Whittle (Mind Loft)
Rate itA sudoku played backwards: remove as many clues as the grid can lose.
on mindloftdaily.com
Whittle is a free daily puzzle from Mind Loft, a sudoku played backwards. You start with a solved 6x6 grid showing eighteen clues and take clues away, one at a time, as long as the grid still has exactly one answer. Nothing goes back, so the order you remove them in decides the score.
About Whittle (Mind Loft)
Whittle is a reverse sudoku on Mind Loft, a free site of daily browser games. Every other sudoku hands you an empty grid to fill. Whittle hands you a finished 6x6 grid with eighteen of its digits printed as clues and asks you to take clues away.
A clue can come out only while the grid still has exactly one solution. The answer is on show from the start, because Whittle never asks what it is; it asks what the grid can afford to lose. Nothing goes back once removed, and the day ends as soon as none of the remaining clues can be taken out. So the order you choose is the whole game, and an early careless removal can leave you stuck with more clues than needed.
Every board carries the proven fewest clues any order can leave, and reaching it scores a perfect 10. On the day we looked, perfect was 8 clues left standing, which meant taking 10 out. You tap a bold clue to take it out, there is a Hint button, and End here stops the day where you are.
A new board goes up at midnight US Eastern Time, and Sunday is the least forgiving deal of the week. To fill a grid in instead, Mind Loft points to Sixes (its 6x6 mini on the same board), Suds and Cages.
How to play Whittle (Mind Loft)
- Open mindloftdaily.com/whittle and press Start to see the solved grid and its eighteen clues.
- Pick a clue to remove; it can only come out if the grid still has exactly one answer.
- Keep removing clues one by one; nothing goes back.
- The day ends when no remaining clue can be removed.
- Try to reach the proven fewest clues left for a perfect 10.
Screenshots
Tips
- Before removing a clue, ask whether the others would still force its digit; if so, it is safe.
- Removing a clue can make another one essential, so think about pairs, not single clues.
- Clues that repeat information in the same row, column and box are usually the first to go.
- On Sunday, plan the whole order before your first removal.
Questions
How do you play Whittle?
You remove printed clues from a solved 6x6 sudoku, one at a time, keeping the solution unique. The fewer clues left at the end, the better.
What is perfect in Whittle?
The proven fewest clues any order of removals can leave on that day's board.
Is Whittle free?
Yes. Whittle runs in the browser on mindloftdaily.com at no cost. There is no app and no account to make; entering a display name only puts your result on the daily leaderboard.
When does a new Whittle come out?
Every day at midnight US Eastern Time, with the same board for every player. Sunday is the least forgiving deal of the week.
Can I play old Whittle boards?
Yes. Mind Loft keeps past days in its puzzle archive, together with each day's standings.
Ratings and reviews
Games like Whittle (Mind Loft)
Suds (Mind Loft)
Mind Loft's classic 9x9 sudoku, the forward version of the grid Whittle strips
Sixes (Mind Loft)
Mind Loft's 6x6 sudoku, filling rows, columns and boxes with 1 to 6
Cages (Mind Loft)
Mind Loft's killer sudoku, the other end of the scale: no digits at all, only cage sums
Polka (Mind Loft)
Mind Loft's sudoku with no printed digits, only dots between squares
Rim (Mind Loft)
Mind Loft's sudoku with an empty grid and digit triples around its edges
Parker (Mind Loft)
Mind Loft's sliding block daily is scored the same way, against a proven fewest-moves perfect
Reversle
Another daily played backwards: you know the Wordle answer and find the guesses
Mini Sudoku
LinkedIn's daily 6x6 sudoku