🔼 More or Less
🧩 Puzzle · 18 playsMore or Less
A number grid where the little < and > signs rule everything.
About More or Less
Fill every row and column with the numbers 1 to N, each exactly once — that part you already know. The twist is the small < and > signs sitting between some pairs of cells, and they have to hold true everywhere. They do more work than they look: a cell pointed at by a > can never hold the highest number, and a chain of them can pin down a whole line on its own. Grids run from a gentle 4×4 upward.
How to Play
Tap a cell, then pick a number. Every row and column uses each number once, with no repeats. The < and > signs between cells must stay true. Satisfy them all to win.
💡 Tips & Strategy
Start at the extremes. The 1 has to go somewhere no > points away from it, and the biggest number has to go somewhere no < points away from it. Sweep the grid for cells with a > on one side and a < on the other — those are middling values and can be neither 1 nor N.
Chains multiply that. If three cells run a > b > c, then a is at least 3, c is at most N-2, and b is squeezed in between. A chain of four in a 5×5 grid is almost fully determined before you place a single number.
Once a few numbers land, switch to plain Latin-square logic: strike each placed digit from the rest of its row and column, then hunt for a digit that now has only one legal cell left in a line. Alternate between the inequality signs and the elimination pass — each one feeds the other.
When a sign sits between two cells that are down to two candidates each, it resolves instantly: the smaller candidate goes on the < side. Those little two-cell resolutions are usually what breaks a stalled grid open.