Some advice for solving puzzles.
There are a few web pages out there that offer advice on Loopy/fences/SlitherLink/loop puzzles, but they all boil down to the same thing. Start filling in the obvious areas and ruling out segments through which the loop can't travel.
Use the right-click to turn on and off areas where the loop cannot pass as a guide to puzzle solving. Here's some examples:
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Obviously the loop cannot go past any locations marked with 0, right-click to remove these (you can always right-click them back again!). |
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If the 0 is at an edge or corner then even more segments can be eliminated as potential paths for the loop. The loop is continuous so any loose ends can always be discounted. |
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a 1 in the corner means the loop cannot pass on the outside, so in this case the 2 segments can be eliminated. |
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If there are two 3's beside each other then the loop must pass through the segments shown |
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A 3 next to a 0 means that the loop must pass in this way - i.e. the open side of the loop must face the 0 |
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The example of the two 3's above isn't all we can do. We can also rule out the segement above and below the centre line... |
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Finally, groups of numbers can work together to give obvious segments to rule in or out. In this example the 0 near the top left corner, as above, rules out many segments but also means that the loop can only pass below the 1 (otherwise it would have to go past another side of the 1). |