At Sign Mahjong Solitaire

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About the At Sign Layout

The At Sign layout recreates the email symbol everyone types every day, a small lowercase a wrapped inside a big sweeping ring that almost closes but leaves a little gap at the lower right. The board has two distinct parts that play very differently: a tight cluster of tiles forming the inner a, and a long curved band of tiles forming the ring that encircles it. Between them sits a thin moat of empty space, with that lower-right opening acting like a doorway between the outer ring and the world. It is a compact, circular shape that feels balanced and self-contained.

At three out of five it sits right in the comfortable middle. The ring is the easy part, an open curve with lots of free edges, while the inner a is the tricky part because it is small, dense, and partly shielded by the ring around it. The interplay between the breezy outer loop and the cramped inner core is what gives this board its character. It rewards a clear plan, finish the ring to expose the center, then carefully dismantle the a, and punishes anyone who burrows into the middle too soon.

Difficulty: Hard (3/5) | Tiles: 60

How to Clear the At Sign Layout

Open with the ring. The big outer loop is loosely stacked and full of tiles sitting on free edges, so it gives you a steady run of early matches. Clearing it also strips away the wall that partly shields the inner a, which is the whole point of doing it first.

Use the gap at the lower right as your anchor. Because the ring opens there, the tiles on either side of that doorway are the most exposed on the entire outer loop. Start your sweep from the gap and work around the circle in both directions, so you are always pulling from the loosest edges available.

The crux is the inner a. It is small and tightly packed, and tiles in its center stay locked until the ring is mostly gone. Once the loop is cleared, dismantle the a from its outer curve inward rather than stabbing at the middle, peeling layers so each interior tile lands on a free edge before you try to match it.

Save flexibility for the cramped core. Hold a flower or season pair if you can, since flowers match any flower and seasons match any season, because the inner a is exactly where a wild match rescues a tight spot. And if the center genuinely jams, Shuffle re-deals the remaining tiles into a new solvable arrangement.

The Story Behind the At Sign Layout

The at sign is ancient as a scribe's shorthand but was nearly forgotten until 1971, when a programmer chose it to separate a username from its host computer in the first network email, simply because it was already on the keyboard and otherwise unused. That single decision turned a dusty accounting mark into one of the most-typed symbols on Earth, and gave it its modern meaning of a person located at a place.

Its design is what makes it a great Mahjong board: a shape literally built as a ring around a smaller shape, a puzzle nested inside a puzzle. That outer-and-inner structure maps perfectly onto Mahjong's layered clearing, with the loop as your warm-up and the enclosed a as the real test. It is a clever, modern silhouette with a surprisingly deep little center.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I clear the ring or the inner a first?

Always the ring first. The outer loop is the easy, open part of the board, and clearing it removes the wall that shields the inner a. Dig into the center too early and you will strand tiles you cannot reach until the ring is gone anyway.

What is the significance of the gap at the lower right?

That opening is your best starting point. Because the ring does not fully close there, the tiles flanking the gap are the most exposed on the whole loop. Begin your sweep from the doorway and work around the circle in both directions.

Why does the small inner a give me so much trouble?

It is compact and tightly stacked, so its central tiles stay locked while the ring surrounds them. The fix is sequence and direction: clear the ring, then peel the a from its outer edge inward so each interior tile ends up on a free edge before you match it.

If the center locks up completely, is the round over?

No. Every deal is guaranteed solvable, and the Shuffle button re-deals the remaining tiles into another solvable layout. Holding a flower or season pair, which match anything in their group, also helps you pry open a stubborn core.

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