Skip to content
Once Books
Free printable

Hard Kakurasu

A 6 by 6 Kakurasu gives the targets more cells to combine, so you work a row sum against the columns that share its cells. It still resolves to exactly one shading, printed on page two.

Larger grids have more cells to weigh. Every puzzle has one solution.

6×6 grid. Shade cells so each row and column of shaded squares sums to its edge target.

Two pages: the puzzle and its shaded answer. Every puzzle has one solution, checked by the same engine as our KDP studio.

Want the whole book?

This makes one puzzle. Sign up to turn it into a full Kakurasu book for Amazon KDP: hundreds of graded puzzles at any trim, as print-ready PDFs.

Build the full book

Free to build · pay once to export

Preview

How to solve a kakurasu

Shade squares so the weighted totals along each row and column match the numbers on the edges.

The method

  1. 1Know the weights. In each row a shaded square is worth its position from the left, 1, 2, 3 and so on; in each column, its position from the top.
  2. 2Hit each target. The shaded squares in a line must add up to that line edge number. Find the combinations that reach it.
  3. 3Use the extreme totals. A small target keeps the big-weight squares blank; a target near the maximum shades most of them. Start where the choice is forced.
  4. 4Cross rows with columns. A square must satisfy both its row target and its column target. Where only one choice does both, lock it in.
The one rule
Shade squares so each row and column of shaded weights adds up to its edge target.
What the answer page shows
The solved shading is printed at the back.
How the grades differ
Larger grids bring bigger targets and more combinations to weigh.
Good for
Solvers who like a little arithmetic with their logic.

Making a whole Kakurasu book?

This page makes one puzzle. To publish a book on Amazon KDP, the KDP Kakurasu maker generates hundreds of graded puzzles at any trim, as a print-ready 300 DPI interior and solutions PDF. Generate once, export unlimited sizes.

More printable Kakurasu

See every printable Kakurasu

Questions

Are these hard kakurasu free to print?
Yes. Generate the puzzle above and print it with its answer, at no cost and with no sign-up. It is free for classroom, home and personal use.
Does every puzzle have one solution?
Yes. Every puzzle is generated and checked so the edge targets fix exactly one shading, verified before it prints. The answer is on the second page.
Can I make a Kakurasu book to sell on KDP?
Yes. The free tool makes one puzzle. The KDP Kakurasu maker generates hundreds of graded puzzles at any KDP trim, as a print-ready 300 DPI interior and solutions PDF, so you can publish a book.

Publish a Kakurasu book

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