A blank logic-grid cell still means unresolved

Decide which marks represent excluded and confirmed pairings before starting. Children can then distinguish a known negative from missing information, which prevents an unmarked possibility being silently treated as impossible.

A cross can mean impossible while a circle means confirmed under this key.

Read the notation as carefully as the clue

Use a visible key throughout the first puzzle. An unmarked cell should remain unknown rather than being treated as a negative result.

Define the marks. Add one exclusion. Add a confirmed pairing.

Blank cells remain unresolved.

What does a blank mean? Use words alongside symbols.

Resources

• Puzzle Partner Challenge — Use the four-by-four puzzle to discuss deductions from the stated constraints.

Further reading

• Australian Curriculum Version 9 — Critical and Creative Thinking

Read next

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• Chance and choice contribute different things to a game
• A Carroll diagram cell combines its row and column labels

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