Jack-O-Lantern Mahjong Solitaire

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About the Jack-O-Lantern Layout

The Jack-O-Lantern board is a wide, round pumpkin built from horizontal courses of tiles that bulge out in the middle and taper at the top and bottom, just like a fat squash sitting on a porch. A short rectangular block perches on top for the stem, and three negative-space cutouts shape the face: two small triangular eyes set high and a long jagged grin slashed across the lower belly. Because the carved features are gaps rather than tiles, the pumpkin reads as a friendly glowing face even before you make your first match.

This is a medium-difficulty layout, rated three out of five, and it plays exactly as round as it looks. The wide curved sides give you generous open edges to start, so the opening never feels cramped. The catch is the dense core of the pumpkin body, where tiles stack two and three layers deep around the eye and mouth cutouts. The board feels welcoming and seasonal, a comfortable autumn sit-down, but the middle belly will make you think before the last dozen tiles fall.

Difficulty: Hard (3/5) | Tiles: 134

How to Clear the Jack-O-Lantern Layout

Start along the rounded outer rim of the pumpkin. The left and right curves of the body are single-layer edges with tiles exposed on the outside, so almost everything on the silhouette is immediately free. Clear the perimeter first to thin the board and expose the second layer underneath the belly.

Use the carved face as your friend. The triangular eye holes and the jagged grin are empty space, which means the tiles bordering those cutouts have a free side facing into the gap. Tiles framing the mouth slot in particular open up quickly, so target the grin early to crack into the stacked center from below.

The crux is the upper-middle band between the two eyes and the stem. That patch sits under the deepest overlap and is hemmed in on three sides. Avoid blindly clearing the stem block too soon, because the stem caps a small stack you may want as a free edge later. Hold a couple of matched pairs in reserve so you are not forced to break into that band before its neighbors are gone.

For the endgame, work from the grin upward and from the rim inward so the last tiles surface in the open belly rather than buried by the eyes. If the central band locks before the edges fully clear, hit Shuffle. It re-deals only the remaining tiles into a fresh solvable arrangement, which almost always frees a new pair near the eyes.

The Story Behind the Jack-O-Lantern Layout

The jack-o-lantern began not with pumpkins at all but with carved turnips and beets in Irish and Scottish folklore, lanterns meant to ward off a wandering soul named Stingy Jack. When the tradition crossed to North America, settlers found the native pumpkin far bigger and easier to hollow, and the glowing orange grin became the face of modern Halloween.

That carved face is what makes it a great Mahjong shape. A real jack-o-lantern is defined as much by what is cut away as by what remains, and a tile board works the same way: the triangular eyes and the jagged smile are voids in the layout, so the negative space does the storytelling. You are essentially un-carving the pumpkin one tile at a time until only the porch is left.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do the tiles around the mouth clear so easily?

The grin is a cutout, so any tile sitting beside that empty slot has an exposed side. A tile only needs one open left or right edge to be selectable, and the long jagged mouth gives a whole row of tiles that free edge, which is why the lower belly tends to fall first.

Should I clear the stem first or last?

Neither extreme. The stem is a small block on top that often caps a short stack in the upper body. Clearing it too early can strand tiles beneath, and ignoring it can leave a stubborn pair at the very end. Match it once its supporting tiles are already in motion, usually in the middle of the game.

What is the hardest part of the Jack-O-Lantern board?

The band of tiles squeezed between the two eye holes and the stem. It sits under the deepest layering and is boxed in on multiple sides, so save some flexible matches to break in from the rim and the grin rather than attacking it head-on.

Is every Jack-O-Lantern deal winnable?

Yes. Each board is generated by starting from a solved layout and working backwards, so a complete solution always exists. If you stall, the Shuffle button re-deals the remaining tiles into another solvable state.

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