Cross+A Puzzles

Cross+A can solve and generate many kinds of puzzles. The created puzzle can be saved as a graphic file (Windows Bitmap, Windows Metafile, GIF, JPEG, PNG and CorelDRAW formats are supported). Also the batch creating of puzzles is supported.

Kakuro (also known as "Cross Sums") is a logic puzzle, a mathematical equivalent of crosswords.

A kakuro consists of a playing area of filled and empty cells similar to a crossword puzzle. Some black cells contain a diagonal slash from top left to bottom right with numbers in them, called "the clues". A number in the top right corner relates to an "across" clue and one in the bottom left a "down" clue.

The object of a kakuro is to insert digits from 1 to 9 into the white cells to total the clue associated with it. However no digit can be duplicated in an entry. For example the total 6 you could have 1 and 5, 2 and 4 but not 3 and 3.

Hitori (from Japanese "Hitori ni shite kure"; literally "let me alone") is played on a grid of squares. At the beginning, each cell contains a number. The goal is to paint out some cells so that there are no duplicate numbers in any row or column, similar to the solved state of a Sudoku puzzle (except with black squares added to the grid).

Orthogonal connections are important as well; painted-out (black) cells cannot be connected orthogonally, and the other cells must be connected orthogonally in a single group (i.e. no two black squares can be adjacent to each other, and all un-painted squares must be connected, horizontally or vertically, to create a single shape).

Slitherlink (also known as "Fences", "Loop the Loop", "Dotty Dilemma", "Sli-Lin", "Great Wall of China") is a logic puzzle. It was invented by Nikoli Puzzles in Japan.

Slitherlink is played on a rectangular lattice of dots. Some of the squares formed by the dots have numbers inside them. The objective is to connect horizontally and vertically adjacent dots so that the lines form a single loop with no loose ends. In addition, the number inside a square represents how many of its four sides are segments in the loop.

Link-a-Pix (also known as "Paint by Pairs") consists of a grid, with numbers filling some squares; pairs of numbers must be located correctly and connected with a line filling a total of squares equal to that number. Squares containing '1' represent paths that are 1-square long. Paths may follow any horizontal or vertical direction. Paths are not allowed to cross other paths.

There is only one unique way to link all the squares in a properly-constructed puzzle. When completed, the squares that have lines are filled; the contrast with the blank squares reveals the picture.

Fill-a-Pix (also known as "Mosaik", "Japanese Mosaic", "Nurie Puzzle", "Nampre Puzzle") consists of a grid with number clues scattered in various places. Each number shows how many of the nine squares - the one with the number plus the eight around it - should be filled in.

It is necessary to determine which squares are filled in and which should remain empty until the hidden picture is completely exposed.

Battleships (also known as "Solitaire Battleships", "Battleship Solitaire") is a logic puzzle based on the Battleships guessing game. In a square grid of 10 x 10 small squares, an armada of battleships is located. There is one battleship of 4 squares, two cruisers of 3 squares, three destroyers of 2 squares, and four submarines of 1 square. Each ship occupies a number of contiguous squares on the grid, arranged either horizontally or vertically. The boats are placed so that no boat touches any other boat, not even diagonally.

The numbers on the bottom and on the right of the grid show how many squares in the corresponding rows and columns are occupied by ships. Occasionally some squares may contain given ship or water segments as hints to help start the puzzle. The object is to discover where all ships are located.

Hashiwokakero (from Japanese "Hashi o kakero"; literally "build bridges"; also known as "Hashi", "Bridges", "Chopsticks", or "Ai-Ki-Ai") is a type of logic puzzle. It is played on a rectangular grid with no standard size, although the grid itself is not usually drawn. Some cells start out with (usually encircled) numbers from 1 to 8 inclusive; these are the islands. The rest of the cells are empty.

The goal is to connect all of the islands into a single connected group by drawing a series of bridges between the islands. The bridges must follow certain criteria:

• They must begin and end at distinct islands, travelling a straight line in between.
• They must not cross any other bridges or islands.
• They may only run orthogonally.
• At most two bridges connect a pair of islands.
• The number of bridges connected to each island must match the number on that island.

Masyu (also known as "Shiroshinju Kuroshinju", "White pearls and black pearls") is a type of logic puzzle. It is played on a rectangular grid of squares, some of which contain circles; each circle is either "white" (empty) or "black" (filled). The goal is to draw a single continuous non-intersecting loop that properly passes through all circled cells. The loop must "enter" each cell it passes through from the center of one of its four sides and "exit" from a different side; all turns are therefore 90 degrees.

