How to Play Nonogram: seven steps, and why you never guess
A nonogram is solved one line at a time, never by trying a pattern to see if it fits. Every puzzle here is checked by an independent solver that uses line logic only — reasoning about a single row or column at a time — and only puzzles it can finish completely are published. So a line that can be advanced always exists.
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Start with the overlap rule
For a clue of k in a span of n cells, the middle 2k − n cells are filled no matter where the block sits. A clue of 8 in a row of 10 gives you six cells immediately. This one rule opens most puzzles.
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Take the biggest numbers first
Overlap grows as the clue approaches the length of the line, so the largest clues pay out most. Scan every row and column for the biggest numbers before touching anything else.
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Cross out as carefully as you fill
Crosses are not bookkeeping — they shorten the span a block can live in, which is what creates the next overlap. A puzzle worked with fills only stalls almost immediately.
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Force from the edges
If the first cell of a line is filled, the first block must start exactly there, so you can fill its whole length and cross the cell after it. The same works inward from any cross you have already placed.
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Close a block as soon as it is complete
When a block reaches its clue length, put crosses at both ends. That is often what shrinks a neighbouring span enough to make the next deduction visible.
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Check the line total
Add the clues plus one gap between each. If that equals the length of the line, the line is fully determined right now — fill it and move on. Rows like this are free and easy to miss.
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Re-read the lines that crossed what you just changed
Every cell you settle belongs to one row and one column. After a fill or a cross, the perpendicular line is where the next deduction usually appeared. Working line by line beats scanning the whole grid.
Because these puzzles are verified line-logic solvable, guessing is never required and never a shortcut. If nothing moves, one line still has an unread deduction — go back and total the clues.