Patches · No. 142 · Thursday edition
LinkedIn Patches #142 Answer (Aug 6, 2026)
Hint: Place the large numbered patches first — they have the fewest ways to fit.
Show Patches #142 answer as text
- Patch 1: R1C1–R2C4 (8 cells)
- Patch 2: R1C5–R2C7 (6 cells)
- Patch 3: R3C1–R3C5 (5 cells)
- Patch 4: R3C6–R3C7 (2 cells)
- Patch 5: R4C1–R4C2 (2 cells)
- Patch 6: R4C6–R7C7 (8 cells)
- Patch 7: R5C1–R7C2 (6 cells)
- Patch 8: R4C3–R5C5 (6 cells)
- Patch 9: R6C3–R7C3 (2 cells)
- Patch 10: R6C4–R7C5 (4 cells)
About Patches #142
- Patches #142 splits a 7×7 grid into 10 patches.
- Clue shapes: 1 wide, 2 tall, 7 free-form.
- 3 clues show no size, so those patches can be any area.
- It has 10 patches, more than the average of 8.3 across the previous 7 puzzles.
- Each patch is one rectangle holding exactly one clue, with the clue's shape and, where a number is shown, exactly that many squares.
- Only one tall rectangle fits inside the grid around the tall clue with no number at R6C3 without taking in another clue, so its patch must be the 2×1 block from R6C3 to R7C3.
- Squares R1C1 and R1C3 can only be reached by the free-form 8 clue at R1C4, so they belong to that patch, and the only rectangle for that clue that includes them is the 2×4 block from R1C1 to R2C4.
- With the patch for the free-form 8 clue at R1C4 fixed, the free-form 6 clue at R2C5 has only one rectangle left, the 2×3 block from R1C5 to R2C7.