Patches is LinkedIn's 2026 shape-partition puzzle. A small grid — 5×5 at launch, larger on harder days — must be cut entirely into rectangles. Some cells carry a clue: a shape symbol (square, tall rectangle, wide rectangle, or "any of the above") and, often, a number. The rectangle that contains a clue cell must be that shape, and if there's a number, that exact size in cells. Every cell belongs to exactly one rectangle; no cell is left uncovered and no rectangles overlap.
Today's completed grid is on the Patches answer today page. Because Patches is new — puzzle #169 ran on 3 September 2026 — the notes below are a first draft of strategy from daily play, and will be revised as the puzzle matures.
The three shapes, precisely
Square — equal width and height: 1×1, 2×2, 3×3. A square clue with the number 9 means a 3×3; with 4, a 2×2; with 1, a single cell.
Tall rectangle — taller than it is wide: 1×2, 1×3, 2×3, 2×4… A tall clue with 8 could be 2 wide by 4 tall (2×4) — but not 4×2, which is wide.
Wide rectangle — wider than tall. A wide clue with 5 is 5×1, the only wide shape of five cells; with 3, 3×1; with 6, 3×2 or 6×1.
Any — a rectangle of any proportion, sized by the number if one is given.
The arithmetic is the whole game: a size number has a limited set of factor pairs, and the shape word eliminates half of them. A tall 8 is 2×4 or 1×8; on a 5×5 grid, 1×8 doesn't fit, so it's 2×4. Do this factoring for every clue before you draw anything.
The counting method
Add up the numbered clues. On a 25-cell grid, if the clues total 25, every rectangle is numbered and the unnumbered cells all belong to those rectangles — nothing else exists. If the clues total less than 25, the difference is covered by unnumbered rectangles, which must contain the unnumbered clue cells (if any) or be free rectangles you place yourself. Knowing how many cells are "unaccounted for" before you start tells you whether you're placing four big shapes or filling gaps with 1×1s.
Then place the largest fixed shape first. A 3×3 square on a 5×5 grid can only sit in nine positions, and the clue cell inside it usually eliminates most. A 2×4 tall rectangle containing a clue cell in row 2 has very few placements. Fix those, and the remaining cells partition themselves.
Reading a board: a worked example
The board LinkedIn gives new players is 5×5 with four clues: a wide 5 at row 1 column 1, a tall 8 at row 2 column 1, a square 9 at row 4 column 5, and a wide 3 at row 5 column 5. Total 5 + 8 + 9 + 3 = 25: exactly the grid, so those four shapes are the whole partition.
Factor each. Wide 5 → 5×1 only. Tall 8 → 2 wide × 4 tall (1×8 doesn't fit). Square 9 → 3×3. Wide 3 → 3×1.
Place the most constrained. The wide 5 contains row 1 column 1 and is one cell tall: it's the entire top row. The square 9 contains row 4 column 5, the corner-adjacent cell on the right edge; a 3×3 there must be rows 3–5, columns 3–5 (it can't extend right, and it must include row 4). The wide 3 contains row 5 column 5 — but that cell is inside the square we just placed. Conflict: so the square is rows 2–4, columns 3–5 instead, and the wide 3 is row 5, columns 3–5.
Check what's left. Rows 2–5, columns 1–2: eight cells, two wide, four tall — exactly the tall 8, containing row 2 column 1. Every cell covered, every clue satisfied. The lesson is in step three: a placement that *seems* forced (the square in the corner) is tested by the other clues, and the tall/wide reading of the neighbouring clue decides it.
Factor tables for common sizes
Memorise these and most of the puzzle disappears.
| Size | Square | Tall (w×h) | Wide (w×h) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | — | 1×2 | 2×1 |
| 3 | — | 1×3 | 3×1 |
| 4 | 2×2 | 1×4 | 4×1 |
| 6 | — | 1×6, 2×3 | 6×1, 3×2 |
| 8 | — | 1×8, 2×4 | 8×1, 4×2 |
| 9 | 3×3 | 1×9 | 9×1 |
| 12 | — | 2×6, 3×4 | 6×2, 4×3 |
Habits that speed it up
Corners first. A clue in a corner has the fewest possible placements.
Big before small. Squares of 9 and rectangles of 6 or 8 lock the board; 1×1 and 1×2 pieces fill what's left.
Draw with the drag. The interface lets you drag from a clue cell to sweep a rectangle; releasing snaps it. Undo is one tap. On mobile the drag is faster than tapping cells.
Don't ignore the unnumbered clues. A shape symbol without a number still constrains proportion. A tall rectangle without a number can't be a square.
What changes on bigger boards
Since launch LinkedIn has run 6×6 and 7×7 Patches boards on weekends. Three things change:
- Unnumbered clues matter more. With more cells, a shape symbol alone constrains less, and the board relies on the interaction between clues.
- 'Any' clues appear. A rectangle of any proportion, sized by its number — these are placed last, by elimination.
- Free rectangles exist. When numbered clues total less than the grid, the difference is rectangles with no clue at all, and you place them to cover what's left. Count first, always.
