LinkedIn Patches #120 Answer & Analysis

The 6 clue in the top-left corner can only fit as a compact rectangle that stays against the left and top borders. It fills the upper-left block cleanly and cannot extend into the rest of the board without breaking connectivity or size limits.

The top row contains two 2-cell patches and they have almost no flexibility. The center top patch fits as a short horizontal pair, and the top-right 2 patch mirrors that on the opposite corner. Together they seal off the upper edge and prevent the larger patches from leaking upward.

The 5-cell patch is forced into a vertical strip because the top row is already occupied and the left side needs a boundary between the upper blocks and the lower-left region. That vertical run becomes the main divider for the entire puzzle.

The 6 clue on the right side has enough room for a clean 2-by-3 rectangle in the upper-right-middle area. It stays below the top row, avoids the vertical divider, and leaves room for the large bottom-right patch later.

With the vertical divider in place, the lower-left side splits naturally into a 2-cell patch and a 4-cell patch. The small 2 fits as a short horizontal piece in the middle-left, and the 4-cell patch drops into the bottom-left corner as a compact block.