Number Loop

About Number Loop

Number Loop is a logic puzzle drawn in a single stroke. Join the dots with lines until they make one closed loop that never crosses itself, never branches and never touches itself at a corner. Each number from 0 to 3 says how many of its square’s four sides belong to the loop; empty squares give no clue. A 3 beside a 0 fixes three lines at once, and a chain of forced lines soon shows which way the loop runs. Every daily grid has exactly one loop, found by plain reasoning before it is published, so you never have to guess.

How to play Number Loop

1. Draw one closed loop along the grid lines, from dot to dot. It never crosses or branches, so every dot has either no line or exactly two.
2. A number tells how many of its square’s four sides the loop uses, from 0 to 3. Squares without a number can have any number of sides on the loop.
3. Tap a side for a line, again for a cross (your note for “no line here”), again to clear it. Drag from dot to dot to draw several lines at once.
4. Easy grids are 5 × 5, medium 7 × 7 and hard 9 × 9. Every grid has exactly one loop, found by reasoning alone. Fastest time wins; fewer changes break ties.

Tips & strategy

• Cross the sides of every 0 first. Two 3s side by side always use their shared side and both outer ones.
• A dot with two crosses can’t hold one line on its own: the loop must pass through it with both remaining sides or miss it entirely.
• Follow a loose end. A line that stops at a dot must carry on, and often only one side is still open for it.
• Never close a small loop early. A side that would join two ends of the same piece while other lines are still apart must stay empty.

Number Loop: questions and answers