Puzzlune

Archive · Zip #23

Zip #23 (October 18, 2026): solution and route

The 8×8 Hard puzzle from Sunday, October 18, 2026. Play it first; the route and the solved path are folded below. Replays don't affect your streak.

— 0:00TIMER

Loading the puzzle…

← #22#24 →

Zip #23 was the 8×8 hard board of Sunday, October 18, 2026: 13 numbered dots, 5 walls, and one path that visits all 64 cells in order. Our solver, a line-for-line port of the app's, needed 3,846 search nodes to prove the path unique, which puts the board at 5 of 5 on the difficulty scale. Along the answer, 49% of the moves had only one legal continuation; the other 32 steps offered a real choice, and those are where you have to look ahead. The path turns at 68% of its cells, and its longest straight run is 5 cells. The longest leg, between two consecutive dots, is 20 cells.

Zip #23 in numbers

Board8×8, Hard
Numbered dots13
Walls5
Cells on the path64
Solver search nodes3,846 (5/5)
Moves with a single legal continuation49%
Decision points32
Turns along the path68%
Zip #23 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 → 21right 1
2 → 32right 2
3 → 46right 1, down 1, left 4
4 → 53down 1, right 2
5 → 68down 1, left 2, down 1, right 2, down 1, right 1
6 → 73right 2, up 1
7 → 86left 2, up 2, right 1, down 1
8 → 91right 1
9 → 1020up 3, right 2, down 1, left 1, down 1, right 1, down 1, left 1, down 1, right 1, down 1, left 1, down 1, right 1, down 1, left 2
10 → 118up 1, left 1, down 1, left 1, up 1, left 2, up 1
11 → 121left 1
12 → 134down 2, right 2

Where the choices are: step 2 at row 1, column 2 (2 ways), step 3 at row 1, column 3 (2 ways), step 4 at row 1, column 4 (2 ways), step 6 at row 2, column 5 (2 ways), step 7 at row 2, column 4 (2 ways) and step 9 at row 2, column 2 (2 ways) and 26 more. Everywhere else only one move keeps the board solvable.

Zip #23 solution

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

Back to the Zip archive, today's puzzle, or how to play Zip.

More free daily puzzles

Every game on Puzzlune has a daily, unlimited mode and a full archive. See all games.