Where Patches sits among LinkedIn's games
It's the closest LinkedIn has come to a classic Japanese logic puzzle — Shikaku ("rectangles") is the direct ancestor, with the shape symbols as LinkedIn's addition. Players who like Queens and Tango will find the same satisfaction: no guessing, one solution, and the difficulty entirely in what the constraints force. Sizes and clue density are still being tuned; the puzzle numbering on the results page (#169 on 3 September 2026) marks its age.
Where the difficulty comes from
Patches looks like a counting exercise and on easy boards it is. The harder boards get their difficulty from three sources. First, clue cells placed *inside* their rectangles rather than at a corner, so that a 3×3 containing a central clue has nine candidate positions instead of one. Second, unnumbered shape clues, which constrain proportion but not size, so that a 'tall' clue could be 1×2 or 2×5. Third, free rectangles — cells covered by no clue at all — which you only discover exist after totalling the numbered clues and finding them short of the grid.
The counter to all three is the same: total the clues first, place the corner-anchored numbered shapes, then use the remaining cell count to bound the free rectangles before touching the ambiguous clues.
Patches in the LinkedIn line-up
It arrived in 2026 alongside Wend, as LinkedIn's first game with a shape-partition mechanic. It sits closest to Queens and Zip in feel — spatial, deductive, no guessing — and shares their weekday/weekend difficulty rhythm. Because it's young, the board sizes and clue styles are still being tuned; the notes on this page are revised as they settle, and the answer pages draw every day's resolved grid so the intended reading of ambiguous clues is always visible.
Reader questions
"Can a rectangle contain two clue cells?" No — each clue belongs to exactly one rectangle and each rectangle has at most one clue.
"What does a clue with no number mean?" The shape is fixed, the size is not.
"Can a 1×1 be a 'square'?" Yes, a square clue with the number 1.
Glossary
Terms as used on this site.
- Clue cell — a cell showing a shape symbol and, optionally, a size.
- Free rectangle — a rectangle containing no clue cell, needed when clues don't total the grid.
- Factoring — listing the width×height pairs a size allows, then filtering by shape.
- Anchor — a clue whose placement is forced by position (usually a corner).
A second worked board: 6×6 with an unnumbered clue
Six by six, thirty-six cells. Clues: a square 4 at row 1 column 6; a tall (no number) at row 2 column 1; a wide 6 at row 4 column 3; a square 9 at row 6 column 6; a wide 2 at row 6 column 1. Numbered total: 4 + 6 + 9 + 2 = 21. Fifteen cells remain for the unnumbered tall rectangle and any free rectangles.
Square 4 in the top-right corner: 2×2 at rows 1–2, columns 5–6. Square 9 in the bottom-right corner: 3×3 at rows 4–6, columns 4–6. Wide 6 containing row 4 column 3: 3×2 or 6×1; a 6×1 along row 4 collides with the square at column 4, so it's 3×2 — rows 3–4 or rows 4–5, columns 1–3 or 2–4 or 3–5; columns 4+ collide, so columns 1–3; rows 4–5 collide with nothing, rows 3–4 collide with nothing — two candidates. Wide 2 at row 6 column 1: 2×1 at row 6, columns 1–2. Now the tall rectangle at row 2 column 1 must fill what's left on the left side: if the wide 6 is rows 3–4, the tall is rows 1–2, columns 1–? — a 1×2 or 2×2… a tall must be taller than wide, so 1×2 at column 1, rows 1–2, leaving row 1–2 columns 2–4 (six cells) as free rectangles and row 5 columns 1–3 plus row 6 column 3 as an L — not a rectangle. So the wide 6 is rows 4–5, and the tall rectangle is rows 1–3, columns 1–? — a 1×3 at column 1, or 2×3 at columns 1–2. Count the remainder either way until every cell is a rectangle: the 2×3 works (rows 1–3, columns 1–2), leaving rows 1–3 columns 3–4 (2×3, a free tall), row 3 columns 5–6 (a free wide 2), and row 6 column 3 (a free 1×1). Thirty-six cells accounted for.
Reader questions, second round
"Do I have to draw the free rectangles?" Yes — the grid must be fully covered; the game won't finish with unpainted cells.
"Can a free rectangle be any shape?" Any rectangle, including 1×1.
"Is there a hint?" Yes; it places one rectangle for you and is recorded on the results card.
A weekly rhythm
Weekday Patches boards are 5×5 with numbered clues that total the grid — pure factoring. Weekend boards go to 6×6 and 7×7, drop numbers from some clues, and leave free rectangles. The counting step matters most on those days: total the numbered clues first, and treat the shortfall as rectangles you must place before touching the unnumbered clues.
Frequently asked questions
What are the shapes in Patches?
Square, tall rectangle (taller than wide), wide rectangle (wider than tall), and 'any', which allows any proportion.
What does the number on a clue mean?
The exact number of cells in the rectangle that contains that clue cell.
Can rectangles overlap?
No. Every cell belongs to exactly one rectangle and the whole grid is covered.
Is there only one solution?
Yes — each board is constructed with a unique partition.
When does Patches reset?
Midnight Pacific time.