Archive · Zip #17

Zip #17 (October 12, 2026): solution and route

The 6×6 Easy puzzle from Monday, October 12, 2026. Play it first; the route and the solved path are folded below. Replays don't affect your streak.

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Zip #17 was the 6×6 easy board of Monday, October 12, 2026: 9 numbered dots, 3 walls, and one path that visits all 36 cells in order. Our solver, a line-for-line port of the app's, needed 179 search nodes to prove the path unique, which puts the board at 4 of 5 on the difficulty scale. Along the answer, 60% of the moves had only one legal continuation; the other 14 steps offered a real choice, and those are where you have to look ahead. The path turns at 47% of its cells, and its longest straight run is 6 cells. The longest leg, between two consecutive dots, is 13 cells.

Zip #17 in numbers

Board6×6, Easy
Numbered dots9
Walls3
Cells on the path36
Solver search nodes179 (4/5)
Moves with a single legal continuation60%
Decision points14
Turns along the path47%
Zip #17 route, dot by dot

How many cells each leg takes and which way it runs, reading from dot 1. “Right 3” means three steps to the right.

LegCellsDirections
1 → 22down 2
2 → 32down 1, left 1
3 → 44up 2, left 2
4 → 55up 1, right 1, up 1, left 2
5 → 64down 3, right 1
6 → 73right 1, down 1, left 1
7 → 813left 1, down 1, right 5, up 5, left 1
8 → 92left 1, down 1

Where the choices are: step 1 at row 2, column 5 (2 ways), step 2 at row 3, column 5 (2 ways), step 3 at row 4, column 5 (3 ways), step 4 at row 5, column 5 (3 ways), step 5 at row 5, column 4 (2 ways) and step 6 at row 4, column 4 (2 ways) and 8 more. Everywhere else only one move keeps the board solvable.

Zip #17 solution

The number in each cell is its position on the path; the dots keep their own numbers and are highlighted.

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