Sudoku Made and maintained by Brian Hamilton and Karan Hamilton.
Brian builds the playable puzzle tools, while Karan helps test clarity, difficulty feel, and the player experience.
Playable puzzles and controls are tested in the browser for rule accuracy, usability, and a clear solving experience. See how we make and test puzzles, our editorial standards, or report a problem.
Thanksgiving Sudoku: For the Long Wait Before Dinner
Thanksgiving Sudoku is classic Sudoku laid out like the holiday table — turkey, pumpkin pie, corn, pumpkin, apple, bread, fork and knife, fallen leaf, and hot drink. Set the display to icons, to digits, or to a helping of each; every tile takes exactly one seat in each row, column, and box.
Built for turkey time
The defining feature of Thanksgiving Day is the wait: hours of it, with the kitchen off-limits and everyone slightly underfoot. That is the gap this board was made for. A 6x6 runs about the length of one basting cycle, the kids' table can hold a tournament of 4x4s with nothing to spill or lose, and the after-dinner stretch — when nobody can move but nobody wants to sleep yet — is exactly the size of a slow 9x9.
The pumpkin problem
The tile set has one built-in ambush: the pumpkin and the pumpkin pie are both orange, and both sit on the beginner 4x4 board. One is round and one is a slice, but at phone size, mid-conversation, they will swap on you. The Both display mode gives every tile a small number label — worth it before the relatives start offering advice. And yes, the pumpkin also works our Halloween board in October; in November it takes the dinner shift.
How the table fills
Tiles are seated in order. The 4x4 board starts with the turkey, pumpkin pie, corn, and pumpkin; the apple and bread join at 6x6; and the fork and knife, fallen leaf, and hot drink complete the 9x9. Any host will recognise the accuracy of the cutlery arriving last.
Whoever places the final tile of a puzzle says one thing they are grateful for. Corny? Completely. It is Thanksgiving.
Same rule, second helpings
Every puzzle has a single solution: no tile repeats in any row, column, or box, no matter how good the pie is. If you want the season without the dinner, our Fall Sudoku board shares half this pantry but trades the turkey and cutlery for leaves, acorns, and mushrooms. Difficulty grading and hints are explained over on the Themed Sudoku page, along with everything else on the menu.
Thanksgiving Sudoku FAQ
They share several harvest tiles — pumpkin, apple, corn, fallen leaf, hot drink — but Thanksgiving Sudoku is the dinner board, led by the turkey, pumpkin pie, and cutlery, while Fall Sudoku is the outdoors board with maple leaves, acorns, and mushrooms.
Tiles are seated in order: the 4x4 uses the turkey, pumpkin pie, corn, and pumpkin; the apple and bread join at 6x6; and the fork and knife, fallen leaf, and hot drink only appear on the full 9x9.
They are both orange and both on the beginner 4x4 board — one round, one a slice, and easy to swap at phone size. Both mode adds a small number label to every tile, which settles it.