Thinky Dailies - Season 2, Episode 59: Is This It? by Prasanna Seshadri

Added: 2026-05-07

[00:00:00][music] [music] >> Hello, good day, and welcome. I'm Timothy Hunter, and today I'm going to play [music] Is This It?

[00:00:16]by Prasanna Seshadri. This is a connect link [music] puzzle. It's puzzle number 59 of season 2 of the Thinky Dailies, originally published May 1st, 2026.

[00:00:27]The story.

[00:00:28]A huge mosaic has been wheeled into the cafeteria. The hero is definitely following the right quest now.

[00:00:35]So, what does it say?

[00:00:37]All right, let's have a look.

[00:00:40]embark This is a connect link puzzle, a number link variant that adds the rule of visiting every cell. So, we have to connect the matching letters by drawing lines between them, and every cell in the grid must be used.

[00:00:56]Okay, um and lines cannot branch or cross themselves or each other.

[00:01:02]All right, let's begin. And where do we begin?

[00:01:05]We've got large open space here. I don't think that's where to start, but we've got this embark um set here.

[00:01:15]So, we've got some tightness around here. So, the A um has to come out one of these ways.

[00:01:25]Oh, we have to use every cell. So, let's um do our corner trick.

[00:01:32]Um if it doesn't have a letter in, then uh every um if it doesn't have a letter in, then once we've reduced down to um two viable exits from a particular cell, those two exits must be taken.

[00:01:50]Okay, so if the A goes down, then what?

[00:02:06]Um Yes, okay, it could come all the way around the outside.

[00:02:15]Um that seems viable.

[00:02:21]Um that would force the R up, which would force the B out.

[00:02:29]And then the B would have to go up in order to get to the other B, because it couldn't come this way cuz that's taken up by the A, but then this R would be trapped.

[00:02:37]It couldn't get out that way.

[00:02:40]So, A does not come down.

[00:02:43]Well, uh that's not quite true. If A comes down and goes left, it could do that, and then it'll trap the R.

[00:02:53]So, it can't come down. So, the A goes left.

[00:02:58]Um So, now it can't go to the left because then we have the same problem with the A going around the outside, um and it can't go down because then this gets trapped.

[00:03:11]So, the A must do that, and that means that this R connects here, and we get to there.

[00:03:18]Now, it's possible that this goes around to connect to the R, but let's see what else we can do. This has become a corner. It can't go down or left, so we can do that.

[00:03:29]And this obviously can't connect to the B.

[00:03:32]Um so, that does that.

[00:03:37]Now, this B has to go out, um and the R must go down. So, we've done that. We now have a corner here.

[00:03:47]The M has to go that way. The B has to extend.

[00:03:54]This has become a corner, and so we can do that. This has become a corner, so we can do that.

[00:04:05]Okay, the E If I take the E um Yeah, the M could still go around the E.

[00:04:20]The K The K has to go around the outside of the M.

[00:04:33]Okay.

[00:04:39]That could get to the E there.

[00:04:49]Okay, the K The K is coming around here somewhere.

[00:05:02]Um Hmm.

[00:05:21]Okay, what am I missing?

[00:05:25]This has become a corner cuz it can't join to the E, and it can't go left. So, we can at least do that.

[00:05:42]This cell that could go across there.

[00:05:53]Okay, it can't go um left and up.

[00:06:00]So, it can't do those two.

[00:06:03]And it can't do this one.

[00:06:07]So, that uh that is definitely not possible.

[00:06:13]If it comes from the left, it has to go across.

[00:06:16]If it comes from the K, it has to go across cuz it can't do that. So, that is definitely part of the path.

[00:06:37]Now, the M could go following this path.

[00:06:48]The E following this path, and the K going around the outside.

[00:07:02]Okay, can the K touch Sorry, can this B touch this wall?

[00:07:07]And I think the answer to that is no, cuz if it comes down here, it goes around here, and then it would have to go around the outside of this K, and then it can't connect to get back to the B.

[00:07:32]So, the B does not go down there.

[00:07:35]So, that means that that must join that way.

[00:07:41]This has now become a corner, so we do that.

[00:07:46]That could still wiggle.

[00:07:52]Um this has become a corner, so we do that. This has become a corner, so we do that.

[00:07:58]This is now a corner.

[00:08:02]So, we do that.

[00:08:05]That now has to go that way, and that forces the M up.

[00:08:10]That's So, the M's going to go between the E's. Okay.

[00:08:13]So, if the M is going between the E, this can't be the E path, cuz that will Well, mm yes.

[00:08:27]Yes, it's not We don't have the M going around this way. The M is going between the E, so the E has to go outside of the M.

[00:08:35]That doesn't mean to say this isn't the E path, it just means that the E has to go outside of the M.

[00:08:46]But this is either E or K, so it's not it's not part of the M path.

[00:08:51]So, that must go there.

[00:08:54]Now, that forces the B this way. That forces the E this way. Sorry, the M this way.

[00:09:00]Um that forces the B there, and the B is complete. This is now a corner.

[00:09:06]This is now a corner, so we do that.

[00:09:11]This is now a corner, so we must do that.

[00:09:14]Um the E has to go around the outside of the M, so we do that.

[00:09:26]This must go up and up again.

[00:09:31]This must go up, so this is the K.

[00:09:38]The M can't go left, but wait, this is a corner.

[00:09:42]So, we do that.

[00:09:47]Uh this is E. That must come with that way. The K must do that. The E must do that.

[00:09:53]K must do that.

[00:09:55]Uh now this M has to come out there and we've completed the M.

[00:09:59]We have a corner here that goes up.

[00:10:02]Uh, this is a corner here that does that. The E path takes that one.

[00:10:09]And so the E takes that one. That means this K goes here.

[00:10:14]Um, this is a corner, so we do that. This is a corner, so we do that.

[00:10:20]And then we finish off like that.

[00:10:25]Very nice.

[00:10:28]The solution has the feeling of a grand reveal.

[00:10:31]But embark on what? To where? They need to find the mentor.

[00:10:40]Okay.

[00:10:41]Um, yeah, this was nice because um, there was certainly some things to uh, think about.

[00:10:48]And um, thinking the sort of general path as to which way um, a path had to go in order to to prevent cutting off another path.

[00:11:03]Um, a nice little break in with the A, but even then it wasn't trivial because you you had to think about what if it went all the way around the outside.

[00:11:15]Um, but yeah, the A here and then that uh, this cell forcing one of B and R to come towards the boundary was really nice.

[00:11:28]Um, and then just following little bits here and there, uh, which forced the M finally to go between the E, um, the given E's, uh, forcing the E to go around the M.

[00:11:44]Um, yeah, that was really nice, uh, and [music] I enjoyed it.

[00:11:48]Um, all right, well, if you enjoyed this solve, then please hit the like button.

[00:11:53]You can subscribe to see some more and I would love to hear your comments.

[00:11:57]>> [music] >> I'm looking forward to next time and seeing you.

[00:12:02]>> [music] [music]