Pull the points of a tangled drawing around the board until every crossing is gone and the lines lie flat.
Untangle Lines starts with a cluster of blue dots linked by straight black lines, all crossing over each other in a messy web. You can pick up any dot and move it anywhere. Its lines stretch to follow, staying attached the whole time. Your goal is to rearrange the dots until no line crosses any other.
There is no timer and no move limit, so you can work at your own pace. This puzzle is called Untangle in Simon Tatham’s collection.
How a puzzle starts
Every new board places all of its points evenly around a circle. That setup makes nearly every line cut across the middle, which is why the start looks so knotted. The connections never change. Two points joined at the beginning stay joined until the end, so the whole puzzle is about finding a layout that works.
Behind every puzzle is a layout with zero crossings, with the points then shuffled onto the circle. That means a clean answer always exists, even if it ends up looking nothing like the original.
Moving points
With a mouse, click and drag a point to its new place, then release. On a phone or tablet, press and slide with one finger. Keyboard players can choose a point with the arrow keys, Tab or Space, press Enter to pick it up, move it with the arrows and press Enter again to drop it.
U undoes your last drag and R redoes it. Restart puts the points back on their starting circle, while Solve reveals one working arrangement. N starts a new puzzle.
Strategy notes
- Look for a triangle of three points that are all linked to each other. Spread it out and use it as a frame to build around.
- Points with many lines are the hardest to place. Settle the ones with two or three lines first.
- The circle uses only part of the board, so drag finished sections out toward the edges to free space in the middle.
- Work on one crossing at a time. Pick a pair of crossed lines and move one end point around the other.
Helpful settings
Under Game, then Preferences, you can turn on an option that highlights any line still crossing another. That shows exactly where the remaining work is. The same menu has an option to snap points to a grid, which makes tidy layouts easier to build.
The Type menu offers boards with 6, 10, 15, 20 or 25 points, and 10 is where the game starts. Custom accepts any count, so you can make a puzzle as small or as huge as you like.
Controls
| Action | Keyboard | Mouse | Touch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Move a point | — | Click and drag the point | Drag the point with your finger |
| Pick and move a point by keyboard | Arrow keys or Tab/Space to choose a point, Enter to pick it up, arrows to move, Enter to drop | — | — |
| Undo, redo, new puzzle | U / R / N | Undo move, Redo move and New game buttons | Undo move, Redo move and New game buttons |
| Change the number of points | — | Type menu | Type menu |
Untangle Lines FAQ
Can I play Untangle Lines on a phone or Chromebook?
Yes. You can drag points with a mouse, a trackpad or a finger. On a touchscreen, press a point and slide it. A quick tap by itself does not move anything, which helps avoid accidental moves.
Is there a timer or move limit?
No. You can take as long as you like and move points as often as you want. That makes it a calm puzzle for short breaks, and Undo, Restart and Solve are always there if you want them.
How long does a puzzle take?
Small boards with 6 points take very little time. The default of 10 points takes a little more thought, and the 20 and 25 point presets take far longer to sort out. Custom lets you pick any number.
How do I know I have solved it?
The puzzle is complete when no two lines cross anywhere on the board. At that moment the whole board flashes. Every puzzle is built from a crossing-free drawing, so a solution always exists.
