Parcel looks open-ended, but there's almost always a box you can place with total certainty. Find those first and the rest falls into place. Here's a reliable order of attack.
1. Place the forced boxes first
Look for clues whose number and glyph leave only one option. A 4 with a square glyph is a 2×2. A 5 with a tall glyph is a 1×5 vertical strip. Anything fully determined should go down before you guess at the flexible ones.
2. Work from the corners and edges
Corner and edge cells have fewer ways to be covered, so the box that owns them is easier to pin down. Solving inward from the boundary keeps your options clear.
- A clue in a corner can only extend two directions
- Edge clues are limited by the wall behind them
- Each placed box shrinks the space for its neighbours
3. Use the shape glyph to break ties
When the area alone is ambiguous — a 6 could be 2×3 or 1×6 — the glyph decides. A wide glyph rules out the tall option immediately. Treat the glyph as a free hint, not decoration.
4. Eliminate, don't guess
If a box can't fit a clue without overlapping or stranding a cell that no other clue can reach, that placement is wrong — rule it out. Parcel always rewards elimination over hope.
Stuck mid-board? Tap a placed box to remove it, and use Undo freely while you experiment.
