LinkedIn Patches #60 Answer & Analysis

The 7-cell patch is the strongest constraint on the board. It forms a straight vertical spine in column 5, because no other connected 7-cell shape fits cleanly once the surrounding patches are placed.

The top 5-cell patch stays as a clean horizontal strip across the upper band, and the 2-cell patch sits in the far upper-right corner. That leaves the top row neatly segmented before the larger right-side patch is finalized.

The 3-cell patch on the left edge is forced straight down the first column, while the 6-cell patch beside it becomes a compact 2x3 block. These two regions consume the space under the top band and keep the center from splitting too early.

The 9-cell patch fills the upper-right 3x3 area around the center spine. It is boxed in by the top corner, the 7-patch, and the right edge, so its shape is highly restricted once the earlier patches are set.

After the top half is fixed, the bottom half becomes a set of short vertical and 2-cell regions: the left orange strip, the middle columns, the small pairs near the bottom, and the bottom-right 4-cell block. Keep every patch connected and separate so the grid fills completely.