Ten Nurimisaki grids, no hints: my score is 6-4
I promised myself ten Nurimisaki grids in a row with zero hints. I expected 10-0. It came out 6-4. Here is where it fell apart.
The challenge rules are plain. "New" is allowed: a fresh grid means a fresh attempt. "Reset" is allowed: mess up, clear, rebuild. "Hint" is banned: not one gifted cell. Ten grids, score by clearances.
White dead ends hold, black fill betrays
The first four grids fell to a single trick. A number counts its white neighbours up, down, left and right. An edge white cell with one exit must carry a number: a dead end has nowhere to hide. I walked the borders, placed those numbers, and stretched white capes inward. White 2x2 squares are banned, which cut options further.
Grid five caught me. I got so fond of my white capes that I poured black across the middle. The numbers added up, yet the check refused it. I had stranded a numberless white cell with a single white neighbour, and it needs at least two. Numberless white cells keep two or more white neighbours: a rule the eye drops because it is about a missing number.
The 6-4 score and what comes next
Then it got worse: I grew afraid of black and kept too much white. Two grids in a row stalled on white 2x2 squares. I reset both and repoured them.
Challenge tally: six grids cleared clean, four lost by my own hand. I take revenge on the next ten.