Reading barred and blocked grids
A visual guide to cells, bars, entries, and why numbering can surprise you.
A cell is more than a square
A blocked grid separates entries with black cells. A barred grid keeps every cell available but uses thick edges to mark boundaries. A cell can belong to an Across entry, a Down entry, or both.
Number starts, not answers
Numbers are assigned to cells that begin an entry, usually scanning left to right and top to bottom. A cell can start both an Across and a Down entry and therefore carries one shared number.
Record bars explicitly
When transcribing a photograph, preserve right and bottom bars separately. This stops an entry running through a boundary and gives later conflict checks a reliable source of truth.
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