This is a quick start guide on how to use a logic puzzle grid to complete logic puzzles using our free online interactive logic problems.
If you would like to follow a more detailed follow through of an easy logic puzzle example and how to solve a logic puzzle, check out our article Solving Logic Puzzles For Beginners.
Getting Started
The first step is to read the scenario, or the story, introducing the puzzle. Then, it is your preference how you approach the clues – you might choose to work through them in order, or to quickly scan them for the easiest clues that you can knock out straight away.
Each value from each category of facts has one unique match to each of the other categories. The best way to demonstrate this is with an example of a completed grid:
Reading through the clues, you will need to find the position where the relevant information intersects in the grid, and cross out (X) the square for information you know to be false, or tick it for information you know to be true.
Using our interactive puzzle grids, you do this by clicking once for X, and a second click to tick the box.
When you tick a box, the other options in that row and column only within the group of intersecting facts you are working in will be crossed out automatically, as they can not be true. For example, once you have determined that Sally has the Chocolate cake, no other Flavors can relate to Sally, and no other Names can relate to the flavor Chocolate, so these options are automatically crossed out for you.
Correcting Mistakes
Clicking a ticked box one more time will clear it and the X’s around it that were added automatically. It will not clear any of those X’s if they were not added automatically – i.e. if you had previously crossed out a square in that row or column, it will remain as an X.
If you have crossed out (X) a box by mistake, you will need to click it twice to clear it. The first click will tick the box, the second click will clear.
Working With Clues
Some clues will be simple: giving you one or more facts that can be immediately marked in the grid, and nothing more. If you are satisfied that there is no further information you can gain from a clue, click it once to mark it as solved. It will be moved to a “Solved Clues” list beneath the Clues section.
Other clues will be more complex. They may give you some initial information that can be marked in the grid, but you will need to return to them later when you have more information.
In difficult puzzles, you may need to take notes. For example if you have a number of inconclusive facts, like “Mary won $100 less than Tom” and “Tom won less than Simon” and “Joseph won less than the person with the purple hat but more than the person with the orange hat”, taking notes is the easiest way to test out which arrangement of facts works, or at least to eliminate some further possibilities.
Working In The Grid
Logic puzzles require you to cross reference information in different parts of the grid in order to fill out more information in other parts, leading you to eliminate further possibilities. You can then revisit your more complex clues, and you may find that they are now more helpful.
While advanced puzzle solving techniques are beyond the scope of this article, remember to check for information in a column that has been ticked, and ensure that same information has been marked in the corresponding row. Also check that information in a row that has a tick has been applied in the relevant column below.
As a quick example, in the below puzzle, because Emma has the Carrot flavor ticked, we can cross out Farewell Party for Emma’s row, because if we look down the Carrot column we can see that Farewell Party is crossed out.
If you would like to follow a more detailed follow through of an easy logic puzzle example and how to solve a logic puzzle, check out our article Solving Logic Puzzles For Beginners.
Logic puzzles additionally come with a table to enter your answers in a simplified easy to read form. However if you are using an app or a website like ours, this information will be filled in for you automatically.
Ready to have a go at solving a logic grid puzzle? Try our ‘Very Easy’ rated puzzle: Daycare Dropoffs.