The two varieties of circle have differing requirements for how the loop must pass through them:

• White circles must be traveled straight through, but the loop must turn in the previous and/or next cell in its path.
• Black circles must be turned upon, but the loop must travel straight through the next and previous cells in its path.

Light Up (also known as "Akari", "Bijutsukan") is a logical puzzle. It is played on a rectangular grid of white and black cells. The player places light bulbs in white cells such that no two bulbs shine on each other, until the entire grid is lit up. A bulb sends rays of light horizontally and vertically, illuminating its entire row and column unless its light is blocked by a black cell. A black cell may have a number on it from 0 to 4, indicating how many bulbs must be placed adjacent to its four sides; for example, a cell with a 4 must have four bulbs around it, one on each side, and a cell with a 0 cannot have a bulb next to any of its sides. An unnumbered black cell may have any number of light bulbs adjacent to it, or none. Bulbs placed diagonally adjacent to a numbered cell do not contribute to the bulb count.

Fillomino is a type of logic puzzle. It is played on a rectangular grid of squares. Some cells of the grid start containing numbers, referred to as "givens". The goal is to divide the grid into blocks. The block must contain the number of cells indicated by the number in the cells of the block. The block cannot touch a similarly sized block, horizontally or vertically. Cells without numbers may form blocks necessary to complete the puzzle.

Futoshiki (from Japanese, literally "not equal"; also known as "Hutoshiki", "Unequal") is a logic puzzle. The puzzle is played on a square grid, such as 9 x 9. The objective is to place the numbers 1 to 9 (or whatever the dimensions are) in each row, ensuring that each column also only contains the digits 1 to 9. Some digits may be given at the start. In addition, inequality constraints are also initially specifed between some of the squares, such that one must be higher or lower than its neighbour. These constraints must be honoured as the grid is filled out.

Kuromasu (from Japanese "kuromasu wa doko da", literally "Where is black cells?"; also known as "Kurodoko") is played on a rectangular grid. Some of these cells have numbers in them. Each cell may be either black or white. The object is to determine what type each cell is.

The following rules determine which cells are which:

• Each number on the board represents the number of white cells that can be seen from that cell, including itself. A cell can be seen from another cell if they are in the same row or column, and there are no black cells between them in that row or column.
• Numbered cells may not be black.
• No two black cells may be horizontally or vertically adjacent.
• All the white cells must be connected horizontally or vertically.

Nurikabe is a logic puzzle ("nurikabe" in Japanese folklore is an invisible wall that blocks roads and upon which delays in foot travel are blamed; other names for the puzzle: "Cell Structure", "Islands in the Stream"). The puzzle is played on a grid, typically rectangular with no standard size. Some cells of the grid start containing numbers.

The goal is to determine whether each of the cells of the grid is "black" or "white" according to the following rules:

• All of the black cells must be connected.
• Each numbered cell must be part of a white island of connected white cells.
• Each island must have the same number of white cells as the number it contains (including the numbered cell).
• Two islands may not be connected.
• There cannot be any 2 x 2 blocks of black cells.

Tents ("Tents and Trees") is played on a grid of squares, some of which contain trees. The goal is to place tents in some of the remaining squares, in such a way that the following conditions are met:

• There are exactly as many tents as trees.
• The tents and trees can be matched up in such a way that each tent is directly adjacent (horizontally or vertically, but not diagonally) to its own tree. However, a tent may be adjacent to other trees as well as its own.
• No two tents are adjacent horizontally, vertically or diagonally.
• The number of tents in each row, and in each column, matches the numbers given round the sides of the grid.

KenKen (also known as "KENKEN", "KenDoku", "CalcuDoku", "Square Wisdom") is a mathematical and logical puzzle loosely similar to sudoku. It was invented by a Japanese mathematics teacher Tetsuya Miyamoto. The objective is to fill the grid in with the digits 1 through N (where N is the number of rows or columns in the grid) such that:

• Each row contains exactly one of each digit.
• Each column contains exactly one of each digit.
• Each bold-outlined group of cells (block) contains digits which achieve the specified result using the specified mathematical operation: addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (×), and division (÷).
• Unlike Killer Sudoku, digits may repeat within a block.

