If looking for large numbers gets you nowhere, check for a zero line. Zero means none of its cells are filled, so the entire line can be marked X. We will solve the real 10x10 Simple 10 board from start to finish, using the board data from the Toss version.
Reading the clues
Each number is the length of a filled run. Keep runs in the given order and leave at least one empty cell between them.
Count rows from the top and columns from the left. Use the check button to fill and the X button to mark empty cells.
The starting board for Simple 10. The eighth row has a zero clue.
Hint 1: Clear the zero row
All ten cells of row eight are X. New X marks are red.
Filling even one cell in a zero row would contradict its clue. Mark all of row eight X first. A vertical run can no longer cross this row. An X is useful as a boundary that limits runs in crossing lines.
Hint 2: Find lines that need all ten cells
Row two is 10. Columns five and six are 2, 4, 2. All three lines are fixed.
Fill all of row two because its clue is 10. Columns five and six need 2 + 1 + 4 + 1 + 2 = 10 cells. There is no spare space: fill two, mark one X, fill four, mark one X, then fill two. The X in row eight fits this arrangement too.
Hint 3: Close the finished rows with X
Rows six and seven each have clue 2. Their two middle cells are already filled together, so all other cells are X.
Once a row has its required filled cells, you cannot add another. The X marks that finish it become new boundaries for the columns. Check for completed runs as often as you look for full-line clues.
Hint 4: Revisit every crossing line
Extend the 8 in row one and finish the 2 in column three. The left-hand runs in rows three and four then take shape.
Slide the runs to both ends while respecting filled cells and X marks. Fill cells covered in every placement and mark X where no run can reach. After a change in a row, inspect its column; after a change in a column, inspect its row.
Use the same process on the right. Finishing columns one, eight and nine fixes more boundaries around the top and right of the picture.
The 4 in each of rows nine and ten occupies columns four to seven. The X row separates them from the upper picture.Checking the remaining columns fixes the right ends of rows four and five and the last missing cell in row one.
Solved. Every row and column clue on the same Simple 10 board matches.
TipOn the next board, check zero lines, exact-fit lines, X marks around finished runs, then crossing lines. A large clue is not the only way to begin.
Nonogram The JoyPlus Soft Planning Team
