About Picture Cross
Picture Cross is a picture logic puzzle, also known as paint by numbers. The numbers beside each row and column give the lengths of the runs of filled squares in that line. Use them together to fill the grid and reveal a picture. Every daily puzzle can be solved by logic alone.
How to play Picture Cross
- The numbers beside a row (or above a column) are the lengths of its runs of filled squares, in order.
- Runs are separated by at least one empty square.
- Fill squares you are sure about, and mark squares you know are empty with ×.
- Drag to fill several squares at once. The puzzle is solved when every clue is satisfied.
Tips & strategy
- Start with the biggest clues: a run that fills most of a line must cover its middle squares.
- Mark squares you know are empty with ×; they help as much as filled ones.
- When a line’s clues are all placed, every other square in it is empty.
- Switch between rows and columns. Each square you fill gives the crossing line a fresh clue.
- Add up a line’s runs plus one gap between each; if the total equals the line length, the whole line is fixed.
Picture Cross: questions and answers
Can every Picture Cross be solved without guessing?
Yes. Each puzzle is checked so that it can be solved one logical step at a time.
What does the × do?
It marks a square you know is empty. It is only a note for you and never counts against you.
How is Picture Cross ranked?
By time. The fastest correct solve wins.
How big are the pictures?
Easy days use a smaller grid and hard days a larger one, so a puzzle can take anything from a couple of minutes to a good deal longer.
Where should I start a Picture Cross?
With the rows and columns whose clues nearly fill them. Imagine the runs pushed as far left and as far right as they go: squares covered both ways must be filled. Mark squares you know are empty with × as well.