Nonogram Rules: Read the Clues, Fill the Grid
A nonogram is a picture hidden in a grid. The numbers beside each row and above each column tell you which cells to fill. This lesson solves a small 5×5 picture with you, one rule at a time. Rows count from the top and columns from the left.
Step 1 of 6
Reading the clues
Each row has a clue on its left, and each column has one above it. A clue lists the blocks of filled cells in that line, in order. Row 1's clue, 1 1, means one filled cell, then at least one empty cell, then one more filled cell. Row 2's clue, 5, means five filled cells in a row. A clue of 0 would mean the whole line is empty.
Fill a whole row
Row 2 is five cells wide and its clue is 5. There is only one way to fit a block of five into five cells: every cell is filled. Click a cell to fill it.
Your move
Fill all five cells of row 2.
Cross out the empty cells
Rows 2 and 3 are filled now. Look at column 1: its clue is 2, and the filled cells in rows 2 and 3 are that block. Every other cell in the column is empty. Mark an empty cell with a cross. In a game, click a filled cell again to cross it out, and a third time to clear it; drag to mark a run of cells. Lessons give crossing its own mode, because they take back a wrong fill: switch on Cross mode, the ✕ button in the board's top-left corner, and click the cell, or right-click it.
Your move
Cross out the three empty cells of column 1.
Blocks in order
Row 1's clue is 1 1. Which of these rows fits that clue? (■ is a filled cell, □ an empty one.)
Finish the heart
Rows 1 to 3 are done, and the empty cells of columns 1 and 5 are crossed out. Row 4's clue is 3, and only three cells are left in it. Column 3's clue is 4: with its top cell crossed out, the four can only be rows 2 to 5.
Your move
Fill the last four cells of the picture.
Do you need every cross?
The heart is solved, but two empty cells in row 5 were never crossed out. Does the game count the puzzle as finished?
What you learned
- Each clue lists the blocks of filled cells in its line, in order, with at least one empty cell between blocks.
- Click to fill a cell. In a game, click it again to cross it out and a third time to clear it, or drag to mark a run of cells. In these lessons, use Cross mode or a right-click to cross out.
- A line whose one block is as long as the line is filled from end to end.
- The puzzle is solved when the filled cells match the picture. Crosses are optional.
In this course
Unit 1The rules
- Nonogram Rules: Read the Clues, Fill the Grid
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