Archive · Zip #26

Zip #26 (October 21, 2026): solution and route

The 7×7 Medium puzzle from Wednesday, October 21, 2026. Play it first; the route and the solved path are folded below. Replays don't affect your streak.

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Zip #26 was the 7×7 medium board of Wednesday, October 21, 2026: 9 numbered dots, 5 walls, and one path that visits all 49 cells in order. Our solver, a line-for-line port of the app's, needed 793 search nodes to prove the path unique, which puts the board at 5 of 5 on the difficulty scale. Along the answer, 58% of the moves had only one legal continuation; the other 20 steps offered a real choice, and those are where you have to look ahead. The path turns at 57% of its cells, and its longest straight run is 7 cells. The longest leg, between two consecutive dots, is 11 cells.

Zip #26 in numbers

Board7×7, Medium
Numbered dots9
Walls5
Cells on the path49
Solver search nodes793 (5/5)
Moves with a single legal continuation58%
Decision points20
Turns along the path57%
Zip #26 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 → 211up 2, left 2, down 1, right 1, down 1, left 1, down 1, left 1, up 1
2 → 33left 1, down 1, left 1
3 → 41up 1
4 → 511up 2, right 1, down 1, right 1, up 2, right 3, up 1
5 → 66left 4, down 1, left 1
6 → 78up 1, left 1, down 6
7 → 86right 6
8 → 92up 1, left 1

Where the choices are: step 1 at row 5, column 7 (2 ways), step 2 at row 4, column 7 (2 ways), step 3 at row 3, column 7 (2 ways), step 4 at row 3, column 6 (3 ways), step 5 at row 3, column 5 (2 ways) and step 6 at row 4, column 5 (3 ways) and 14 more. Everywhere else only one move keeps the board solvable.

Zip #26 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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