Articles
Longer pieces about the puzzle rather than instructions for solving it — where nonograms came from, what the symbols in the catalog mean, and what changes when you take one off the screen. For step-by-step technique, the guides are the better starting point.
How to solve a 20×20 nonogram
The technique that opens a 10×10 does almost nothing on a 20×20. That is not a matter of degree — the arithmetic genuinely stops paying out, and what replaces it is a different way of working.
Nonograms vs sudoku: what actually differs
The two get shelved together and described the same way — logic puzzles, no luck involved, one correct answer. That is all true and it hides almost everything that makes them different to solve.
Coloured nonograms, and the one rule that changes
If you have met nonograms in an app you have probably seen a colour version. They look like the same puzzle with a palette added. One rule is different, and it is the rule most standard technique depends on.
The twelve zodiac symbols, and what each one draws
The zodiac glyphs are among the oldest symbols still in everyday use, and each is a compressed picture of something specific. They also happen to be a perfect controlled experiment in what makes a nonogram hard.
Rectangular nonograms: why 15×10 is not 15×15
Most nonogram advice quietly assumes a square grid. On a rectangle one axis pays out far more than the other, and knowing which before you place a single mark is worth more than any individual technique.
Nonograms for kids: where to start
A nonogram is one of the few logic puzzles a child can finish in a couple of minutes and still have genuinely reasoned their way through. The trick is starting at the right size, and the right size is smaller than most people assume.
Alchemical symbols and what they mean
Antimony, brimstone, the four elements, the seven planetary metals. These marks were a working notation for three centuries before they became decoration — and they translate onto a puzzle grid better than almost anything else.
Nonogram books and magazines: a guide to the printed side
Nonograms started on paper and never left it. If you have been solving on a screen and want a book, or you have a book and want to know why it feels different, this is the shape of what is out there.
Printable nonograms: how to get any puzzle onto paper
Every nonogram on this site can become a printed sheet, and so can any grid you make up yourself. The solver has a PDF export built into it, and it does not require you to solve anything first — valid clues are enough.