Turns mode: solving with the numbers
Turns is our own rule. Each button carries a number: that’s exactly how many times its thread must turn on the way to its partner. The rest stays the same — threads don’t cross, and the whole cloth must be covered.
A turn is any change of direction: right then down is one turn, right–down–left is two. The thread counts its own turns only; other threads don’t matter. If the count is wrong, the status line tells you that a thread has the wrong number of turns, even when everything is connected.
Start with 0 and 1
Zero is the strongest clue in the mode. A thread with no turns is a straight line, so its two buttons always sit in one row or one column, and every cell between them belongs to that thread. Draw it first — it costs nothing and cuts the board.
One means an L-shape. Two buttons that aren’t in one line have exactly two possible corners: along the row first and then down the column, or the other way round. Check both corners. If one of them is already taken, sits behind another thread or would leave a cell nobody can reach, the other corner is the answer.
Big numbers mean long threads
A thread with 4, 5 or more turns rarely takes the short way. It snakes, and usually it’s the thread that fills the leftover parts of the cloth. Don’t start with it. Lay the small numbers first, then look at what is left: often the remaining cells form a single winding corridor, and the big-number thread has to run through it.
- Two buttons with 0 in the same row: nothing else crosses that row between them.
- A corner button with 1: its thread leaves along one of the two edges and turns once, in line with its partner.
- Count turns as you draw. When a thread already has its full count, it must go straight to the end.
Combine with the usual tricks
Everything from classic levels still works: start from corners and edges (/guides/corners-and-edges/ explains why), avoid pockets of empty cells, and remember every puzzle has exactly one solution. The numbers simply give you more forced moves. In Daily, the third puzzle is always a Turns puzzle; for practice, open Turns mode — boards there get bigger as you go.
Stuck on a Turns level? Find the thread whose number is the smallest compared to the distance between its buttons. It has the fewest options.