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Free printable Hitori with answers

Hitori is a shading puzzle: shade cells so no number repeats unshaded in any row or column, no two shaded cells touch, and the unshaded cells stay connected. Every puzzle here has exactly one solution.

By size

Size is what makes a Hitori harder: a bigger grid gives the logic more room. Start small and work up.

By audience

A smaller grid with a gentle rule is the easiest way for a child or a beginner to start.

One answer, every time

What makes a Hitori book worth printing is the guarantee most sellers cannot make: every puzzle is generated and proved by the same solver our Publisher Studio uses, so the clues fix exactly one solution. The answer prints at the back.

How to solve a hitori

Shade cells so no number repeats unshaded in any row or column, no two shaded cells touch, and the unshaded cells stay joined.

The method

  1. 1Find the duplicates. Scan each row and column for repeated numbers. At least all but one copy must be shaded.
  2. 2Never shade neighbours. Two shaded cells may not sit side by side, so shading one cell forces its four neighbours to stay unshaded.
  3. 3Keep the white joined. The unshaded cells must form one connected group, so a shade that would cut the grid in two is wrong.
  4. 4Chase the forced cells. Each shade and each forced-unshaded cell narrows the rest. Work outward until the board settles.
The one rule
No unshaded repeats per line, no touching shades, white stays connected.
What the answer page shows
The shaded solution is printed at the back.
How the grades differ
Bigger grids hide more duplicates to resolve.
Good for
Solvers who like elimination over placement.

Make one now

Pick a size, then print the puzzle and its answer. No sign-up, no watermark.

Make a Hitori book to sell on KDP

Hundreds of graded puzzles, any KDP trim, print-ready PDFs. Start free.