THE IDEA: ONE UNBROKEN CHAIN
A Starlink grid hides the numbers 1 up to 36 (on this 6×6 board), but only shows you some of them. Your job is to fill in the rest so the whole grid becomes one continuous path — 1 next to 2, 2 next to 3, all the way to the end.
Two rules, that's the lot:
- Consecutive numbers must touch. The cell with 5 has to sit right beside the cell with 6 — and "beside" counts diagonals too, so a cell touches up to eight neighbours.
- Every cell is used once. The finished chain visits all 36 cells exactly once — no skips, no doubling back.
That diagonal bit is the whole trick: because a number only has to be near its neighbours, the cell for a missing number is often pinned to just one spot. Those are your way in.
LET'S ACTUALLY SOLVE ONE — STEP BY STEP
Here's a real 6×6 Starlink. Numbers dotted about, lots of gaps. Don't try to plan the whole path — we only ever look at one missing number at a time.
The starting grid — just the clue numbers and empty cells. No chain drawn yet.
Step 1 — find two clues that are two apart.
Look down the left side: a 1 and a 3 with a single empty cell between them. The missing number is 2 — it comes right after the 1 and right before the 3, so it has to touch both. Only one empty cell does that: the one wedged between them. No guessing — it's forced.
Step 2 — drop it in, and join the dots.
There's our 2, and the purple line shows the chain so far — 1, 2, 3 all linked up. Every number you place is one more cell taken off the board, which is exactly what pins down the next one.
Step 3 — the corner is forced too.
Same move again. The 3 is tucked in the corner and the 5 sits just above it, so the missing 4 has to touch both. Only one empty cell reaches them both — the one right of the 3 and directly below the 5 — so in it goes. (Corners are great hunting grounds: with only three neighbours, a corner number leaves its chain almost nowhere to wander.)
And from here it just zips along. Each number you place fills a cell, which leaves the next missing number only one place to go, which fills another cell… You keep asking the same little question — "this number sits between those two clues; which single empty cell touches both?" — and the chain grows itself.
Cascading — a whole run of numbers falls into place off that first bridge, and the chain snakes across the board.
Done. One unbroken line from 1 to 36, touching every cell exactly once. 👻
THE ONE MOVE, IN ORDER
Almost every easy Starlink falls to the same little loop:
- Find two clues two apart. A k and a k+2 with the middle number missing.
- Find the cell that touches both. The missing k+1 has to sit beside each of them — diagonals included.
- Only one empty cell fits? Write it. It's forced — and the number you just placed sets up the next bridge. Keep going.
Never a guess: every number has a reason. Stuck? Count the cells between two distant clues — if there are exactly enough to fit the missing run with no slack, that whole stretch is forced.
A FEW SHORTCUTS WORTH KNOWING
You don't need these to start — but spotting them turns a slow grid into a fast one:
- Diagonals always count. A cell touches up to eight neighbours, not four. Most "I'm stuck" moments are a diagonal step you didn't spot.
- Corners and edges are tightest. A corner cell has only three neighbours, an edge cell five — so a number sitting there has the fewest places its chain can go. Start your hunt at the walls.
- Mind the gap. Two clues six apart need exactly five cells between them. Count the room — if it's a tight fit, the path through has no choice, so solve those stretches first.
And a sanity check for the end: the chain should run unbroken from 1 to the last number with no cell left empty — if a cell's stranded, a step went wrong earlier.
THAT'S IT — GO DO ONE
Find two clues two apart, drop the missing number in the only cell that touches both, and watch the chain grow. The first time a single bridge cascades a whole run of numbers across the grid, you'll get why this one's so moreish — it's join-the-dots for grown-ups, no adding up, no ads mid-puzzle, just you, a wandering little chain, and a ghost who's quietly chuffed when the last number clicks in.