The Doppit Almanac · No. 48
Dodgit
Draw one loop through every cell the stones leave free
What it is
Dodgit is a loop puzzle, known elsewhere as Yajilin. Some cells carry an arrow with a number, and the number counts the stones in that arrow's own row or column, in the direction it points, out to the edge of the board. Every other cell either holds a stone or lies on one closed loop. Work out where the stones go, then run the loop through everything they leave free.
Two more rules do most of the work, and both read in either direction. Stones never sit side by side, so a cell next to a stone cannot be one. The loop comes into a cell by one gap and leaves by another, so a cell with no arrow and fewer than two gaps left is a stone instead. An arrow fixes stones, and those stones open the loop for the next arrow.
How it plays
- Every cell without an arrow either holds a stone or lies on the loop.
- An arrow counts the stones in the cells it points at, out to the edge of the board.
- Two stones never sit side by side.
- The loop comes into a cell by one gap and leaves by another, and never enters an arrow.
- All the lines make one loop, never two.
- Pick Draw or Cross, then tap a gap or drag along a run of them. Tap a line or a cross again to lift it.
- A cell with no line and fewer than two gaps left turns into a stone. Anything that breaks a rule turns red, and Hint shows the next forced mark and says why.
The difficulties
Easy is seven cells across and four down, and counting settles it. Read an arrow, mark the stones it fixes, then follow the loop through the cells left over. Medium is eight by six and hard is nine by eight. Both run longer and neither asks you to suppose anything. Expert is eleven by eight and brings one move the others do not. Put a line in a gap, follow what it forces, and wait for a rule to break: an arrow given more stones than its number, say, or a loop shut with cells still outside it. Then that gap takes a cross instead. Every expert board wants that move at least once, and no board below it needs it at all. A fresh board is dealt every day, for nothing.
Play today's board