An attempt at cataloging all unspoken "rules" and norms on Zelda Wiki.
>Eee hee hee! Welcome to the world of Picross. I'm Midna. What's that? You want to learn how to play Picross? Guess I'll be nice and show you how it's done. First, choose your control method. If this is your first time with a Picross game, I'd suggest that you try stylus controls. [...] All right. Let's get started. I'll tell you everything you need to know. Eee hee hee!
>Picross is a puzzle game where the numbers are hints about how to fill in squares to make a picture. These are the hint numbers. They tell you how many squares you need to fill in for each row or column. Take this 5 for example. IT means you need to fill in 5 squares in a row. Columns work the same way. This hint shows you need to fill in 2 squares, leaving at least 1 blank space, before filling in 2 more squares. I bet you're tired of hearing me talk. So how about you fill in some squares? Fill all 5 squares in this row.
>I knew you could do it! You've finished the picture. It's a clock! Picross doesn't rely on guesswork. Every puzzle can be solved by thinking it through. Even if you think you're stuck, there are always clues if you think it all through. Let's try the next puzzle.
>Here's your second puzzle. I've got some advice for you that'll come in really handy. First, see this row with a 5? That's just like we saw in the previous puzzle. Go ahead and fill that in. [...] Eee hee! That's right. Now you have the bottom row filled in for every column. That's some powerful stuff to help us figure out a lot!
>Neat! You made an iron. I think you'll do a great job with this next one too!
>Here's your third puzzle. Just look at it! At 10x10, it's bigger than the first two. Bigger puzzles mean more fun! They're a piece of cake as long as you make use of what you've learned so far Eee hee! When you start a new puzzle, look over the entire thing to see if there's a good place to start. I bet you want to go for that column with the 10. I've got something to show you first. Take a look at this row. All the numbers are small. But if you add them up... and add the blank squares... what's the total? Yes! Exactly 10. Sometimes you can find rows or columns where you can fill in or mark 10 squares based on the hint numbers. So large hint numbers are a big help, but always look at all hint numbers closely. Go ahead and fill in this row.
>Did you notice there is also a column with hint numbers that help us fill in and mark another 10 squares? Take a good look. Eee hee hee!
>We're on our fourth puzzle now, so I'm going to show you my best tips yet! Take a close look at the puzzle before starting. That row and column marked 0 are tempting places to start. But now I'll show you how to work with big hint numbers before you do anything else. What's a big hint number? It's 1 bigger than half the length of a row or column. This puzzle is 10x10. So any number 6 or higher is a big hint number here. How many hint numbers that are 6 or higher can we find? Here's a 9. But we don't know if we need to fill in 9 squares starting from the left. Or if we need to fill in 9 squares from the right. But 8 of those 9 squares overlap, right? Either way, we know those 8 squares will be filled in. Go ahead! Fill those in! [...] Yes! Perfect! So keep your eyes peeled for any big hint numbers. You can always fill in some squares in those rows and columns right away. Here are two more columns with big hint numbers. Remember what to do? Count from each end, and then fill in squares that overlap.
>Let's start with the fifth puzzle. This will be the last puzzle in this tutorial. I don't actually have any more tips to give you. But... I will tell you about the Answer Autocheck feature. We'll turn it on for this puzzle. When Answer Autocheck is on, if you fill in a wrong square, you'll be given the correct answer. But you'll get a penalty: extra time will be added to your timer. If you can finish a puzzle within 60 minutes, you'll see a color version of the picture as a bonus. What's that? You still don't feel like you're ready to do this on your own? For this puzzle, I'll show you the color version even if you go over 60 minutes. Practice lots, though. OK? Eee hee! I'll even let you use the Hint Roulette feature if you want. I'll fill in one row and column where the roulette stops. That's not all. I'll even color hint numbers blue if there's a square that you can fill in or mark with an "x." Hope that's enough help!
>Great job! You finished the fifth puzzle! Now you know all of the basics of playing Picross. I think you've got it all now, right? Go on, then! Enjoy the world of Picross! See you!
