Lollipops Logic Puzzle

Lollipops is a pairing puzzle. Every circle takes one orthogonally adjacent stick, empty cells stay see-through, and matching symbols never sit next to each other in a row or column once the empties are skipped. You can play squares from 5×5 to 10×10, plus a 6×8 board, in easy, medium, and hard. Every puzzle here has exactly one solution.

Rules

The board is a grid of cells. A lollipop is one circle and one orthogonally adjacent stick. A horizontal stick sits only to the left or right of its circle. A vertical stick sits only above or below. Empty cells are allowed.

Different lollipops never share an edge. Corners may touch.

In each row and each column, skip the empty cells. The symbols that remain must alternate. Two circles, or two sticks of the same kind, must not sit next to each other after those empties are skipped.

Some circles and sticks are given. They stay fixed. Empty cells are never given.

An X is a note that the cell is empty. It is see-through for the sight rule. An unknown cell is not an X.

While you play, an unfinished pair stays quiet. A clash is already visible: two lollipops that share an edge, a pair whose stick faces the wrong way, a symbol with two partners, a placed symbol with no partner cell left, or two identical symbols that see each other through confirmed empty cells.

The puzzle is solved when the marks match the unique solution and no clash remains.

Controls

Choose Candy, Stick, Mark empty, or Erase under the board. The tool stays until you pick another. A tap does not cycle through marks.

In Candy, tap or drag cells to place a circle. Cells that already hold a circle stay as they are. Givens do not change.

In Stick, drag from a circle onto an orthogonal neighbour to place the matching stick on that neighbour. Drag from a non-circle cell in a direction to place a stick on the start cell that faces that way. A plain tap on a non-circle cell does nothing. The Stick prompt is pair the circle.

In Mark empty, tap or drag cells to mark them with an X. In Erase, drag across a player mark to clear it. One drag is one undo.

The arrow keys move a cell cursor. The first arrow selects the top-left cell. C places a circle. X marks the cell empty. Shift and an arrow, or S and an arrow, places a stick toward that neighbour using the same Stick rule. Backspace or Delete clears the cell. The keys 1, 2, 3, and 4 select Candy, Stick, Mark empty, and Erase.

Press Hint for one step the circles and sticks already force, with a sentence saying why. The hint highlights the cells it uses, then places the mark. Press Check when you want the board checked against the rules. Undo and Redo step through your moves, and Reset clears every player mark. When the pairs match, they turn teal.

A coral circle, stick, or X is a clash that is already visible. The size and difficulty menus list the 21 bands that ship. The daily puzzle is 7×7 easy.

Techniques

Easy:

• side-empty: The sides of this stick are empty.
• adj-trim: This side of the circle cannot hold that symbol.
• no-role: This cell cannot be a circle or a stick, so it is empty.
• touch-empty: These two cells are a pair, so the cells that touch them are empty.
• only-partner: This circle has only one cell left that can complete it, or this stick has only one cell left for its circle.
• seen-block: This cell looks through empty cells at the same symbol. It cannot be that symbol.
• pocket-empty: Every way to pair this cell sees a matching symbol, so this cell is empty, or every other mark would see a matching symbol, so this cell keeps the mark that still fits.

Medium:

• sight-gap: Two identical symbols see each other. Only one cell between them can break the line, so that cell is a different symbol.

Hard:

• partner-split: This symbol has two possible partners. Erase a mark only when both cases rule it out.
• cell-split: This cell has two possible marks. Erase a mark only when both cases rule it out.
• chain-split: One case was not enough. Erase a mark only when every remaining case rules it out.

Beginner tips

Start with a stick that already has only one open side. That cell is the circle. A circle with only one open neighbour takes the matching stick there.

When two symbols of the same kind already see each other through empty cells, the gap between them cannot stay a matching symbol. Mark the cells that would clash.

If you are new to Lollipops, start with a 5×5 easy grid, or the daily 7×7 easy grid, and move up once pairing feels natural. Play runs from Easy → Hard on 5×5 through 10×10, and on 6×8.