How to play LinkedIn Patches

LinkedIn Patches gives you a grid in which some cells carry a clue — a number, a shape badge, or both — and asks you to cut the whole grid into rectangles, one around each clue. The number is that rectangle's area, and the badge says whether it must be square, taller than it is wide, wider than it is tall, or any shape at all.

So the thinking is spatial rather than arithmetic: you are fitting blocks together until no cell is left over and none is claimed twice. Patches is a close cousin of the classic Shikaku, with the shape badges as LinkedIn's own addition — and those badges are what let you pin a rectangle down without guessing.

The rules

1. Divide the whole grid into rectangles — no gaps, no overlaps.
2. Each rectangle contains exactly one clue.
3. A number tells you how many cells that rectangle covers.
4. The badge sets its shape: square (as tall as it is wide), tall (taller than wide), wide (wider than tall) or any.

How a game goes, step by step

1. Note both halves of every clue before you draw a line. A 4 with a square badge can only be two by two; a 4 with a wide badge can only be one row of four.
2. Add the clue numbers up and compare the total with the number of cells in the grid. They should match exactly, which also confirms you have read every clue.
3. Place the prime numbers first. A prime area has no factor pair besides one and itself, so its rectangle is a single straight strip and the badge tells you which way it lies.
4. Work in from the corners and edges next. A clue in a corner can only grow in two directions, so there is far less to try than for one in the middle of the board.
5. For any cell still unclaimed, ask which clues could reach it with the area they have left. When only one can, that cell belongs to it, and everybody else's options shrink.
6. Keep a running total. Subtract the rectangles you have placed from the grid, and the clues still open should account for exactly the cells still bare.

Three tips for your first games

• Read the badge as carefully as the number. Drawing a rectangle with the right area and the wrong proportions is the easiest way to lose time on this board.
• Leave the clues that show no number until last. They only have to match their badge, so let the neighboring rectangles box them in first.
• If your totals stop adding up, start the recheck with the prime strips and the corner rectangles. A strip drawn one cell too far is easy to miss and throws off everything around it.

Ready for more? Read the Patches strategy guide