Zip Puzzle: February 17, 2026

Solving Tip: Avoid Trapping Yourself

The most common mistake in Zip is drawing yourself into a dead end. This usually happens when your path creates a 2×2 block of visited cells in the middle of the grid — the unvisited cell on the other side becomes unreachable. Before committing to a move, quickly check whether it would isolate any empty cells. A good habit is to glance at the cells two or three moves ahead: if you can see that a move would box in an area with no way out, take the other route instead. The undo button is there for a reason, but getting better at reading the grid means fewer restarts. Today's shared daily puzzle is a perfect chance to practice this — see how far you can get without hitting undo.

Archive puzzle #48 is a Tuesday 6x6 Zip challenge. Use this replay to practice wall-separated sections, watch for using the only entrance to a wall-bounded pocket too early, and aim for a slow scan before drawing.