The big idea
Big puzzles = many small steps
Hard puzzles look impossible because there's a lot happening at once — clues, choices, and rules all tangled together. The trick is to refuse to solve everything at once.
Instead, break the puzzle into the smallest possible step. Find the ONE thing you can be certain about right now, write it down, and use that to unlock the next certainty. Big puzzles are just many tiny puzzles linked together.
At Tier 10 you're combining every skill from earlier tiers — patterns, classification, elimination, if-then rules. The hardest part isn't any single move; it's knowing WHICH move comes next.
- Find the clue that gives certainty first.
- Write that fact down so you don't carry it in your head.
- Use the new fact as a clue and repeat until the puzzle is solved.