino
To complete this puzzle you need to place numbers in the blank squares so that the whole grid is divided up into zones determined by the numbers already placed.
So, for example, you can see a yellow square with the number 4 in it. This tells you that the area has 4 adjacent yellow squares and they must all have the digit 4 in them.
Pretty straightforward. Often, there are multiple areas with the same number in them, they occupy their own area in the grid and cannot touch another area that is of the same number of squares, horizontally or vertically. The puzzle has a unique solution that doesn’t require guesswork to achieve. Check out the solution you see here, which should tell you what you need to know.
You’ll soon get the idea.
Chaosword is a word puzzle like many others in some ways and unique in others.
Clues are given just like a normal word puzzle, but the answers are not placed in a numbered, well-ordered grid and can literally be anywhere within the puzzle border.
Study the example and you will see what I mean. Unlike a normal crossword, where words are entered and read left to right and top to bottom, words can be read in any direction, up, down, left, or right, some words are even used to form longer words, but each having their own clues (Area 1).
You will rarely find numbered clues either, unless it is essential to the puzzle itself, but in general, it’s left up to you to figure out where the answers to each clue go. There will always be a starting point or helping nudge; how big a nudge will obviously vary from puzzle to puzzle.
As you can see in area 1, the answer to one clue given is ‘ABS‘, and the answer to another separate clue is ‘ORB‘. The symbol shown in-between them indicates that they are joined together to form the answer to a third separate clue given. ‘ABSORB‘, corresponding to the clue ‘Soak up’.
You will no doubt have noticed a couple of unusual symbols used in this puzzle. In Chaosword, you can assume your answer is entered to read left to right and top to bottom as in any normal crossword, but where they don’t, you will see these symbols indicating the direction words are to be entered and which words are to be added together. Notably here, the words do not have to be read in the same direction for them to be joined either as seen in Area 2, (ONION).
There are other symbols you may come across while solving a Chaosword puzzle, their inclusion depends on the type and complexity of the puzzle and their use will be explained when they are included.
Also, you will see lines crisscrossing throughout the puzzle. These lines connect certain words via certain letters, indicating that the same letter is used in these positions.
However, it does not mean that there are no other occurrences of this letter elsewhere in the puzzle. As you can see. Some lines can also branch into two or more lines as shown in (Area 3).
Puzzles can be extremely complex, or very simple, but always a challenge.
Rooms
Rooms is a pretty simple concept, but can be a challenge in itself.
Study the example grid here. Each number tells you the number of squares each room must have to fit the grid space exactly.
And here is one of two possible solutions:
As they say, simples!
So go and try your hand at completing one yourself.
