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Count exhausted

Once a line holds its full quota of one animal, every remaining empty cell is the other.

Technique 3 of 7 · By Luke Welch · Updated 16 September 2026
Pip: Three owls already — that's the quota on a 6-wide line. Everything left is a fox.
Interactive example · 1 of 2 · tap the empty cells
Pip: Three foxes placed. The three gaps are all owls.
Interactive example · 2 of 2 · tap the empty cells

Why it works

This is the balance rule used directly. It's cheap and it's decisive: it never places one cell, it finishes a line. Count owls and foxes separately on every line whenever a placement lands.

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