Tango Rules

The board

Every Tango puzzle is played on a 6×6 grid. There are exactly two symbols you place into the cells: a sun and a moon. The board starts with a small number of cells already filled in (the clues), plus a set of constraint markers (= or ×) between certain pairs of adjacent cells. Your job is to fill every empty cell correctly so that all four rules below are satisfied at the same time.

Tango Unlimited is faithful to the LinkedIn Tango rule set, so anything you learn here transfers directly to the LinkedIn daily puzzle.

Rule 1 — Row and column balance

When the board is finished, every row must contain exactly three suns and three moons, and every column must contain exactly three suns and three moons. Because each row and column has six cells, three of one symbol forces the remaining cells to be the other symbol.

Example: if a row already shows three suns, the remaining empty cells in that row must all be moons. If a column already shows three moons, the remaining empty cells in that column must all be suns. This is the simplest forcing pattern in Tango and you should look for it first on every move.

Rule 2 — No three in a row

You can never place three of the same symbol next to each other, either horizontally or vertically. The rule does not apply on diagonals — only on rows and columns. Two suns next to each other are fine; three are forbidden. Two moons next to each other are fine; three are forbidden.

Example: if you see two suns side by side in a row, the cell on either side of that pair must be a moon. The same logic applies vertically. This is one of the highest-value patterns to spot, because each two-symbol pair forces up to two surrounding cells.

Rule 3 — The = and × markers

Some pairs of adjacent cells have a small marker between them. There are exactly two markers in Tango:

• = (equals) — the two cells must hold the same symbol. Either both suns, or both moons.
• × (cross) — the two cells must hold the opposite symbol. One sun and one moon.

Markers chain. If you can determine either side of a marker, you immediately know the other side. Markers also interact with rule 2: an = pair counts as two identical symbols, so the cell on either end of an = pair is constrained by the no-three-in-a-row rule.

Example: a row contains an = pair on cells 3 and 4. If cell 5 is already a sun, then cells 3 and 4 cannot both be suns (that would create three suns in a row at positions 3, 4, 5). Therefore cells 3 and 4 must both be moons.

Rule 4 — Deduction only

Every Tango puzzle has exactly one valid solution that can be found by pure deduction. You should never need to guess. If you find yourself placing a symbol just to see what happens, you have missed an applied rule somewhere. Stop, undo, and re-read the row balances, the no-three-in-a-row pattern, and the constraint markers — the next forced move is always visible.

How the rules work together

In practice, every Tango move comes from one of three sources: a same-symbol pair forcing its neighbours, a row or column reaching three of one symbol, or a constraint marker linked to a known cell. Most boards open with a chain of marker-driven moves, then a chain of pair-driven moves, then a final cleanup pass when the row/column counts collapse the remaining empties.

When you can read all four rules at once, a Tango board feels less like a puzzle and more like a series of forced moves you simply execute.

Controls

Tap a cell to cycle through sun → moon → empty. On desktop, right-click reverses the cycle. On mobile, long-press reverses the cycle. Pre-placed clues cannot be changed. Use Undo or Reset if you want to roll back a move.