April 22, 2026 Griddler 86148 Falling Leaf With Color Change
Sometimes the puzzle creator will design a puzzle with 2 colors that aren’t black and white. In this case, Light Orange (Adobe color red:194 green:107 blue:0) and Dark Orange (Adobe color red:114 green:0 blue:14) Ouch! I switched to black and white to solve it, but it is ferociously difficult. After an hour or so, I put the clues into an XML file and used the Claude Nonogram solver on it.
The Griddlers.net puzzle app switches the color back when you solve the puzzle. I’ve set all the cells but one according to the solvers output then started this screen recording.
I don’t know how some of griddler people can solve this thing in less than 20 minutes. That’s right, 20:35 is what they call the Mid Time. I think it’s actually the median, where half of the 3,623 people who solved this took less than that! I took me 13:31 just to copy the nonogram solvers result in!
Here’s the input XML:
<! This is Griddler 86148 Falling Leaf ->
<GameBoard>
<RowClues>
<Clues> <!- The clues are color length color length ->
<! 1 > <clueStrip> 2 5 2 2 </clueStrip>
<! 2 > <clueStrip> 2 1 2 4 2 3 </clueStrip>
<! 3 > <clueStrip> 2 2 2 5 2 2 </clueStrip>
<! 4 > <clueStrip> 2 3 2 7 </clueStrip>
<! 5 > <clueStrip> 2 5 2 3 2 1 </clueStrip>
<! 6 > <clueStrip> 2 8 2 1 2 3 </clueStrip>
<! 7 > <clueStrip> 2 3 2 4 2 1 2 2 </clueStrip>
<! 8 > <clueStrip> 2 2 2 4 2 1 2 3 2 3 </clueStrip>
<! 9 > <clueStrip> 2 8 2 5 2 2 </clueStrip>
<! 10 > <clueStrip> 2 5 2 1 2 6 2 1 </clueStrip>
<! 11 > <clueStrip> 2 6 2 2 2 2 2 3 </clueStrip>
<! 12 > <clueStrip> 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 1 </clueStrip>
<! 13 > <clueStrip> 2 2 2 4 2 4 2 3 </clueStrip>
<! 14 > <clueStrip> 2 1 2 4 2 1 2 4 2 2 </clueStrip>
<! 15 > <clueStrip> 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 3 2 1 </clueStrip>
<! 16 > <clueStrip> 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 </clueStrip>
<! 17 > <clueStrip> 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 </clueStrip>
<! 18 > <clueStrip> 2 1 2 2 2 1 2 1 </clueStrip>
<! 19 > <clueStrip> 2 3 2 2 </clueStrip>
<! 20 > <clueStrip> 2 2 2 1 </clueStrip>
</Clues>
</RowClues>
<ColumnClues>
<Clues>
<! 1 > <clueStrip> 2 2 2 3 </clueStrip>
<! 2 > <clueStrip> 2 3 2 2 2 1 </clueStrip>
<! 3 > <clueStrip> 2 1 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 1 2 1 </clueStrip>
<! 4 > <clueStrip> 2 3 2 1 2 4 2 2 2 5 </clueStrip>
<! 5 > <clueStrip> 2 1 2 4 2 4 2 5 2 1 </clueStrip>
<! 6 > <clueStrip> 2 2 2 3 2 4 2 3 2 2 </clueStrip>
<! 7 > <clueStrip> 2 2 2 3 2 4 2 1 2 3 </clueStrip>
<! 8 > <clueStrip> 2 2 2 3 2 3 2 3 </clueStrip>
<! 9 > <clueStrip> 2 2 2 3 2 1 2 2 2 2 </clueStrip>
<! 10 > <clueStrip> 2 2 2 3 2 6 2 1 </clueStrip>
<! 11 > <clueStrip> 2 3 2 1 2 1 2 6 2 1 </clueStrip>
<! 12 > <clueStrip> 2 4 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 </clueStrip>
<! 13 > <clueStrip> 2 2 2 6 2 2 2 4 </clueStrip>
<! 14 > <clueStrip> 2 1 2 1 2 6 2 1 </clueStrip>
<! 15 > <clueStrip> 2 4 2 2 2 1 2 1 </clueStrip>
<! 16 > <clueStrip> 2 2 2 3 2 1 2 2 2 1 </clueStrip>
<! 17 > <clueStrip> 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 4 </clueStrip>
<! 18 > <clueStrip> 2 1 2 2 2 1 </clueStrip>
<! 19 > <clueStrip> 2 2 2 4 </clueStrip>
<! 20 > <clueStrip> 2 1 </clueStrip>
</Clues>
</ColumnClues>
And the solver output:
mcsandb@Martin-Sandberg-2019-Mac-Pro Project Files % pwd
/Users/mcsandb/Documents/workspace/ClaudeNonogram/Project Files
mcsandb@Martin-Sandberg-2019-Mac-Pro Project Files % time ./nonogram /Users/mcsandb/Documents/workspace/The\ Nonogram\ Project/Documentation/Boards\ with\ XML/Griddler\ 86148\ Falling\ Leaf\ 20\ x\ 20/Griddler\ 86148\ Falling\ Leaf.xml
Loaded puzzle from: /Users/mcsandb/Documents/workspace/The Nonogram Project/Documentation/Boards with XML/Griddler 86148 Falling Leaf 20 x 20/Griddler 86148 Falling Leaf.xml
Puzzle: 20 rows × 20 cols
Version 2.0 Minimum-Remaining-Values added, Probing Unkownn Cells added
Solving...
