Puzzle #12
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9 × 7Intermediate9 colorsPublished October 8, 2026
Solve it in the solver Download .flow
Colors: Blue, Orange, Green, Red, Purple, Brown, Pink, Gray, Lime.
Purple's dots start far apart, and its path runs along the bottom row and up column 7 to join them. Green also travels a long way, around the bottom-right corner, up the right edge and back across the top row. The left side is crowded with dots, so the squeezes there set up everything else.
New to these puzzles? Read how to play first. Connect each pair of dots with a path, fill every cell, and don't let paths cross. This board has exactly one solution.
Hints
Hint 1: where to look
Start in the bottom-left corner, where Blue, Lime and Purple are packed together.
Hint 2: the first idea
Blue passes through the top-left corner and heads down the left edge. Turning right at row 3 would trap the cell at row 5, column 2, and turning right at row 4 would cut Brown off, so Blue stays on the edge until it joins its lower dot.
Hint 3: the key step
Once Blue is done, the cell at row 5, column 2 has only two usable neighbors. Pink's left dot must pass through it, climb column 2 and run right along row 3.
Techniques used: Forced moves, Edges and corners, Dead ends, Bottlenecks.
Step-by-step walkthrough
Every step below follows from the rules alone, with no guessing. Try the puzzle first and use the walkthrough when you get stuck.
Step 1 of 6
The bottom-left corner sorts itself out first. Blue's lower dot can only go up, Purple's lower dot can only go down, and Lime's corner dot steps right to join its partner, after which Purple runs right along the bottom row. At the top, the corner cell has only two usable neighbors, so Blue passes through it and heads down the left edge. The cell at row 1, column 3 squeezes Orange the same way, sending it left and then down one.
Step 2 of 6
The bottom-right corner has only two usable neighbors. Green's lower dot sits next to it, so Green turns the corner and climbs the right edge to row 5.
Step 3 of 6
Blue's upper path at row 3, column 1 could turn right. That would leave the cell at row 5, column 2 trapped between two different colors, so Blue keeps going down the edge.
Step 4 of 6
Turning right at row 4 would cut Brown off from its partner, so Blue joins its lower dot down the edge. Row 5, column 2 now has only two usable neighbors, so Pink's left dot passes through it, climbs column 2 and runs right along row 3. Orange's ends touch and connect, Green and Brown each step right, and Pink bends down and over to sit just above its other dot. Red, hemmed in by Pink, moves up into row 2.
Step 5 of 6
Green and Red now run side by side across the top right. Green climbs into the top row and heads for the corner while Red follows one row below. Green then drops down the right edge to join its lower half, and Red turns down column 8. Purple's upper dot is boxed in by Red and drops two cells down column 7.
Step 6 of 6
Every remaining move is forced. Red drops one more cell to its partner, Purple runs down column 7 and turns left along the bottom row to meet its other end, and Brown steps down to its lower dot. Pink's ends are already touching, and Gray's top dot steps down to join its partner beside it.