Forums

Number: Puzzle #250
Genre: Archipelago
Author: Maarten
Appeared at: June 15, 2007

I am absolutely perplexed at how to go about this puzzle. I've filled in the bridges around the edges, a few short segments on the inside that no other bridges could block, and two horizontal bridges in the bottom right where a vertical bridge would cause an impossible layout.

I haven't really had any trouble with the other Archipelago puzzles, but none of the usual attacks are working on this one. I'm thinking it has something to do with what I like to call "boxing", which is where a subset of islands can only be connected to each other with only a few possible connections to the rest of the group, which generally forces a specific bridge as an "exit". However, the subsets I can see (in the checkerboard pattern in the center) have too many exits to check simultaneously.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, but if the break-in makes the rest of the puzzle a piece of cake, a gentle nudge in the right direction would be preferable.

On a more positive note, I'm really enjoying this type of puzzle, despite my usual avoidance of the type of logic it relies on