Slow Squares

Printable Binary Signs

Binary Signs is a board of filled and hollow squares. Fill in the missing ones so that every row and every column holds as many of one as of the other and nowhere three alike stand side by side. Between some cells stands a sign: an = says both hold the same, an × that they differ. A few squares are given at the start; the rest is the puzzle.

Every day there is a new board in each of three sizes, dealt to everybody alike and solvable without a single guess. Pick a size, print the sheet, and take it wherever a screen would not go — a pen is all it takes: a hollow square is outlined, a filled one is inked in.

Today’s sheets

A4, black and white, one puzzle a sheet, with how to play on the last page. No sign-up, nothing to fill in.

A new set every day at midnight UTC.

How to play

Put a filled or a hollow square in every empty cell so that each row and each column holds as many of one as of the other.

Never three alike side by side — not in a row, not in a column.

An = between two cells says they hold the same; an × says they do not.

Tap a cell for a filled square, tap again for a hollow one, once more to clear it. The squares the board came with stay put: tap one and they all give a shake, to show which they are.

Shown in red: three of the same kind side by side, squares a row or column has too many of, and two cells that disagree with the sign between them.

Solved: three filled and three hollow squares in every row and every column, nowhere three alike together, and every sign kept.

Solving techniques

Questions people ask

Is it free?
Yes. The sheets, the boards on the site and the archive are free, without an account and without advertising. The PDFs are made once a day and anyone may download them.
How many puzzles are there a day?
One new board a day at each level — 6 × 6, 8 × 8, and 10 × 10 — the same for everybody, dealt at midnight UTC. Earlier days stay downloadable in the archive below.
Do I need to sign up?
No. Every sheet downloads without an account. An account only keeps your online plays and your streak in one place across your devices.
Does every puzzle have exactly one solution?
Yes. Every board is checked to have a single solution and to be solvable by reasoning alone — no guessing is ever needed. The solution is not printed; the sheet holds the puzzle and the rules.
May I hand the sheets out or use them in a classroom?
Yes — print, photocopy and hand them out as you like, for a class, a club or a waiting room. Only leave the credit line at the foot of the sheet where it is.

Earlier days

No timer. Leave and come back — it’s saved.

Play today’s Binary Signs online