Daily logic puzzle
Nonogram online, a new picture every midnight.
A nonogram is a picture logic puzzle: the numbers beside each row and above each column tell you the lengths of the runs of filled cells, and the picture falls out of the arithmetic. Ours is called Magpies, it is free, there is no account and no advertising, and a new one appears at midnight.
- a new picture at midnight, easy on Monday and fifteen by fifteen on Sunday
- exactly one solution, reachable by reasoning, checked by program
- hints that explain the technique, a two step Check, no red ink while you play
Today's picture. The numbers along the edges are the whole of the clue.
The rules
Three rules, and that is the whole game.
Nonograms also go by Picross, Griddlers and Japanese crosswords. The rules are the same under every name.
- The numbers beside every row and above every column give the lengths of the blocks of filled cells, in order, with at least one empty cell between two blocks.
- A filled cell is a cell a magpie left something shiny in. An empty cell is nothing. Work out from the numbers alone which is which.
- Exactly one picture fits every number, and it can always be reached by reasoning, never by guessing. A cross is your own note that a cell stays empty.
Our name for it
We call it Magpies.
The puzzle is known as a nonogram, and elsewhere as Picross, Griddlers or a Japanese crossword. We call ours Magpies because a filled cell is something shiny the birds carried home, and what you uncover at the end is what they brought.
The rules are untouched. Everything you know from any other nonogram applies here, including the overlap technique for long runs and the edge arithmetic that opens most grids.
Where to start
Three ways in.
The archive of past pictures is free as well and goes back a year: Magpies archive.
- Play today's picture
The daily puzzle, easy on Monday and fifteen by fifteen on Sunday, new at midnight.
- How to play nonograms
The rules with a worked example, the controls and the techniques that open a grid.
- Practice sets
Sets by difficulty when one picture a day is not enough.
One solution
A program says so, not a person.
Every puzzle we publish has exactly one solution, and it is a program that decides. The generator throws a candidate away unless the solver returns exactly one solution and unless a second solver, restricted to human style reasoning, finishes it without guessing.
You can see the check yourself: the file tests.mjs in the game folder runs it over thirty days in every size. With nonograms that matters more than usual, because a guessed cell can stay plausible for twenty moves before the row falls apart.
While you play, nothing goes red. A mistake is shown only by Check, in two steps: first how many cells are wrong and roughly where, then which ones. Hint works the same way, first the technique and the place, then the move. Both are free and unlimited.
Questions
Questions about nonograms.
What is a nonogram?
A picture logic puzzle on a grid. The numbers beside each row and above each column give the lengths of the blocks of filled cells in order, with at least one gap between blocks. Fill the right cells and a picture appears. It is also sold under the names Picross, Griddlers and Japanese crossword.
Is it free here?
Yes. The daily picture, the practice sets, the archive going back a year, the hints and the Check are all free, with no account and no advertising. We sell printable puzzle books on the same site, and that is the whole business model.
How big are the grids?
They grow through the week: small and easy on Monday, up to fifteen by fifteen on Sunday. A new picture is generated at midnight, so everyone gets the same one on the same day.
Do I ever have to guess?
No, and that is checked rather than promised. Every published puzzle was solved by a program restricted to reasoning, without trial and error, before it was allowed out. If you are stuck, Hint names the technique and the row or column before it shows you the move.
What are the crosses for?
They are your own note that a cell stays empty. The program does not need them, but for most people they are the whole method: crossing out what cannot be filled is what turns the next row into arithmetic.
Where can I get more of these on paper?
In the Magpies book: one hundred nonograms as a printable PDF in A4 and US Letter, with the solutions at the back. There is a free five puzzle sample to look at first. See the <a href="/puzzle-books/nonogram-puzzle-book/">nonogram puzzle book</a>.
Related
More of the same.
One hundred of these on paper, with the solutions at the back: nonogram puzzle book (PDF, free sample).
All ten daily games are on one page: daily logic games.
Auf Deutsch: Nonogramm online spielen.