SOLVING A SLITHERLINK PUZZLE

Magnum Opus SLITHERLINK puzzles are normally built on a rectangular grid (although other shapes are possible). The grid is defined by an array of dots which represent the corners of the cells within the grid. Some of the cells in this grid contain a single digit number between 0 and 3 inclusive. The remaining cells are blank.

To solve such a puzzle, the solver must join selected dots with horizontal and vertical lines so that a single loop is formed which does not cross over itself. If a cell contains a number, then that number of sides of the cell must be included within the loop.

The puzzles have unique solutions, and no guessing is required to complete the solution.

Interactive SLITHERLINK puzzles normally have faint gray guide-lines joining the dots. These guide-lines can be converted to full lines by pointing to an area near the middle of the line and clicking the mouse. A second click will remove the line altogether, and a third click will restore the faint gray line.

Use logical reasoning to determine which of the guide-lines should be converted to full lines, and which ones should be removed. Each time you add or remove a line, it will open up new possibilities for you to exploit.

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

    • Quit Solving
      Returns you to either the SLITHERLINK 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.

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

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