Hidato (from Hebrew: "my puzzle"; also known as "Hidoku") is a puzzle invented by Gyora Benedek, an Israeli mathematician. The goal of Hidato is to fill the grid with consecutive numbers that connect horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

In every Hidato puzzle the smallest and the highest number are presented in the grid. There are more numbers on the board to help to direct the player how to start the solution and to ensure that Hidato has only a single solution.

Numbrix is a type of logic puzzle. It is played on a rectangular grid of squares. Some of the cells have numbers in them. The object is to fill in the missing numbers, in sequential order, going horizontally and vertically only. Diagonal paths are not allowed.

Shikaku (also known as "Divide by Squares", "Divide by Box", "Number Area") is a logic puzzle. It is played on a rectangular grid. Some of the cells in the grid are numbered. The objective is to divide the grid into rectangular and square pieces such that each piece contains exactly one number, and that number represents the area of the rectangle.

Galaxies (also known as "Tentai Show") consists of a rectangular grid with dots. The goal is to divide the rectangle into exactly one region per dot that is two-fold rotationally symmetric around the dot.

Skyscrapers consists of a square grid. The goal is to fill in each cell with numbers from 1 to N, where N is the size of the puzzle's side. No number may appear twice in any row or column. The numbers along the edge of the puzzle indicate the number of buildings which you would see from that direction if there was a series of skyscrapers with heights equal the entries in that row or column.

In Sum Skyscrapers the number outside the grid indicates the sum of heights of visible buildings.

Hakyuu (also known as "Ripple Effect", "Hakyuu Kouka", "Hakyukoka", "Seismic") is a logic puzzle published by Nikoli. The puzzle consists of a rectangular grid of any size divided into polyomino sections called "rooms". Each room must be filled with each of the numbers from 1 to the number of cells in the room. If two identical numbers appear in the same row or column, at least that many cells with other numbers must separate them.

Grand Tour is a logic puzzle. It is a grid of points that all need to be connected by a single loop. To begin the puzzle, a few of the points are already connected to insure a unique solution.

Easy as ABC ("ABC End View", "Last Man Standing") is a square grid, whose cells are to be filled by a range of letters (e.g. A through E), with each different letter occurring exactly once in each row and column, and the other cells remaining empty. The letters outside the grid show which letter will come across first from that direction.

Clouds (also known as "Rain Clouds", "Radar") is a variant of Battleship puzzle. The task is to mark certain cells of the rectangular grid as belonging to a cloud. Clouds occupy an area of rectangular shape and their width and height is at least two cells. No clouds touch each other, not even diagonally. Numbers outside the grid show the quantity of cells occupied by clouds in corresponding row or column.

Yajilin (also known as "Arrow Ring", "Straight and Arrow") is a type of logic puzzle published by Nikoli. The goal is to draw a single continuous non-intersecting loop that connects the centers of the grid cells. The loop may not pass through any cells which contain arrows. The loop may only travel horizontally or vertically, and never diagonally. Any cell that does not have an arrow and which is not part of the loop must be shaded in black. Black cells do not touch each other orthogonally (they do not share a side). A cell containing a number and an arrow represents how many black cells are in the row or column pointed at by the arrow. There may be black cells that are not accounted for by the cells with arrows and numbers.

Minesweeper is well-known by the game in Microsoft Windows. The task is to place mines into empty cells in the grid. The numbers in the grid represent the number of mines in the neighbouring cells, including diagonal ones.

Minesweeper Battleships combines Battleships puzzle with Minesweeper game found on many computers. The aim is to locate the position of the fleet in the grid. The ships do not touch each other, not even diagonally. A cell with a number indicates how many ship pieces are adjacent to it. Ships are not allowed on the numbered cells.

Heyawake (from Japanese, "divided rooms") is played on a rectangular grid. The grid is divided into rectangular "rooms". Some rooms may contain a single number. These rooms must have the designated number of cells painted black. Other rooms may have zero or more cells painted black.

• Black cells must not be orthogonally connected.
• All white cells must be interconnected.
• A line of connected white cells must not connect more than two rooms together.

Tenner Grid (also known as "From 1 to 10", "Zehnergitter") consists of a rectangular grid of width ten cells. The task is to fill in the grid so that every row contains the digits 0 through 9. In columns the numbers may be repeated. The bottom numbers give the sum of the numbers in column. The digits in contiguous cells (even diagonally contiguous cells) must be different.

