Tapa is one of the most widely played competitive pencil puzzles in the world. It tests connectivity, local run deduction, and global topology.

• Continuous Wall: All black cells must form a single connected component through horizontal or vertical adjacency.
• Clue Blocks: Numbers in clue cells specify the lengths of contiguous runs of black cells among its 8 neighbors. Multiple numbers must be separated by at least one white cell.
• No 2x2 Squares: Solid 2x2 blocks of black cells are forbidden everywhere.

Key Deductions:

Corner & Edge Constraints: A clue of 3 at the corner of the board forces all 3 available neighbors black! Around an interior clue of 8, all 8 neighbors are black. Around high sum clues (like 1 5 or 2 4), the separation whites are heavily restricted, instantly revealing the paths!