How puzzles are made

Why every table is solvable, and why yours is the same as everyone else's.

The same table for everyone

A day's puzzle comes from that day's date, so it is identical for every player, everywhere. It will still be identical if you come back to it later from the catch-up archive. Nobody is served an easier board, and nobody is served a different one.

Always solvable

Before a table is published we check three things:

• there is an arrangement that leaves everyone happy;
• that arrangement can be reached within the servings you are given;
• at least one guest has a friend at the table, so the board is not hostile from the start.

A board that fails any of those checks is never served. Tomorrow's is checked before today ends.

No hidden difficulty

We do not adjust puzzles based on how you have been doing, how long you have played, or whether you are signed in. A hard day is hard for everybody.

What we will not tell you

Not who likes whom, and not the answer — including through the page source, the network, or anything else the browser can reach. Working it out from the moods you are shown is the entire game, and we would rather lose an argument about difficulty than spoil that.

If a puzzle still looks wrong

Tell us which day and what happened: hello@uncomplicatedinc.com. We can look at the exact board you were served, because it is reproducible from the date.