SOLVING AN AKARI PUZZLE

An AKARI puzzle consists of a square grid in which some of the cells are painted black in the same way as in a crossword puzzle. Think of it as the floor plan of a building in which the black cells represent pillars or wall segments. The remainder of the cells represent floor area which must be illuminated by lamps placed in certain of the cells. A lamp illuminates all cells in its row and column up to the edge of the puzzle, or up to an intervening black cell. No lamp is allowed to illuminate any other lamp, and the numbers in some of the black cells indicate the number of lamps which are adjacent to that cell both horizontally and vertically. Each puzzle has a unique solution which does not require any guesswork to achieve. Puzzles can be built either manually or automatically in sizes up to 16x16.

Solving an AKARI puzzle is a mouse only operation. A single click in any DARK cell will convert that cell to a NOLAMP cell which has a default color of yellow. A second click will convert it to a LAMP cell, and all cells in its row and column will be converted to the LIT condition which has a default color of white. One more click will convert it back to a DARK cell, and appropriate LIT cells will also be converted back to the DARK condition.

Menu Functions
  • File Menu
    • Load a Puzzle
      Use this option to choose the puzzle you want to solve from the pool of AKARI puzzles currently available on your computer.

    • Quit Solving
      Returns you to either the AKARI Build screen or the Magnum Opus opening screen.

  • View Menu
    • Display Options
      This leads you to a dialog box in which you can change the colors of various elements within the puzzle, and control the fonts which will be used for the puzzle's text components. You can also decide if printing of the puzzle will be done in black and white or in color.

  • Tasks Menu
    • Reveal Errors
      If you think you may have made errors, this option will show you where they are by highlighting them for a period of 1.5 seconds.

    • Reveal Solution
      The entire solution can be seen by selecting this option.

    • Request a Hint
      This option will highlight one or more puzzle cells in blue to indicate the location within the puzzle where further progress can be made. In addition an automatic Help screen will appear giving you a detailed description of the strategy you will need to apply.

    • Begin Again
      You can restart the entire solution process at any time by selecting this option.

  • Help Menu
    • Akari Help
      Displays the Help screen which you are now reading.