The board in Nonogram is a 20 by 20 grid, and the picture under the clues is a soccer trophy: a wide bowl, two hollow handles, a tapering body, a stem and a stepped base. This page is the solve itself, in the order the logic actually opens the grid. Every count below came from running a line solver over the real clue set.
Two figures frame everything below. The finished grid holds 210 painted cells out of 400, which is 52.50 percent of the board, and the row clues and the column clues each add up to 210. That agreement is not a coincidence you have to verify: the grid was drawn first and the clues were read off it, so both totals describe the same 210 cells.
The shape you are uncovering
The clue list is unusually legible here. Rows 2, 3, 18 and 19 all carry a clue of 16: the wide rim at the top and the wide plinth at the bottom. Rows 5 and 6 carry 3 12 3, the widest point, where the handles are attached but already separated by a gap. Rows 12, 13 and 14 carry a bare 4, which is the stem. Rows 15, 16 and 17 carry 6, 8 and 12, the base widening step by step. Sideways, columns 9 to 12 each carry a single 18, the central spine running from the rim down through the stem into the base, while columns 1 and 20 carry a lone 2 and columns 2 and 19 a lone 4, the tips of the hollow handles.
The lines that open the board
Measured on a blank grid, with each line judged alone, only 23 of the 40 lines settle anything. Here are the biggest returns on that cold pass, with the arrangements each clue still allows:
| Line | Clue | Cells settled | Painted | Empty | Arrangements |
| Row 1 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 20 | 1 |
| Row 5 | 3 12 3 | 20 | 18 | 2 | 1 |
| Row 6 | 3 12 3 | 20 | 18 | 2 | 1 |
| Row 20 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 20 | 1 |
| Columns 9 to 12 | 18 | 16 each | 16 | 0 | 3 |
| Rows 2, 3, 18, 19 | 16 | 12 each | 12 | 0 | 5 |
| Row 4 | 2 12 2 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| Rows 7 and 8 | 2 10 2 | 6 each | 6 | 0 | 35 |
| Row 17 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 9 |
Four lines tie at the top with 20 cells each, but they are not equally useful. Rows 1 and 20 carry a clue of 0, so they hand you twenty empty cells and no paint. Rows 5 and 6 are the real opener. Their clue needs 18 cells plus two mandatory gaps, which is exactly 20, so one arrangement fits and each row is fully determined on sight: 18 painted cells and the gaps at columns 4 and 17. That is 40 of the 400 cells before any cross-referencing at all.
Worked Example: the first ten lines
Solved greedily, always attacking whichever line pays most, the first ten lines settle 176 of the 400 cells, or 44.00 percent of the board:
| Step | Line | Clue | New cells | Painted | Empty | Running total |
| 1 | Row 1 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 20 | 20 |
| 2 | Row 5 | 3 12 3 | 20 | 18 | 2 | 40 |
| 3 | Row 6 | 3 12 3 | 20 | 18 | 2 | 60 |
| 4 | Row 20 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 20 | 80 |
| 5 | Column 1 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 16 | 96 |
| 6 | Column 9 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 112 |
| 7 | Column 10 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 128 |
| 8 | Column 11 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 144 |
| 9 | Column 12 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 160 |
| 10 | Column 20 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 16 | 176 |
Step 5 is the method in miniature. Column 1 carries a clue of 2, which on a blank board allows 19 positions and settles nothing, so a cold scan skips it. But after steps 1 to 4 the column knows four cells: rows 1 and 20 empty, rows 5 and 6 painted. A single block of two already covering rows 5 and 6 has nowhere else to be, so one arrangement survives and the other 16 cells are empty. A clue worth nothing alone became worth 16 cells the moment two rows spoke to it. Column 20 repeats it at step 10, by symmetry.
Steps 6 to 9 are the mirror image. An 18 in a column of 20 pins the middle 16 cells on its own, but rows 1 and 20 are already known empty, so the block has one home: rows 2 through 19. Each column hands over 16 new cells, and the central spine appears from rim to base.
