How to Solve Pathways: Connect Pairs and Cover the Board

Pathways gives every color two endpoints and asks you to join each pair with an orthogonal path. Paths cannot share ordinary cells or cross, every non-blocked cell must be covered, and special cells can change the routing rules. Walls stay empty, bridges allow exactly two paths to cross, and a colored checkpoint must be visited by its matching path.

The full-cover rule is what makes Pathways more than a connect-the-dots game. A direct connection can be perfectly legal and still ruin the puzzle because it seals off empty cells. Good solving means designing all routes together.

The three questions to ask before drawing a path

First, can the two endpoints still reach each other? Second, which cells can only this color reasonably cover? Third, would this line cut another pair apart? Asking those questions before committing a long segment prevents most resets.

You can start from either endpoint, so begin at the more constrained end. An endpoint beside walls or completed paths usually has fewer legal first steps and therefore offers better information.

Chokepoints belong to someone

A one-cell corridor can carry only one ordinary path. If several colors might need it, do not fill the corridor until you know which pair would otherwise become disconnected. On the other hand, if only one pair can use it, claim it immediately and route the other colors around it.

Corners act like small chokepoints too. Because a path entering a corner has limited ways out, corner cells often determine the shape of a nearby route.

Use empty space as evidence

After connecting or extending a color, inspect the cells left behind. Every non-wall cell must still be reachable by an unfinished path. A sealed pocket with no endpoint is not harmless blank space; it is proof that the latest route is wrong.

Long, distant pairs usually need the broad open areas. Short pairs can absorb tight pockets and edge strips. Letting a short pair wander through the center may look flexible now, but it steals the only workable lane from a long pair later.

How to read each special cell

A wall is simple: no path enters it, and it does not need covering. A bridge is the only place where two different paths may cross. Treat its horizontal and vertical lanes separately, and remember that an endpoint never belongs on the bridge itself. A checkpoint is color-specific, so its matching route must include it even if a shorter route exists elsewhere.

Special cells are not decorations. They usually reveal the intended traffic pattern. A checkpoint tells you which side of the board its color must visit; a bridge tells you where two otherwise conflicting routes can pass.

Do not finish a color too early

Completing a pair removes that color from your toolkit. Before joining its endpoints, check whether its path is still needed to cover an awkward edge or pocket. It is often better to leave the final connection open while you establish how the remaining board will be tiled by paths.

This is the Pathways version of keeping your options open: extend forced segments, but delay a final join when the unused cells still have multiple possible owners.

When the board is nearly full

• Trace every color from endpoint to endpoint and confirm it never breaks.
• Check every ordinary cell is used exactly once.
• Confirm walls remain empty and checkpoints carry the correct color.
• At each bridge, verify that no more than two different paths cross.

A useful endgame thought experiment

Imagine temporarily removing the path you are about to finish. Which empty cells would no longer have a plausible owner? If the answer is “none,” the connection is probably mature. If a thin strip or corner suddenly becomes unreachable, keep the color open and reroute it through that space before joining the endpoints.

This thought experiment is especially effective with a short pair beside a large unfinished region. The pair may need to take a scenic route, not because its endpoints are difficult to connect, but because no other color can cover the cells along that route.

A strong Pathways solve feels less like drawing eleven independent lines and more like packing a floor plan. Each route owns a region, the borders between regions matter, and the final few cells should fall into place rather than require a desperate zigzag.

A new Pathways puzzle is available every day. For more repetitions with the same rules, open Practice and choose Pathways.