The daily puzzle, day by day
Every day there is one Quiltoku puzzle, the same for everyone in the world. It is not random: each weekday has its own character, and the week climbs from a gentle start on Monday to a real challenge on the weekend. This guide shows what to expect.
One puzzle, the same for everyone
The daily is generated from the date, so there is no server deciding what to send you. Your phone, your friend's tablet and a stranger's laptop all make exactly the same board on the same day. That is why you can compare how you did, and why a puzzle you missed is always waiting for you in the calendar.
The week
Each weekday draws from its own small pool of boards, and the day rotates through its pool week after week, so it is rarely the same twice in a row. The pools are:
- Monday: a 4×4 board, Easy. A quiet start to the week, about as gentle as it gets.
- Tuesday: a 4×4 Double, Easy. Still small, but now there are two puzzles in one.
- Wednesday: a 6×6 Easy Double (sometimes with the boxes turned), a 4×4 Latin board at Medium, or a 4×4 Double at Hard.
- Thursday: a 9×9, Easy. The first of the big boards, with a generous number of clues.
- Friday: a 6×6 Double at Medium, with the boxes sometimes turned.
- Saturday: a 9×9 at Medium, a 6×6 Double at Hard, or a 9×9 with Scramble.
- Sunday: a 9×9 Double at Medium, the same with Scramble, or a 7×7 Latin board at Medium.
The week is built like a hill. You start it with a short puzzle you can do over coffee, and finish it with something that might take most of a lazy morning. Each of the names above has a guide: Latin, Double, Scramble and turned boxes.
Difficulty names
Easy, Medium and Hard describe how many clues a board starts with and how much reasoning it takes to finish it. Easy boards can be solved with the first two techniques in the solving guide. Medium boards ask you to combine lines. Hard boards ask you to think about where each mark can go, and sometimes to hold two possibilities in your head for a moment.
No hearts, no clock
The daily puzzle has no time limit that can end it and no hearts to lose. You can take as long as you like, and you can put it down and come back. The game keeps your place. A time is recorded when you finish, for your own interest.
Solving late still counts
If you miss a day, the puzzle is still there. Open the calendar, tap the day, and play it. A late solve still earns a tick, shown as an outline instead of a filled mark, and it counts toward your calendar stars. What it cannot do is rescue a streak, because a streak counts days solved on the day itself. The streaks guide explains the difference.
Getting help
If a daily is beating you, there are a few free reveals, and you can earn extra ones by sharing your result or by keeping a streak. The helpers guide lists everything available and what it costs.
Sharing
When you finish, you can share your result with a friend. The picture shows your own solved board, turned and with its marks swapped, so it never gives away the answer to someone who has not played yet. The accompanying text gives the day and how you did, without any of the board.