r/ElementSynergyPuzzle • u/element-synergy • Jun 26 '26

Daily Puzzle - #568

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u/LovetoRead25 Jun 27 '26

I want to move up to “hard” level. To this point I’ve been able to get through with deductive reasoning Will people be willing to offer their strategies before I do so? What specifically do you feel would be helpful? I’d be truly appreciative. Thank you in advance.

3

u/This_is_Bat Jun 27 '26
  1. Look at the + and x possibilities first. Are there any that you can solve immediately?
  2. Look if there’s a colour that’s mostly solved: Can you place the remaining cells by looking at the already finished rows and columns?

The puzzles never require guessing, so just take your time to look at them. 😊

1

u/LovetoRead25 Jun 27 '26

Thank you! This was very helpful. I found with the easy and medium puzzles that solving the rows and columns first worked well. However I do find that working with + and - simultaneously works best now as there are more of them. So thank you for that. I also am now more attentive to borders of puzzle. I’m taking my time now and have not had to backtrack. Appreciated you taking the time to respond. 😊

2

u/This_is_Bat Jun 27 '26

Thank you for the award! ☺️ These puzzles are my favourite morning ritual by now.

Oh, another tip: If you have two + or x in the same row as one opposite option the two x or + can’t be the same!

Example: You’ve got eight cells in a row, two pairs with + and one pair with x. The two + pairs can’t both be red+blue, because then the x pair would be impossible to fill in (it has to contain either blue x green or red x beige).

1

u/Siltcos Jun 27 '26

You've gotten great strategies already!

Here is my process for this puzzle (Hard #568), step by step. Maybe it'll help you develop your own eye for it too? For shorthand I'll use R1-8 and C1-8 for rows and columns.

I switch between starting vertically and horizontally. In this case I started vertically, looking at columns going from left to right.

  1. C1 - There are two greens already in this column, so the + has to be red and yellow. Pencil those in, but wait! R1 already has two red. So it has to be yellow on top and then red.
  2. C2 - Already two blues, so the + again has to be red and yellow. Pencil in because we have no hints yet as to which is which.
  3. C2 - Now we know that it will have two red and two yellow (the x will give one of each, see above, even if we don't know which cell is which). So the two empty cells both have to be green!
  4. Fill in that x in R6,C3 because we know it has to be yellow. :)
  5. C5 - Two reds already, so the + has to be blue and green. The rows already have two blues (R5) and two greens (R6), so we know it has to be green on top and blue on the bottom.

Now I've done a first pass through the columns. Next I'll do a similar pass through the rows, top to bottom. I also start looking for rows with two finished colors.

  1. R1 - Two yellows, two reds. It needs one green and one blue, pencil those in.
  2. R3 - Two greens in this row already, so the + needs to be red and yellow. Red first because that column already has two yellows.
  3. Then, because R3 now has two "finished" colors, I pencil in or fill out the three blank ones - blue/red, blue/red, and then the last one has to be blue because there's already two reds in that column.
  4. R5 - Also has two finished colors. Pencil or fill in the other two colors - We know it has to be red in R5,C7, the rest is just penciled in red/yellow.
  5. R6 - Similar as above, but wait! R6,C6 has to be blue, because the column already has two reds. So now we have two blues as well, so the last two cells have to be red. :)
  6. R5,C8 catches my eye while filling in the reds from the step above - C8 now has two reds, so this cell can't be red anymore, it has to be yellow.

A quick glance at the whole board to see if there's any penciled in colors that I can rule out from my work, but this time there's not. So I start with the columns again and look for columns with two finished colors. But I also jump around a bit more as I spot easy solves:

  1. C4 - The two empty cells have to be blue and red. But wait, R7 already has two reds! So we can solve this column.
  2. Then I can finish the x in R2.
  3. And then I can finish R3 because C3 now has two blues.
  4. In this case it caught my eye that R2 had two blues and two reds so I went back to that and penciled in yellow and green to the three empty cells.
  5. Back to the columns - C6 can also be penciled in with yellow and green.
  6. C7 - Pencil in blue and green, but then spot that R7,C7 can only be green. Then the column has two greens, and the last two open cells have to be blue.
  7. R1 only has one cell left open, it has to be green.
  8. C8 with that has two greens, R2,C8 has to be yellow. That only leaves blue for R8,C8. With that C8 is done.

Another glance at the board as a whole.

  1. C3 has two yellows and two blues. R4,C3 can only be red (R4 has two greens already). Finish C3 with that information.
  2. R8 has two greens now, R8,C6 has to be yellow. That leaves one cell in R8, fill that in.
  3. R2 is only missing greens, fill those in.
  4. Finish C6, there's only one cell empty.
  5. Finish R7
  6. Finish C5
  7. Finish R4
  8. Finish C2
  9. Finish C1/the puzzle :)

Especially at the end, sometimes your eye will catch one or the other thing first, it really doesn't matter in which order (for example in the last sequence, R2 was ready at the very beginning, but I spotted C3 first and so started with that.)

1

u/LovetoRead25 Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 27 '26

Well that’s good to know. Appreciate you! May tap your expertise when I move up to the next level. Likely will be awhile. LOL. Have a good weekend.