LinkedIn Patches

A numbered clue tells you how many cells its patch contains. Factor the number to identify possible rectangles: a 6 might be 1×6 or 2×3 when the shape permits. A square clue restricts equal width and height; tall and wide icons constrain orientation. If a clue gives neither size nor shape, use neighbouring clues and remaining space to infer both later rather than inventing an early boundary.

Draw candidate shapes mentally or by tracing lightly from the clue cell. Edges and corners remove many candidates because a shape cannot extend beyond the board. Clues near each other also compete for cells. The goal of the opening scan is not to finish every patch but to find a clue with only one legal footprint or a cell that can belong to only one clue.

Every ordinary cell must be claimed exactly once. Pick an awkward cell in a corner, narrow gap, or between established shapes and ask which clue could possibly reach it. If only one clue has a legal shape containing that cell, the patch must extend there even if its other boundaries remain uncertain. This reverse viewpoint is often stronger than testing shapes outward from the numbers.

Watch for cells that no remaining candidate covers. That signals an earlier patch is too small, oriented incorrectly, or blocking access. Because shapes cannot overlap, every confirmed cell removes it from all other candidates. Alternate between clue-centred and cell-centred reasoning to create a chain of forced boundaries instead of drawing complete speculative rectangles.

When several clues are enclosed by confirmed boundaries or board edges, add their known sizes and compare the total with the number of available cells. If the areas match exactly, no outside patch can enter that zone and no inside patch can leave it. This can lock a group even when the individual shapes are not yet determined.

Area reasoning is also useful after a large patch is placed. Count the shape of the remaining space, not only its size. A five-cell remainder may have enough area for a clue but the wrong geometry for its permitted rectangle. LinkedIn’s freeform clues require extra care: they loosen shape restrictions, yet the one-clue-per-patch and total-coverage rules still constrain every cell.

Clues without a complete size-and-shape specification are designed to interact with their neighbours. Keep several candidate outlines and work on more constrained patches first. As borders accumulate, the ambiguous clue inherits a smaller territory. What began as many possible forms often collapses to one shape because every cell must be covered and no other clue may be included.

Avoid assuming that visually neat symmetry is required. A valid board can use uneven patches, and a freeform clue may bend in a way a rectangle cannot. Follow the icon shown on the actual clue and verify that each finished shape includes exactly one clue cell. The absence of a number or icon is information—it tells you which property must be discovered through context.

LinkedIn lets you drag across cells to create a patch and tap a completed shape to delete it. Hint can identify a region or next step; Undo and Reset support recovery. The shared result may show solve time, redraw count, and no-mistake or no-hint labels. Plan candidate geometry before dragging if you want fewer redraws.

Difficulty is designed to rise through the week, so a method that feels excessive on an easy board becomes valuable later. Begin with edges, record forced cells, confirm area, and only then draw. New puzzles are released at midnight Pacific Time and previous boards expire. Measuring clean deductions across several days is more informative than comparing one unusually open grid with a tightly constrained one.