DKM Suguru Help

Rules

Suguru is a number puzzle that has very simple rules. The cells in the grid are divided into groups or clusters (irregular shapes) and each group contains the numbers 1 to the size of the group. So a group that has 5 cells will have the numbers 1 to 5. The only other rule is that no two adjacent cells - including diagonal ones - can contain the same number.
You start the puzzle with some given (fixed) numbers already filled in and you need to complete the grid (as in Sudoku).

How To Play

• Click the "Menu" button, then select the "New Puzzle" menu item and select a grid size and difficulty level from the dropdown menu.
• Fill in blanks with the Pen (select a cell, then click on the number you want to enter).
• If you're not 100% sure of a number, you can make a note of it in the cell using the Pencil. To do this, click the "Pencil" icon to be placed in "Pencil mode".
• You may enter as many pencil marks as you like in each cell.
• To change back to "Pen" mode, click the "Pen" icon. You can also switch between pen and pencil modes quickly by pressing the "P" key or by using the mouse wheel. (See tips below.)

Input Tips

Keyboard

If you prefer to use the keyboard rather than the mouse, you may:

• Use the arrow keys to navigate around the grid.
• Use the number keys to enter a number in the highlighted cell.
• Press the space or Delete key to remove any numbers from the highlighted cell.
• Press the "P" key to toggle between Pen and Pencil or use the mouse wheel (if not in Active Number mode - see below).
• Press the "U" key to undo last input.
• Press the "C" key to change all cells with one possible (pencil mark) to pen.
• Hold Shift key down to always enter in pencil (not operable with the number pad).

Other Tips

• Click the Undo icon (yellow arrow) to undo last input. You can undo all the way back to the beginning.
• Holding the Shift key when clicking on a number in the input panel will pencil that number in. You may find this more convenient than toggling between the Pen and Pencil icons.
• To remove just one pencilled number in a cell, enter that number again.
• To remove all pencil numbers in a cell, either click the eraser button or simply "pen" the final choice in.
• To remove all pencil marks from all cells, use the menu option under "Edit".
• There is an alternate mode of number input via the mouse called "Active Number Mode" (see below).

Active Number Mode

If you select this mode (via Preferences menu option or icon), then the number you click from the Number Pad becomes the "active number". The mouse cursor will change to this number and clicking on any cell will enter it in that cell. This is the reverse of the "cell select" mode, where you highlight a cell and then select the number to input. Those that prefer to solve by focusing on one specific number at a time will find this mode more convenient.

To change the active number, select a new one from the Number Pad or scroll the mouse wheel down/up to increase/decrease the number. (If not in Active Number Mode, the mouse wheel will toggle between pen and pencil.)

In Active Number mode, all pencil functionality remains the same as does the ability to use the keyboard.

Description Of Menu Options

New Puzzle Menu

Here you select what grid size and the difficulty level. There are three difficulty levels, Easy, Hard, and Tough. The puzzles within the Hard and Tough categories can vary substantially - we have tried to scientifically assign a rating to each of these.

One new puzzle for each size and difficulty is available each day.

In Easy, the only strategy you need to solve all the cells is to find those that only contain one possible after eliminating all other numbers already in the group or adjacent to the cell. There will always be at least one cell solvable like this at each stage.
In Hard and Tough, you will need to look at other combinations of cells to reduce the possibles in a cell to only one number. The difficulty here varies from puzzle to puzzle - some require multiple steps of elimination of possibles to get to a solvable cell. Each of these puzzles contains a rating number which gives an estimate of how difficult the puzzle is. Some puzzles are really brutal!

Note: All puzzles are solvable by pure logic - no guessing required!

Edit Menu

Undo

Undoes the last input. You can undo right back to the beginning of the puzzle (unless you loaded a partially solved one). There is an Undo button which performs the same task, also the "U" key is a shortcut to this option.

Clear Possibles

This will clear all possibles displayed in the grid.

Clear All Input

This will clear all input (pen and pencil marks) displayed in the grid.

Pencil Marks to Pen

This option will convert all cells that have one pencil mark to a pen mark. The "C" key is a shortcut key for this option.

Save

Saves the current state of the puzzle to temporary user data on this computer. This is useful if you wish to come back another time to continue solving it.

Load

Loads the last saved puzzle on this computer.

Print

This will print the puzzle at the state it is currently displayed in the grid.

Preferences

Here you may set various preferences. They are remembered and will reload from what was last set on that computer.

Active Number Mode: This toggles Active Number Mode, described above.

Show Pen/Pencil Cursor: Toggles whether the pen/pencil cursor is displayed over the grid or just the standard finger cursor. (Does not apply if Active Number Mode set as the cursor changes to the active number and will be gray if pencil mode.)

Auto Remove Pencil marks: If checked, when you enter a final (pen) number in a cell, that number will be automatically removed from the possibles in same group and adjacent cells.

Input Bar Position: You can choose whether to display the input numbers on the right or the bottom of the grid.

You can also customize the color of the grid and the numbers.

Solve Menu

Main options to aid in solving puzzles.

Check Input

Checks to see if you have solved the puzzle correctly. Any errors made will be shown in red.

Hint

Suggests which cell may be the next easiest to solve. It will not fill in the value - for that you need to select the "Solve One Cell" option.

Solve One Cell

This is a very powerful option, especially as a learning tool. It will fill in one of the cells and displays the reason why that number is the answer to the cell. In the case of advanced techniques, it will walk through the steps to solve the cell.
Note: Often there will be additional steps shown which are not necessary for the solving of that cell but they offer a useful practice tool.

Possibles Basic

This option will show you the possible numbers for each unsolved cell using the basic logic technique, ie it looks at what numbers are already present in the same group and also eliminates possibles where adjacent cells have the number.
This option is very useful when you are solving an advanced puzzle. It fills in the basic possibles and you can then work from there to eliminate other possibles.

Possibles Advanced

This option uses multiple steps to eliminate possibles based on adjacent cell combinations - see the walkthrough for an example.

Solve

Solve the puzzle and shows the completed solution.