Blog - ✂️ - 03 - Puzzle, Not Picture

3rd August 2025

The logic of a Picross Puzzle is really odd to see, when working backwards.

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If you've been playing with the Picross Puzzle Editor that I posted a couple of days ago, which the AI totally wrote itself, then you're probably struggling to get the last few dots into your puzzles.

First, here's the rule about Picross puzzles.
..They're Puzzles.

In order to solve a Picross Puzzle, you take the "Clues" from the top and left, and make use of those to figure out where a "plot" should be.
If the grid is 8x8 and the clue is 8, then that means that entire row/column is filled in.
Each clue of the same colour means there's a blank space between the spots, so if the clue says 3 and 4, then you know it's 3 plots, then a blank, then 4 plots.

The puzzles get more difficult when rows and columns aren't exactly filled. Then you end up having to work out where the plots should be, based on the logic that surrounds that row or column.

Let's solve a puzzle together..

First, we can see a full row of 8, so we'll fill that in. Simple.

Next is a row of 3 and 4. 3+blank+4 = 8, so that's nice and easy to fill in, too.

A bit of logic is next. There's only plots in 5 of the 8 available rows, (the top and bottom rows are all 0's, so there's nothing in those rows)
So when we check the columns, anything that's 5 should be a "full" column.

3 + a blank + 1 is 5. So we can easily plot the next two columns, too.

And all we're left with is the 1 3 1 on row 4, which should now be obvious because we already have the left and right of the 3.

(I do hope that all makes sense!!!)

Not Art

These puzzles are not supposed to be "art", they're supposed to be puzzles.
In fact, you'll probably want to put a LOT of blank space in your puzzles.
Take these two trees, for example.

(I might end up changing the brightness of these colours, later, by the way. They kinda blend together a bit too much, IMO)

One is art, one is puzzle.
The difference is that in the "art" version, EVERYTHING adds up to 8, on the columns and rows, because each row and column is filled in completely.
You're simply plotting exactly as it says. A picross puzzle should be about having to work out where the plots should go, based on the "clues" around the edge. They're Clues, not instructions.

The "puzzle" version is still relatively easy to work out, but there's a bit more logic involved.
Take the third row, where you know the tree is only 6 blocks wide, and the row literally tells you the colours are "1 green, 1 red, 4 green"
That's much easier than our previous example where we needed to take the "blank" cells into account for the "1 3 1" that went across row 4.

..Now, if we only use one colour, and draw a fairly similar-looking apple tree..

Now we've got a good puzzle.
In no single line is there a full 8-cells filled, but column 4 can still be solved directly.
We know there's 1, then there must be a blank before another 1 and another blank before 4.
That's 1+*1+1+*1+4 = 8 cells. (*'s being the blanks)

That's how we KNOW that column is what it is, and from there, we can do more logical working out, and eventually the entire puzzle gets filled.
This is a more difficult "puzzle", but it's still logically solvable.. Eventually! Bit by bit.

Logic

The editor will point-blank refuse anything that can't be logically solved using pure logic.

(But be aware that I asked the AI to do the logic check, so it might be using WAY more logic than a human would when solving these

)

Either way, it will refuse "Ambiguity"... things like this..

Now, you might look at that and go "Um, that seems to work fine.. There's 4 dots in each row, and there's an obvious left and right."
That "looks" like it should be solvable using pure logic.
However...

This puzzle has EXACTLY the same clues for the rows and columns.
EXACTLY the same.
This means, as obvious as the first image looked, it "could" also be the second image.

That amount of ambiguity is what the logic checker is there for.
It forces you to do things in a way that only pure logic can manage to complete.

If the editor claims it "Can't Solve", it's likely because of something like this.

NOTE

This logic checker is A.I. written. If you can find an instance where something "can" be solved using pure logic, but the program is insistent that it's not, please do let me know and I'll either chuck the example at the AI, or see if I can figure it out myself!

Create

If you'd like to have a go at creating these puzzles, head on over to the Picross Puzzle Editor, and try your hand. Maybe even submit a few in the process.