📖 Elimination

Akari Puzzle Glossary — All Terms

Elimination — Elimination is the process of ruling out impossible bulb placements based on logical deduction. When you determine that a cell cannot contain a bulb, you eliminate it.

⚙️ How It Works

Elimination works by contradiction: if placing a bulb in a cell would violate a numbered constraint, create a bulb conflict, or leave another cell permanently dark, then that cell cannot hold a bulb. Every step forward in Akari comes from either placing a bulb or eliminating a position.

⚖️ Pros & Cons

✅ Advantages

  • The bread and butter of Akari solving — every solve uses elimination
  • Can be applied systematically without guessing
  • Often creates cascading deductions that solve large portions of the grid

⚠️ Trade-offs

  • Advanced elimination on hard puzzles requires tracking multiple hypothetical scenarios
  • Beginners may miss elimination opportunities if they only focus on forced placements

🎯 Who Should Use It?

Every Akari player. Elimination is the most fundamental solving technique. Master it before moving to advanced methods.

🚀 Step-by-Step Guide

1

Start with "0" cells

A "0" cell eliminates all four neighbors. Mark them with X immediately.

2

Check bulb conflicts

If placing a bulb would create a line-of-sight conflict with an existing bulb, eliminate that position.

3

Check illumination needs

If a dark cell can only be reached from one direction, that direction is forced — and all other positions in that line can be eliminated for other reasons.

4

Chain eliminations

Each elimination may trigger new deductions. Keep propagating until no more eliminations are possible.

❓ FAQ

What is the elimination technique in Akari?

Elimination means ruling out cells where a bulb cannot go. You determine this by checking if a placement would violate any numbered constraint or create a bulb conflict.

Is elimination the same as guessing?

No. Elimination is pure logical deduction — you prove a cell cannot hold a bulb based on existing constraints. Guessing means placing a bulb without proof and seeing if it works.

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