Play free puzzles         Create free account         Instructions         Discussion forum         Log in    

Get
Brained Up, daily online brain training site
BrainedUp.com
daily online brain training
Cutting-edge brain training created by
Dr Gareth Moore
Think faster, better,
and improve your mental capabilities

Dr Gareth Moore author website
Dr Gareth Moore.com
View my new and upcoming books, plus selected previous titles

View Dr Gareth Moore's YouTube channel
@DrGareth on YouTube
Join me as I solve escape room boxes and puzzles

View Dr Gareth Moore's Twitter feed
@DrGarethMoore on Twitter
View my daily word and number puzzles

Sudoku
 
Hanjie
 
Kakuro
 
Futoshiki
 
Calcudoku
 
Hitori
 
Killer Sudoku
 
Nurikabe
 
Slitherlink
 
Skyscraper

Sudoku-X
 
Jigsaw Sudoku
 
Consecutive Sudoku
 
Kropki Sudoku
 
Sudoku XV
 
Oddpair Sudoku
 
Toroidal Sudoku
 
Killer Sudoku-X
 
Killer Sudoku
Pro

 
Jigsaw Killer
Sudoku

Looking for puzzles for your book, magazine or newspaper?
 

 

Kakuro puzzles and instructions


Play free Kakuro puzzles:
Kakuro   5th Mar
  Kakuro 2579 
Kakuro   28th Feb
  Kakuro 2576 
Kakuro   21st Feb
  Kakuro 2574 
Kakuro   18th Feb
  Kakuro 2573 
Kakuro puzzles, also known as Cross Sums, are a little like a numerical crossword. The aim is to fill every square with a digit in the range 1 to 9 while fulfilling all of the given clues - and without repeating a digit in the solution to any single clue.

How to solve Kakuro puzzles
A standard Kakuro puzzle consists of a grid of squares, some of which are unshaded. When the puzzle is finished all of the unshaded squares must have a digit in, and each continuous horizontal or vertical run of empty squares adds up to the value given immediately to the left of it or the top of it respectively.

Kakuro has one other rule: the same digit cannot be repeated within any run. You can, however, repeat a number elsewhere in the same row or column of the puzzle so long as there is at least one non-solution square between them - or in other words, so long as it is in the solution to a different clue.

Kakuro exampleLook at the solved puzzle on the left. The solution to the '4' clue at the top-left is 3 and 1, which is fine since of course 3+1=4. It could not have been 2+2 because that would have repeated a digit in its solution, so we knew even from the empty puzzle start state that the solution to these two squares had to be 3 & 1 or 1 & 3.

The secret to solving Kakuro is usually to look for the overlaps where two highly-constrained clues cross, such as where the '4' and '3' clues overlap in this puzzle. One must be 1 & 3, while the other must 1 & 2 - so the overlapping square they both share must contain the 1 since it is the only digit in common.

Every Kakuro puzzle only ever has one possible solution, and it can always be reached via reasonable logical deduction. In other words, guessing is never required.

Kakuro puzzles on puzzlemix appear at a wide range of sizes and difficulties, from 9x9 right up to 16x16, and they are not necessarily square in shape either.

Other types of puzzle
It's not just Kakuro you can solve online at puzzlemix. You can also solve logic puzzles that include these:
CalcudokuConsecutive SudokuFutoshikiHanjie
HitoriJigsaw SudokuKiller Jigsaw SudokuKiller Sudoku
Killer Sudoku ProKiller Sudoku-XKropki SudokuNurikabe
Odd Pair SudokuSkyscraperSlitherlinkSudoku
Sudoku XVSudoku-XToroidal Sudoku

Keywords
Are you searching for help with Kakuro puzzles? Stuck on solving Cross Sums? Don't know the instructions for Kakuro? Need Cross Sums instructions? Want solving hints and tips for Kakuro? Then puzzlemix is the place for you to play Kakuro puzzles online.

External links

Looking for printed Kakuro puzzles? Visit Sudoku Xtra for puzzle magazines and books.

Or are you looking for a Kakuro puzzle supplier? If so then check out Any Puzzle Media, my puzzle production company.


©Brained Up Ltd/Gareth Moore 2005-2024 - email gareth@puzzlemix.com - publishers please visit Any Puzzle Media - our privacy policy - registered in England & Wales no. 8642393