Wine Glass Mahjong Solitaire
About the Wine Glass Layout
The Wine Glass layout is an elegant, top-heavy figure: a rounded cup-shaped bowl sits high on the board, balanced on a thin vertical stem that runs straight down and flares at the bottom into a flat circular foot. The bowl is the broadest, most generous mass of tiles, gently curved to suggest a vessel ready to be filled. Beneath it the stem is a slender line, often just a column a tile or two wide, and the foot spreads back out into a low disc that anchors the whole shape. The silhouette is unmistakably refined, all curves and balance.
This is a calm 2-out-of-5 board with a pleasing rhythm to it. The bowl, being wide and largely a single sweeping layer, gives up matches readily once you skim its top, and the stem and foot are thin enough that they rarely hide much. The one thing to watch is the narrow stem, which acts as a kind of pinch point between the bowl above and the foot below. Manage that slim middle sensibly and the glass empties gracefully.
Difficulty: Medium (2/5) | Tiles: 124
How to Clear the Wine Glass Layout
Open with the rim and outer curve of the bowl. The top edge of the bowl is exposed all along its arc, so those tiles match freely and clearing them peels the bowl open from the outside in, which is where most of the board's tiles live.
Do not strand the stem. Because it is so thin, the stem can become a bottleneck: tiles there may be blocked above by the bowl and below by the foot. Keep an eye on it and clear stem tiles as they free up, rather than leaving a lonely column pinned between two cleared regions.
The crux is the junction where the bowl meets the stem. A tile or two right at that narrow waist often gates progress between the upper and lower halves of the glass. Prioritize freeing that connection so you can move tiles between the bowl and the foot instead of working them as two isolated pools.
For the endgame, the flat foot is usually the simplest piece and a fine place to finish, since it is a low, open disc. Clear the bowl, then the stem, then the foot. If the last stem or foot tiles deadlock against each other, Shuffle will re-deal the remainder into a solvable layout.
The Story Behind the Wine Glass Layout
The stemmed wine glass is a small triumph of design: the long stem exists so your hand never warms the wine and your fingerprints never cloud the bowl, while the wide foot keeps a tall, tippy vessel from toppling. That graceful, deliberately unbalanced shape, heavy and round on top, impossibly slim in the middle, is exactly what makes it interesting to build from square tiles.
Translating those curves and that delicate stem into a grid is part of the charm, because the board has to suggest roundness and fragility with blocky pieces and somehow it works. The result is one of the more visually elegant layouts in the set, a quiet, poised shape that feels a touch more sophisticated than the everyday objects around it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I start on the Wine Glass layout?
Along the rim and outer curve of the bowl. The top edge is exposed all the way around, so those tiles clear easily and open the bowl from the outside in.
Why does the stem give me trouble?
The stem is very narrow, so its tiles can be blocked by the bowl above and the foot below at the same time. Clear stem tiles as soon as they come free instead of leaving the column stranded between two cleared areas.
What is the key to clearing this board?
Freeing the waist where the bowl meets the stem. That junction connects the upper and lower halves of the glass, so opening it lets you move between the bowl and the foot rather than treating them as separate puzzles.
Is the Wine Glass a difficult layout?
No, it is a relaxed 2 out of 5. The bowl and foot are open and easy; only the slim stem asks for a little attention, which keeps the game gentle and elegant.
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