Str8ts (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

About Str8ts (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

Str8ts is a number puzzle related to sudoku. The grid has white and black cells. Each row and each column may hold a digit only once, and the black cells split the white cells into short runs, called compartments. Every compartment must contain a straight: a set of consecutive numbers in any order, such as 4, 6, 5 or 2, 3, 1. Some black cells carry a digit of their own, which then cannot appear elsewhere in that row or column.

The Süddeutsche Zeitung puts out a new Str8ts each day on its puzzle site, where it is numbered (puzzle 819 appeared on 2 October 2026) and titled with its date. The SZ calls it building number streets, crosswise and up and down.

The puzzle sits behind the paper's paywall, so you need an SZ Plus subscription to solve it. The same section has a daily sudoku, futoshiki, chess puzzle, crossword and German Wordle.

It suits sudoku players who want a puzzle with a second kind of logic, where ranges of numbers matter as much as single digits.

How to play Str8ts (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

1. Open Str8ts on the SZ puzzle site and log in with SZ Plus.
2. Look at each run of white cells between black cells and its length.
3. Fill in digits so each run forms a straight of consecutive numbers, in any order.
4. Check that no digit appears twice in any row or column, counting digits in black cells.
5. Complete the grid to solve the day's puzzle.

Tips

• A run's length limits its range: in a two-cell run the numbers differ by exactly one.
• Rule out digits already used in the row or column, including those printed in black cells.
• Long runs must include the middle numbers; in a long run 5 is often forced.
• Note candidates in each run and narrow the possible ranges before placing digits.

Questions