LinkedIn Patches #107 Answer & Analysis

Begin with the two 2-cell patches on the top row. They only fit horizontally, so the top-left pair and the upper orange pair are forced immediately. At the far right, the green 2 must run down the edge because it cannot spread left without colliding with the top-row structure.

Next, solve the two 3-cell patches near the top-middle. Both are forced vertical because the surrounding top-row pairs block horizontal growth. Once those columns are fixed, the red 2 beneath the orange pair and the lavender 2 in the upper-left interior also fall into place.

With the top columns fixed, the center row can be read as a separator. The horizontal 3-cell patch in the middle has no room to turn, so it spans across the center. On the left side, the green 4-cell region is best viewed as a compact 2x2 block because the neighboring patches leave no room for a long shape.

Now the lower middle becomes easier to read. The aqua 4 and purple 4 each fit best as 2x2 regions because the adjacent 2-cell patches on the left and right prevent any long extension. This is the key structural step in the solution because it locks most of the remaining center space.

The last placements are the edge pairs on the left, right, and bottom. The tan 2 on the left, the orange-red 2 at the lower-left corner, the brown 2 on the right edge, and the bottom-row pairs all finish cleanly once the middle is fixed. At this point, every numbered patch has the correct size, every patch is connected, no regions overlap, and the entire 7x7 board is filled.