Skip to main content
Bambleweeny logo

How to play

How to solve a logic grid puzzle without melting your brain

Whether you are playing online or puzzling with a pencil and a printed grid, this guide shows you how to read clues, mark the board, and work from easy deductions to the clever stuff.

Start with the 60-second solve loop, learn how board propagation works, then move through the full clue library covering all 30 currently supported clue families.

Start with the 60-second guide Browse live puzzles
  • Web and print friendly
  • Propagation taught explicitly
  • Beginner to expert ladder

Mini-grid teaser

Propagation matters

One confirmed match creates a ring of eliminations. The fastest improvement most players can make is to let the grid keep talking after the first mark lands.

  • ●
    Yes
  • ×
    No
  • ·
    Open

Quick start in 60 seconds

Five moves that carry most first solves

If you want the short version, learn this loop and apply it relentlessly: clue, mark, propagate, scan for forced singles, repeat.

  1. Step 1

    Read one clue at a time.

    Do not try to solve the whole story at once. Pick one clue, translate it, and place only the marks it justifies.

    Example: “Mina is not the baker” gives one clean no-mark.

  2. Step 2

    Mark what must be true.

    When a clue gives a confirmed pairing, place the yes immediately and trust the grid to create the next wave of eliminations.

    Example: “Theo owns the turtle” creates one sure yes.

  3. Step 3

    Cross out what cannot be true.

    No-marks matter just as much as yes-marks. Many puzzles open up because enough impossible options disappear.

    Example: If Theo owns the turtle, Theo cannot own any other pet.

  4. Step 4

    Use one answer to collapse a row or column.

    After every mark, sweep the related row, column, and neighbouring mini-grids before reading another clue.

    Example: One yes often creates a full ring of no-marks around it.

  5. Step 5

    Repeat until every category has one match.

    Logic-grid solving is a calm loop: clue, mark, propagate, scan for forced singles, then return to the clue list.

    Example: When one blank remains in a row, it becomes a forced yes.

How the grid works

Learn the board before you try to outsmart the clues

Each mini-grid compares one category against another. A blank means unknown, a yes means confirmed, and a no means ruled out. The crucial move is understanding that board propagation is a separate skill from clue reading.

  • Blank

    Still unknown. The pairing may work, or it may fail later.

  • Yes

    Confirmed match. Everything else competing with that pairing becomes impossible.

  • No

    Ruled out. Enough no-marks can force the final remaining blank to become yes.

Grid propagation

Solve the board even when you are not reading a new clue

Players do not only solve clues. They also solve the grid itself. Yes creates no. Enough no-marks can create a forced yes. Those effects can chain through several linked mini-grids before you ever touch another line of clue text.

  1. Routine 1

    Place one sure mark

    Start from one confirmed yes or one certain no. Do not move on until you have squeezed value from it.

  2. Routine 2

    Sweep the local row and column

    A confirmed match means every rival pairing in that relationship becomes false immediately.

  3. Routine 3

    Push the result into neighbouring mini-grids

    If Alice is the baker, then Alice cannot be any other job and the baker cannot belong to anyone else. Carry that certainty into every linked comparison.

  4. Routine 4

    Look for newly forced singles

    When only one blank still survives in a row or column, promote it to a yes and repeat the sweep again.

  5. Routine 5

    Repeat before reading the next clue

    Clues give you sparks. Propagation is how one spark turns into a full patch of useful board progress.

Beginner solve loop

A calm step-by-step routine for first-time solvers

You do not need clever leaps. You need a stable routine that turns small certainties into larger ones.

  1. Step 1

    Set up the cast

    Each category contains a cast of options, and every item must match exactly one partner in every other matching category.

  2. Step 2

    Harvest the obvious clues first

    Direct true, false, neither-nor, and short elimination clues usually give the cleanest first board state.

  3. Step 3

    Turn one truth into several no-marks

    One confirmed link forces the rest of that row and column to collapse. This is where the grid starts helping you.

  4. Step 4

    Propagate before hunting for another clue

    Scan connected grids for follow-on eliminations and hidden singles before you read again.

  5. Step 5

    Re-read the clue list after every deduction

    Clue order matters less than board state. A clue that looked vague five minutes ago may now be almost solved for you.

  6. Step 6

    Spot forced choices

    If one square is the only option left in a row or column, it is effectively true even if no clue states it directly.

  7. Step 7

    Chain clues together

    Two modest clues often combine into a stronger deduction than either clue provides on its own.

  8. Step 8

    Save harder clues for later

    Conditional and quantitative clues become friendlier once the board already has structure.

  9. Step 9

    Finish with a proof mindset

    Every final yes-mark should be backed by a clue, a forced single, or a clean chain of elimination you could explain aloud.

Pattern play

How stronger solvers think once the basics are stable

Expert solving usually looks less magical than it seems. It is careful propagation, disciplined branching, and a habit of translating abstract clues into candidate sets.

  • Treat the board like a machine, not a notebook

    Stronger solvers do not just record answers. They actively ask what one new mark forces elsewhere in the system.

  • Delay branching until you need it

    Either-or and compound-or clues often look tempting, but the cleanest move is usually to mine definite clues first.

  • Use extremes on ordered clues

    Greater-than, less-than, exact-difference, and range clues usually crack by ruling out values at the edges before you compare every middle case.

  • Translate filters into candidate sets

    Gender and metadata-attribute clues work best when you first narrow the legal candidates, then map those survivors onto the grid.

  • Ask two questions after every mark

    What else must now be true, and what else is now impossible? That habit is the fastest route from beginner to expert.

Clue library

The full supported clue catalog, taught in player language

This guide covers all 30 clue types currently marked supported across the live player and editor surfaces, one beginner-to-expert family at a time. Each type below links to its own reference page with the pattern, the first move to make, and the mistake to avoid.

Browse all 30 clue types

Grouped by Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Expert, with a full reference page for each one.

Technique library

Every solving method, not just clue types

Clue types tell you what a sentence means. Techniques tell you what to do with the board — reading a clue, reading the grid with no clue at all, combining clues, or deciding what to try when nothing is moving. All 35 of them, each with a trigger and a common mistake to avoid.

Browse all 35 techniques

Organised into Reading, Grid, Cross-clue, and Search layers, with a full reference page for each one.

FAQ and common mistakes

The sticking points most solvers hit first

These answers focus on the mistakes that most often stall otherwise capable solvers: reading too fast, under-using propagation, and forcing hard clues before the board is ready.

  • What is the first clue type a beginner should trust?

    Start with direct true and false clues, then neither-nor and short elimination clues. They give the cleanest first marks and the clearest propagation.

  • What should I do after placing one yes-mark?

    Stop reading clues for a moment. Sweep the local row and column, push the result into linked mini-grids, and look for any forced singles.

  • Why do I get stuck even when I understand the clues?

    Most stalls come from under-using propagation. Players often place the first mark correctly, then move on before harvesting the chain of eliminations it created.

  • Should I solve clues in order?

    Not necessarily. Read the full list, then work on the clue that is currently easiest to place on the board you already have.

  • Are print-book puzzles solved differently from online puzzles?

    No. The solving logic is the same. Printed puzzles only ask you to manage your own notation instead of clicking cells.

  • When should I use harder clues like conditionals or exact differences?

    Use them once the board already has some structure. They become much easier when several candidates have already been ruled out.

Next step

Put the guide to work on a live board

The fastest way to make this page stick is to solve something immediately. Pick a puzzle, try the quick-start loop, and make yourself propagate every mark before reading the next clue.