Nonogram, picross, griddlers, hanjie: the names
Nonogram, Picross, Griddlers and Hanjie all describe the same picture logic puzzle. Different countries and companies picked different names over time. This page names each source and explains which grid puzzles are not nonograms.
Updated 9 September 2026
Nonogram
The Wikipedia article on Nonograms says the puzzle collector James Dalgety coined the word 'nonogram'. He built it from 'Non', part of the creator Non Ishida's name, and 'gram', from the word diagram. This site uses 'nonogram' as the general name for the puzzle type.
Picross
Nintendo publishes its own puzzle games under the name Picross. This site avoids that name because it belongs to Nintendo's game series. The Wikipedia article on Picross says Nintendo released Mario's Picross for the Game Boy in 1995. This site never uses 'Picross' as a product name, because the word belongs to Nintendo.
Griddlers
The Wikipedia article on Nonograms says The Sunday Telegraph ran the puzzles weekly from 1990. In 1998, readers voted in a competition and chose the name 'Griddlers'. The website griddlers.net also uses this name for its own puzzle collection.
Hanjie, Paint by Numbers and Pic-a-Pix
Hanjie is a common name for the puzzle in the United Kingdom. Paint by Numbers describes how filled cells build a picture, like painting inside numbered areas. The company Conceptis Puzzles uses the name Pic-a-Pix for its own puzzle sets.
Other grid puzzles that are not nonograms
Fill-a-Pix uses numbers written inside cells, not at the grid edges. Each number counts the filled cells in its own 3×3 area. Link-a-Pix asks you to connect pairs of matching numbers with a line of that exact length. Triddlers use a triangular grid instead of a square one. All three use grid logic, but none of them are nonograms.
Frequently asked questions
Is Picross the same puzzle as a nonogram?
Picross uses the same puzzle logic as a nonogram, but Picross is Nintendo's trademarked name for its own game series. This site uses 'nonogram' because that name has no single owner.
Who owns the name Griddlers?
The Sunday Telegraph's readers chose the name Griddlers in a 1998 competition, according to the Wikipedia article on Nonograms. The website griddlers.net also uses this name for its own puzzle collection.
Why does this site avoid the word Picross?
Nintendo owns the trademark Picross for its own game series. This site uses the generic name 'nonogram' instead, so it does not suggest any link to Nintendo's games.
Is Hanjie a different puzzle from a nonogram?
Hanjie names the same puzzle type as a nonogram, common in the United Kingdom. The grid, the clue numbers, and the fill-and-cross rules stay the same under every name.