Probe count: 0
Guess count: 0
|2 |3 |1 |3 |1 |2 |2 |2 |2 |2 |3 |4 |2 |1 |4 |2 |2 |1 |2 |1 |
|3 |2 |2 |1 |4 |3 |3 |3 |3 |3 |1 |3 |6 |1 |2 |3 |1 |2 |4 | |
| |1 |1 |4 |4 |4 |4 |3 |1 |6 |1 |2 |2 |6 |1 |1 |2 |1 | | |
| | |2 |2 |5 |3 |1 |3 |2 |1 |6 |2 |4 |1 |1 |2 |4 | | | |
| | |1 |5 |1 |2 |3 | |2 | |1 |1 | | | |1 | | | | |
| | |1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 5 2 || | | 2| 2| 2| 2| 2| | | | | | | | | | | | 2| 2|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 1 4 3 || | | | 2| | 2| 2| 2| 2| | | | | | | | 2| 2| 2| |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2 5 2 || | | | 2| 2| | | 2| 2| 2| 2| 2| | | | 2| 2| | | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 3 7 || | | | | 2| 2| 2| | | 2| 2| 2| 2| 2| 2| 2| | | | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 5 3 1 || | | | | 2| 2| 2| 2| 2| | 2| 2| 2| | 2| | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 8 1 3 || | | 2| 2| 2| 2| 2| 2| 2| 2| | 2| | 2| 2| 2| | | | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 3 4 1 2 || 2| 2| 2| | | | | 2| 2| 2| 2| | 2| | 2| 2| | | | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2 4 1 3 3 || 2| 2| | 2| 2| 2| 2| | | 2| | 2| 2| 2| | 2| 2| 2| | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 8 5 2 || | 2| 2| 2| 2| 2| 2| 2| 2| | 2| 2| 2| 2| 2| | | 2| 2| |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 5 1 6 1 || | | | 2| 2| 2| 2| 2| | 2| | 2| 2| 2| 2| 2| 2| | 2| |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 6 2 2 3 || | | 2| 2| 2| 2| 2| 2| | 2| 2| | 2| 2| | | 2| 2| 2| |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2 3 2 1 || | 2| 2| | | | | | 2| 2| 2| | 2| 2| | | | | 2| |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2 4 4 3 || 2| 2| | 2| 2| 2| 2| | 2| 2| 2| 2| | 2| 2| 2| | | | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 1 4 1 4 2 || 2| | 2| 2| 2| 2| | 2| | 2| 2| 2| 2| | | 2| 2| | | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|2 2 1 2 3 1 || 2| 2| | | 2| 2| | 2| | 2| 2| | 2| 2| 2| | 2| | | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2 3 2 2 || | | | 2| 2| | 2| 2| 2| | 2| 2| | | | 2| 2| | | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2 1 2 2 1 || | | | 2| 2| | 2| | 2| 2| | 2| 2| | | | 2| | | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 1 2 1 1 || | | | 2| | 2| 2| | | | 2| | 2| | | | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 3 2 || | | | 2| 2| 2| | | | | | 2| 2| | | | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2 1 || | | 2| 2| | | | | | | | | 2| | | | | | | |
ASCII view:
..#####...........##
...#.####.......###.
...##..#####...##...
....###..#######....
....#####.###.#.....
..########.#.###....
###....####.#.##....
##.####..#.###.###..
.########.#####..##.
...#####.#.######.#.
..######.##.##..###.
.##.....###.##....#.
##.####.####.###....
#.####.#.####..##...
##..##.#.##.###.#...
...##.###.##...##...
...##.#.##.##...#...
...#.##...#.#.......
...###.....##.......
..##........#.......
Solved!
./nonogram 0.00s user 0.00s system 75% cpu 0.009 total
I now print the working directory, so I know where this output lives and I time the run. It took the solver 9 milliseconds to solve it.