Puzzle #9
Shoal
7 × 7Advanced7 colorsPublished October 8, 2026
Blue's dots sit on the left and right edges, and its path takes the entire top row to join them. After a short opening, almost every step is a choice settled by thinking ahead, where each wrong turn cuts another color off from its partner. Check where the other colors still need to go before committing to a turn.
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-right corner, then look at the top-left corner.
Hint 2: the first idea
Blue passes through the top-left corner and runs along the top row. Dropping down at row 1, column 3 would cut Red off from its partner, so keep Blue on the top row.
Hint 3: the key step
Red's upper dot at row 3, column 4 can't go down, because that cuts Purple off. Send Red left along row 3 to the edge and down column 1 to its lower dot.
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 11
The bottom-right corner gets things moving. Purple's corner dot can only go up, then turns left into row 6, and Green's right dot is forced one step left just above it. Purple slides one more cell left, and Brown, now trapped below, runs two cells left along the bottom edge. In the top-left, the corner cell has only two usable neighbors, so Blue climbs into it and runs right along the top row to column 3.
Step 2 of 11
Blue's path at row 1, column 3 could drop into row 2. Thinking ahead, that would cut Red off from its partner, so Blue keeps going right along the top row.
Step 3 of 11
Now turn to Blue's other dot on the right edge at row 4. Going left there would cut Brown off from its partner, so Blue heads up the edge instead.
Step 4 of 11
At row 3, column 7, turning left would cut Green off from its partner. Blue continues up into the top-right corner and back along the top row to column 5.
Step 5 of 11
Blue's two ends now sit side by side in columns 4 and 5 of the top row. Dropping down from column 4 would cut Orange off from its partner, so Blue simply joins up, and the whole top row is Blue.
Step 6 of 11
Orange's left dot at row 2, column 2 could go down or right. Going down would cut Red off from its partner, so Orange goes right.
Step 7 of 11
From row 2, column 3, turning down would seal off a pocket of two cells that no color can finish. Orange runs right along row 2 instead and meets its lower dot just below. That leaves Green's upper dot only one open side, so Green heads down column 6 to row 4.
Step 8 of 11
Green's upper path now sits directly above its lower half. Turning left at row 4, column 6 would cut Brown off, so Green joins straight down.
Step 9 of 11
Red's upper dot at row 3, column 4 has two choices. Dropping into row 4 would cut Purple off from its partner, so Red goes left.
Step 10 of 11
The same problem appears one cell later. Going down from row 3, column 3 would still cut Purple off, so Red continues left to the edge and turns down column 1.
Step 11 of 11
At row 4, column 1, turning right would leave Red unable to reach its own lower dot, so Red runs down the edge to join its partner at row 6, column 2. The rest is forced. Purple climbs from its left dot and runs along row 4 before dropping to its other half, Brown goes right and down to join its bottom path, and Pink drops to the bottom row and runs left to its corner dot.