Skyscrapers

About Skyscrapers

Skyscrapers, sometimes called Towers, turns a Latin square into a small city seen from above. Every square holds a building from 1 storey up to the size of the grid, each height once in every row and column, and the numbers round the edge say how many buildings you would see looking along that line. Taller buildings hide shorter ones behind them, so a 1 means the tallest tower stands right at the front. Easy days are 4 × 4, medium 5 × 5 and hard 6 × 6, and every grid can be solved by logic alone.

How to play Skyscrapers

1. Fill every square with a building 1 to 4 storeys tall on easy days, 1 to 5 on medium days and 1 to 6 on hard days. Each height appears once in every row and column.
2. Each number round the edge counts the buildings seen from that side, looking along the row or column; a taller building hides every shorter one behind it.
3. Some clues are blank, and a height or two may be given. Select a square, then tap the number pad or type a height; Notes adds pencil marks. A clue is ticked when its full line is right and turns red when it is not.
4. Every grid has exactly one solution and can be solved by logic alone, without guessing. Fastest time wins; fewer entries break ties.

Tips & strategy

• A clue of 1 puts the tallest building right beside it. A clue as big as the grid means the line rises 1, 2, 3 and so on from that side.
• Next to a clue of k, the first building is at most the grid size minus k plus 1 storeys tall, so big clues keep tall buildings away from the edge.
• Find the tallest building of each row and column early: it is seen from both ends, so it splits the line into the part each clue counts.
• Check every full line against both of its clues before moving on.

Skyscrapers: questions and answers