The middle game: stem, handles and base
From 176 cells the board gets easier, not harder, because every line you close narrows its twenty neighbours. Row 4 comes next with 14 new cells, and then something that surprises most players: rows 12, 13 and 14, each a bare clue of 4, deliver 14 cells apiece. On a blank grid a 4 in a 20-cell row settles nothing, since 17 positions remain open. But the four central columns are already painted at those rows, and a block of four covering columns 9 to 12 cannot extend anywhere, so the other 14 cells in each row must be empty. The stem is drawn by proving where paint cannot go.
The base falls the same way: row 15 with clue 6 gives 11 cells, row 16 with clue 8 gives 9, and columns 8 and 13, both carrying 8 5, give 11 each as their two blocks separate. The handles resolve last, because their columns are the most ambiguous here. Columns 4 and 17 carry 2 2 2, which on an empty board allows 455 arrangements, more than any other line. They are not solved by staring at them but by arriving at them late.
Closing the last cells
Working greedily line by line, the whole grid closes in 41 steps: 21 rows, 20 columns. Half of the board is settled by step 12. The final stretch is a run of one-cell and two-cell finishes, and several lines get revisited: rows 2, 15 and 19 each pay out twice, once early on the raw clue and once at the end when a neighbouring column supplies the missing detail. Revisiting is not backtracking. Nothing you painted is ever taken back, because every cell was fixed by a deduction no later information can contradict.
How many passes it actually takes
A player who sweeps methodically rather than hunting the best line sees the effort more clearly. Sweeping rows, then columns, then repeating, the board closes like this:
| Pass | Rows phase | Columns phase | Pass total | Board settled |
| 1 | 156 | 140 | 296 | 296 of 400 (74.00%) |
| 2 | 70 | 22 | 92 | 388 of 400 (97.00%) |
| 3 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 400 of 400 (100.00%) |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 400 of 400 (100.00%) |
Three passes finish the grid. The fourth proves you are done: it reads every line and finds nothing left to fix.
Reading the finish
The game watches the painted cells and nothing else. When the painted set is exactly the 210 cells of the answer, the solved message appears. The X marks are never checked, so a grid solved without a single X counts the same as one covered in them. Painting every cell does not work either: 400 painted cells is not 210, and the check compares the set, not the effort. Erase a painted cell after finishing and the message steps back until you restore it.
Two handling details matter while you work. Dragging repeats whatever your first click did: if the cell you pressed became painted, the drag paints; if that click erased it, the whole drag erases. Start every drag on a cell whose outcome you want. And the two tools exclude each other, so painting a cell clears its X and marking a cell clears its paint.
Frequently asked questions
Which line should I click first?
Row 5 or row 6. Their clue of 3 12 3 needs 18 cells plus two forced gaps, exactly filling the row, so one arrangement fits and the whole row is determined: 20 cells at once, 18 of them painted.
Do I have to mark the empty cells with X?
Not for the game to accept the solve, since only painted cells are compared against the answer. For the solving itself they are the more valuable half: much of what each sweep contributes is knowledge of where paint cannot go.
Why does a clue of 4 settle nothing at first and 14 cells later?
A block of 4 in a 20-cell row has 17 possible positions and no cell belongs to all of them. Once columns 9 to 12 are painted at that row, only the position covering them survives, so the other 14 cells are proved empty. The clue did not change; the evidence around it did.
How far in is the picture recognisable?
By step 10, with 176 cells settled, the rim, the spine and the outer edges of both handles are on the board. The trophy reads as a trophy well before the last quarter is filled.
Is there any point where I have to guess?
No. Each of the 41 steps was chosen because a single line, read on its own, forced at least one cell. The board never presents a position where no line yields anything.
What happens if I paint a cell in the wrong place?
Nothing is recorded against you: the solved message simply does not appear while a painted cell sits outside the answer. Erase the stray cell and carry on. One extra painted cell holds the finish back, which makes it easy to notice once the rest of the grid is done.
Related guides
- How to Play Nonogram for the rules and the core techniques in general form.
- The Nonogram line solving method for the deduction that produced every number on this page.
- Nonogram no-guess strategy for why this board never asks you to gamble.
- How to Solve Sokoban Puzzles and How to Play Minesweeper for the same order-of-operations approach on other grids.
- Puzzle games beginners guide if you are choosing where to start.