Hundred is a square grid of 3 x 3 or 4 x 4, whose cells are to be filled by some digits. The task is to fill additional digits in required cells such that the sum of numbers in each row and each column equals to 100.

Arrows is a type of logic puzzle. It is played on a rectangular grid filled with numbers. The task is to place arrows outside the grid. Every arrow can go horizontally, vertically or diagonally and points to at least one cell with a number. The numbers indicate the total number of arrows that point to them.

Mathrax consists of a square grid. The goal is to fill in each cell with numbers from 1 to N, where N is the size of the puzzle's side. No number may appear twice in any row or column. Circles with additional conditions may be situated on intersections of lines inside the grid.

• A number and a sign of mathematical operation (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) - a number is a result of an operation execution with numbers in diagonally adjacent cells.
• A letter "E" ("even") - all numbers in four cells are even.
• A letter "O" ("odd") - all numbers in four cells are odd.

Str8ts (also known as "Straights") is a logic puzzle, invented by Jeff Widderich (Canada). It is a grid, partially divided by black cells into compartments. Each compartment, vertically or horizontally, must contain a straight - a set of consecutive numbers, but in any order (for example: 2-1-3-4). No single number can repeat in any row or column. Clues in black cells remove that number as an option in that row and column, and are not part of any straight.

Linesweeper is played on a rectangular grid. The object is to create a single continuous non-intersecting loop that connects the centers of the grid cells. The numbered cells can't be passed through; the number in the cell means how many of the 8 surrounding cells should contain some part of the solution path. (For example, "0" means the 8 surrounding cells can't be passed through at all).

Binairo (also known as "Binary Puzzle", "Takuzu", "Tohu wa Vohu") is played on a rectangular or square grid. The goal is to fill in the grid with digits "0" and "1" according to the following rules:

• There are as many digits "1" as digits "0" in every row and every column (or one more for odd sized grids).
• No more than two cells in a row can contain the same number.
• Each row is unique, and each column is unique.

Walls is a logic puzzle, invented by Naoki Inaba (Japan). The task is to place a horizontal or a vertical line in every blank cell. A number in a black cell indicates the total length of the segments connected to that square.

Dominosa (also known as "Dominosa Omnibus", "Solitaire Dominoes", "Domino Hunt") is a logic puzzle. On the board the domino numbers are shown, but the borders between dominoes are missing. The task is to restore borders between domino tiles.

Patchwork (also known as "Tatami") consists of a square grid divided into regions ("rooms"). Each room must be filled with each of the digits from 1 to the number of cells in the room. Every row and every column must contain the same amount of each digit. Same digits must not be orthogonally adjacent.

In some puzzles letters are used instead of digits. Cross+A can solve such puzzles also.

Knossos is a logic puzzle ("Knossos" is a palace on Crete; this palace is connected with ancient legends, such as the myth of the Labyrinth with the Minotaur). It is played on a rectangular grid. Some of the cells in the grid are numbered. The goal is to divide the grid into regions (“rooms”) such that each region contains exactly one number, and that number represents the border’s length of the rectangle.

Rekuto is played on a rectangular or square grid. Some of the cells have numbers in them. The aim is to divide the grid into rectangular and square pieces such that each piece contains exactly one number, and that number represents the sum of the width and height of the rectangle.

Neighbours is played on a grid of irregular shape. Some cells of the grid contains numbers. It is necessary to divide the grid into a number of connected regions of an equal number of cells. Every region contains exactly one cell with a number (or a question mark) in it, and has as many neighbours as the number indicates. Regions are neighbours when they share a part of their border.

Four Winds is played on a rectangular or square grid with black and white cells. All black cells contain numbers. The aim to draw a horizontal or a vertical line in each white cell. Each number represents the total number of white cells occupied by the lines from that number. Lines cannot enter other numbered black cells or intersect with other lines.

Shakashaka (also known as "Proof of Quilt") is a logic puzzle, invented by Nikoli. The task is to place one of the four isosceles right triangles in some white cells. Each triangle must occupy exactly half of its cell, but may be in one of four orientations. Every contiguous white region must be a rectangle or a a square. A number in a black cell indicates how many triangles are adjacent to that cell by sides.

Kakurasu is played on a rectangular or square grid. The goal is to color in some of the cells to satisfy the clues. The numbers across the top and down the left are the clues, and equal the row and column totals for the black squares. The numbers across the bottom and down the right are the values for each of the squares in the rows and columns (the first square in a row or column is worth 1, the second 2, the third 3, etc.).