Candy Path

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How to solve Zip puzzles without looking up the answer

Looking up today's answer ends the puzzle. These eight habits get you unstuck instead. They work on LinkedIn's Zip, on Candy Path and on any puzzle where one line has to fill a grid.

1. Corners first

A corner square has only two neighbours. If the corner is not the start or the end of the line, the line has to come in through one neighbour and leave through the other. Draw those two short pieces at once. They are free information.

2. Squares with one way in are endpoints

As you draw, keep an eye on empty squares that have only one free neighbour left. The line can only enter such a square and stop there. So it has to be the last square. If it is not where the line ends, you have made a mistake a few moves back.

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The line from 1 has walled off the top left corner. That square can never be filled, so this start is wrong.

3. A number is a wall until it is its turn

The line may not step on 4 before it has reached 3. So while you are travelling from 2 to 3, treat 4, 5 and every higher number as blocked squares. This often makes the route between two numbers much more obvious than it first looks.

4. Never cut the board in two

Before you commit to a long stretch, check that all the empty squares are still in one connected piece. A line that splits the empty squares into two islands can only ever fill one of them.

5. Hug the edges early

Thin strips along the border are the usual reason a puzzle fails at the very end. Running along an edge early keeps the empty area in one compact block that is easy to fill later.

6. Plan the end, not just the start

The line has to finish on the highest number. Look at the squares around it. Which ones can only be reached at the very end? Sketch the last few steps in your head, then connect the middle.

7. Use the chessboard count

Shade the grid like a chessboard in your head. Every step goes from a dark square to a light one or back. That gives two quick checks:

  • Between two numbers on the same colour the route has an even number of steps. On different colours it is odd.
  • If the board has an odd number of squares, the line has to start and end on the colour that has one more square. On a 5 by 5 board that is the colour of the corners.
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25 squares: 13 dark, 12 light. The line alternates, so it has to start and end on dark.

8. Walls work like corners

In Zip some squares have walls on one or more sides. In Candy Path they are candy fences. A square with walls on two sides has only two ways in, just like a corner. Treat it the same way and draw both pieces.

A routine that works

  1. Draw every forced piece: corners, walled squares, squares next to a number that can only connect one way.
  2. Connect numbers that sit close together.
  3. Fill the gaps, checking after each stretch that the empty squares are still connected.
  4. If it fails, undo a few squares. You rarely need to start over.

Want to practise with today's board? Play the Candy Path daily puzzle. Need more than one a day? See more puzzles like Zip.

Candy Path is made by IdeaBridge GmbH. It is not made by, affiliated with or endorsed by LinkedIn. Zip is a game by LinkedIn; we mention it only to describe the puzzle type.

Quick questions

Where can I find today's Zip answer?

Answer sites post it every day, but it ends the fun. Try the habits on this page first: corners, dead ends, numbers as walls and the chessboard count solve most boards.

Is there always only one solution?

Not always. Many boards have exactly one line, but some allow several. Any line that visits the numbers in order and fills every square counts.

Why do I keep getting stuck at the end?

Usually a thin strip of empty squares is left along an edge or in a corner. Hug the edges early and check that the empty squares stay connected.

Does the chessboard trick always work?

Yes. Each step changes colour, so the count of steps between two squares always has the parity the colours say. It cannot tell you the route, only rule routes out.

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