Untangle Strategy: Find the Loop, Build the Ring

Updated October 2026

Untangle gives you two minutes and a knot of dots and lines. Clear the knot so that no two lines cross, and a new one appears. Many players attack each puzzle by poking at the red lines one at a time, which works on the first levels and collapses once a dozen dots are on screen. There is a better way, and it comes straight from how the puzzles are built. This guide explains that structure, a step-by-step method that solves every level, and how to spend your two minutes well.

The rules in practice

Each level shows a set of nodes joined by lines. You drag a node and its lines follow. The Crossings counter shows how many pairs of lines currently cross, and every line involved in a crossing is drawn in red, while untroubled lines stay blue. Lines that share a node do not count as crossing each other unless one is folded back along the other. Lines lying on top of each other, or a line running straight through a node it does not belong to, do count as crossings, so squashing every node into a straight row along an edge never solves a level.

The level is judged when you lift your finger. If the count is zero at that moment, the level counts toward your score immediately, the board shows a success message and, after a short 0.8-second pause, the next level appears. The counter updates while you drag, so you can watch a crossing disappear as you move a node, but the level only clears on release.

You can grab a node by touching anywhere within 24 pixels of its centre, comfortably more than the visible dot, and if two nodes are close together the nearer one is picked. Nodes cannot be pushed right up against the border; they stop a short distance inside it.

The two-minute clock starts when you press Start and runs on real time, so it keeps counting if you switch apps. Your score is the number of levels completed before it reaches zero.

How every puzzle is built

This is the key to the whole game. Each puzzle is made from one closed loop that passes through every node exactly once, plus a small number of extra lines, here called shortcuts, joining two nodes that are not neighbours on the loop. The shortcuts are chosen so that, when the loop is laid out as a ring, none of them cross each other inside it. The nodes are then scattered at random to make the tangle.

The size grows with the level:

• Level 1 has 5 nodes and level 2 has 6, with no shortcuts at all: the whole puzzle is a single loop.
• Levels 3 and 4 have 7 and 8 nodes, each with one shortcut.
• From level 5 the shortcut count is half the level number, rounded down, so level 5 has 2 shortcuts and levels 6 and 7 have 3.
• Node count reaches its maximum of 12 at level 8, and the shortcut count reaches its maximum of 5 at level 10. From level 10 onward every puzzle is the same size.

In our simulation of thousands of starting layouts, the average number of crossings when a level appeared was about 2 at level 1, 4 at level 3, 9 at level 5, 21 at level 8 and 23 at level 10. Those numbers look intimidating, but the structure means they all collapse with the same method.

The ring method, step by step

Because every puzzle is a loop with non-crossing shortcuts, there is always a solution where the nodes sit around a ring in loop order with the shortcuts running across the inside. Your job is not to fix crossings; it is to rebuild that ring.

1. Pick a starting node. Choose one with exactly two lines, if you can see one. On levels 1 and 2 every node qualifies.
2. Place it on the ring. Drag it toward the top of the board, comfortably inside the edge.
3. Follow one of its lines. Take the node at the other end and place it a short step clockwise around your imagined ring.
4. Keep walking the loop. From each new node, follow the line you have not yet used and place the next node one further step around. Ignore the red lines elsewhere on the board; they will sort themselves out as the ring forms.
5. Close the ring. When you return to your starting node, the loop is complete, and any shortcuts will lie across the inside of the ring without crossing.

The only tricky part is a node with three or more lines, because it has one or more shortcuts in addition to its two loop lines. When you reach such a node while walking, you need to choose which line continues the loop. A good test is to look ahead: the loop line leads on to more unplaced nodes, while a shortcut often leads back to a node that is already on your ring. If you guess wrong, the line you placed will cut across the ring; just move that node back and take the other line.

Tidying up after the ring

Sometimes the counter still shows one or two crossings after the ring is finished. That almost always means two neighbouring nodes were placed in the wrong order. Look for a red pair of lines near the ring, and swap the two nodes at their ends. Because a ring layout is very forgiving, one swap usually brings the count to zero.

Keep the ring large. With 12 nodes on a typical phone, a ring filling most of the board leaves a generous gap between neighbours, so you will not grab the wrong node by accident. A cramped ring forces you to work with nodes inside each other's grab radius and makes ordering mistakes much more likely.

A ring is not the only solution, and on easy levels you can often clear the board with two or three quick moves. Use the full method when the board has more than about eight nodes or when a few quick moves have not reduced the count.

Spending two minutes well

• Read the board before moving. A two-second look to spot a node with two lines and the direction of its loop saves several wasted drags.
• Do not chase the counter. Dragging a node back and forth to see whether the number drops is slow. Commit to the ring and let the count fall naturally.
• Release only when you mean it. The board is judged on lift, so a solved layout is not scored until your finger leaves the screen. Lift cleanly after the final move.
• Finish even at the buzzer. A board is scored the instant you lift your finger with zero crossings, so a puzzle solved a moment before time runs out still counts. Keep working right up to the end.

Common mistakes

• Working in the middle of the knot. Fixing one crossing in the crowded centre usually creates another. Building outward along the loop avoids that.
• Forgetting shortcuts exist. From level 3 onward, some nodes have three lines. Treating every line as part of the loop leads to a ring that crosses itself.
• Placing nodes against the border. They stop just inside it, and a crowded edge makes grabbing the right node harder.

A practice plan

1. On levels 1 and 2, practise walking the loop without thinking about crossings at all. Aim to place every node in one pass.
2. From level 3, learn to spot three-line nodes before you start, and decide which of their lines are loop lines.
3. Once the method is automatic, work on speed by making each drag one smooth motion to its ring spot.

Your best result is kept on your device, and the game-over card lets you send any score above zero to the Hall of Fame. Find the loop, build the ring, and the tangles stop being tangles.