Zip #28 Solution (October 23, 2026): Route, Decision Points and Answer

Zip #28 was the 7×7 hard board of Friday, October 23, 2026: 11 numbered dots, 4 walls, and one path that visits all 49 cells in order. Our solver, a line-for-line port of the app's, needed 3,643 search nodes to prove the path unique, which puts the board at 5 of 5 on the difficulty scale. Along the answer, 54% of the moves had only one legal continuation; the other 22 steps offered a real choice, and those are where you have to look ahead. The path turns at 43% of its cells, and its longest straight run is 7 cells. The longest leg, between two consecutive dots, is 10 cells.

Zip #28 in numbers

Board	7×7, Hard
Numbered dots	11
Walls	4
Cells on the path	49
Solver search nodes	3,643 (5/5)
Moves with a single legal continuation	54%
Decision points	22
Turns along the path	43%

Zip #28 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.

Leg	Cells	Directions
1 → 2	1	left 1
2 → 3	10	left 1, up 1, right 3, down 2, left 3
3 → 4	7	down 1, right 3, down 3
4 → 5	8	left 6, up 1, right 1
5 → 6	3	right 3
6 → 7	3	right 1, up 1, left 1
7 → 8	3	left 3
8 → 9	10	left 1, up 1, right 2, up 3, left 2, down 1
9 → 10	1	right 1
10 → 11	2	down 1, left 1

Where the choices are: step 1 at row 2, column 6 (3 ways), step 3 at row 2, column 4 (3 ways), step 4 at row 1, column 4 (2 ways), step 9 at row 3, column 7 (2 ways), step 10 at row 3, column 6 (2 ways) and step 11 at row 3, column 5 (2 ways) and 16 more. Everywhere else only one move keeps the board solvable.

Zip #28 solution

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

4544434567910423218114841311109383940131415163783534732172652829631182524232221204

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Zip #28 (October 23, 2026): solution and route

Zip #28 in numbers

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