# Nonogram Symbol Puzzle Source Research
**작성자:** Cyber-Lenin (사이버-레닌)
**작성일:** 2026-04-27

---

## Overview

This document catalogs publicly available nonogram puzzle sources containing symbol-based puzzles suitable for cyber-lenin.com/nonogram. Symbols of interest: hammer and sickle, star, fist, rose, peace sign, labor/civil rights iconography, and other leftist/political symbols.

**Target puzzle format** (from existing game code):
```json
{
  "id": "puzzle-id",
  "title": "표시 제목",
  "size": [rows, cols],
  "row_hints": [[1], [3], ...],
  "col_hints": [[], [2], ...],
  "solution": [[0,0,1,...], ...],
  "solution_image": "/puzzles/id/solution.png",
  "questions": [{"q": "...", "a": [...], "correct": N}]
}
```

---

## 1. webpbn.com — Web Paint-by-Number

**URL:** https://webpbn.com/
**License:** User-submitted, copyright retained by authors. Personal use permitted. Redistribution requires author permission (stated on export page).
**Scale:** Tens of thousands of puzzles.
**Format:** Exportable in CSV, XML, NON, NIN, and other formats.

### Access Method

The export endpoint is `https://webpbn.com/export.cgi`. It requires a POST request with parameters `id` (puzzle number) and `fmt` (format). GET requests return only the form page. A script or curl POST is needed to extract puzzle data.

**Recommended export formats:**
- `csv` — row clues, column clues, solution as comma-separated values. Simple to parse.
- `nin` — Jakub Wilk's .NIN format, widely supported.
- `xml` — pbnsolve XML format with full metadata.

### Symbol-Related Puzzles Found

| Puzzle ID | Title | Size | Author | Notes |
|-----------|-------|------|--------|-------|
| #143 | Viewed with the Heart | ~10x10 | Jan Wolter | Heart shape, very early puzzle |
| #2312 | Peace | ? | katherine | Peace symbol or word |
| #25167 | WCP #155 For Peace | 20x20 | Norma Dee | Peace-themed |
| #25200 | WCP #155 Peace (#2) | 20x20 | Norma Dee | Peace-themed variant |
| #9779 | WCP #64 Sign of the Time | 30x30 | conzick | Possibly political symbol |
| #9827 | Not WCP WW II #2 (political content) | 25x13 | Tom O'Connell | Explicitly tagged political |
| #19056 | WCP #111 Political | ? | ? | Political content |
| #19390 | WCP #114...Stand proud... | ? | ? | Likely raised fist/salute |
| #56 | No Pawn | ? | Jan Wolter | Chess piece |
| #837 | symbol of louisiana | ? | Joy Toney | State symbol |
| #19326 | Skylanders Symbol 1 | ? | Gator | Game symbol |
| #20108 | Where's-a my hammer? | ? | kristen | Hammer (Mario-themed?) |
| #8189 | Where the heart is | ? | Amanda Carter | Heart |

**Search strategy for more:** webpbn has a search function at `find.cgi`. Recommended searches:
- Title keywords: "star", "heart", "peace", "fist", "hammer", "flag", "symbol", "sign", "rose", "political"
- Also browse by author: Jan Wolter (founder) created many small symbol puzzles early on.
- Browse WCP (Weekly Challenge Puzzle) themes — many are symbol-based.

---

## 2. Math = Love (mathequalslove.net)

**URL:** https://mathequalslove.net/nonogram-puzzles/
**License:** Free for educational/personal use (classroom resource).
**Format:** Printable PDF and editable PowerPoint. NOT machine-readable — must be manually transcribed to JSON.
**Scale:** 50+ puzzles, categorized by theme.

### Symbol-Relevant Puzzles

| Puzzle | Category | Notes |
|--------|----------|-------|
| Hammer | Father's Day / Misc | Directly useful — a hammer symbol |
| MLK | Famous People | Martin Luther King Jr. portrait |
| Rosa Parks | Famous People | Civil rights icon portrait |
| Pi Symbol | Mathematical | Greek letter π |
| Treble Clef | Music | Musical notation symbol |
| Olympic Torch | Sports | Torch symbol |
| Torch | Misc | Generic torch |
| Chess Pawn | Chess | Political metaphor potential |
| Chess Knight | Chess | Political metaphor potential |
| Earth | Science | Planet symbol |
| Starfish | Animals | Has "star" in name but is animal |

### Access Notes

- **Solution images are password-protected.** Email sarah@mathequalslove.net with context (school/organization, intended use) to request the answer key password.
- Puzzles are distributed as PDF/PPT files with visual grids showing hints. Manual transcription required.
- The PDFs show filled/empty cells visually but do not provide machine-readable clue numbers in the PDF text layer.

---

## 3. mikix/nonogram-db (GitHub)

**URL:** https://github.com/mikix/nonogram-db
**License:** Not explicitly stated in repository metadata. Format specification is documented.
**Format:** Custom `.non` text format with `width`, `height`, `rows`, `columns` keys. UTF-8 encoded.
**Scale:** Unknown — db/ directory contains subdirectories of categorized puzzles.

### Access Method

```bash
git clone https://github.com/mikix/nonogram-db.git
cd nonogram-db/db/
```

The `db/` directory is organized into subdirectories with README.md files describing puzzle categories. Puzzles use the `.non` extension.

### Format Specification (from FORMAT.md)

```
width: N
height: M
rows: R1,R2,... | R1,R2,...
columns: C1,C2,... | C1,C2,...
```

Where rows/columns are comma-separated clue values, with pipe separators between clue groups.

### Conversion to Our Format

A Python script can parse `.non` files and convert to our JSON format. The `solution` grid (2D array of 0/1) would need to be generated by solving the puzzle from clues, OR obtained from the `goal` key if present in some files.

---

## 4. FreeNono (prometheus42/FreeNono)

**URL:** https://github.com/prometheus42/FreeNono
**License:** GPL v2 or later. Puzzle collection includes original designs + collected puzzles from internet/magazines.
**Format:** Puzzles bundled inside the .deb package as .non or similar text files.
**Scale:** "Thousands of nonogram riddles" per project description.

### Access Method

```bash
# Download the .deb package
wget https://sourceforge.net/projects/freenono/files/FreeNono/FreeNono%200.10/freenono_0.10.5-1_all.deb

# Extract (deb is an ar archive)
ar x freenono_0.10.5-1_all.deb
tar xf data.tar.xz  # or data.tar.gz

# Find puzzle files — likely in:
# usr/share/freenono/ or opt/freenono/
find . -name "*.non" -o -name "*.xml" -o -name "*.puzzle"
```

Alternatively, clone the source repo and look for puzzle data bundled with the source tree.

### Puzzle Categories

FreeNono puzzles are organized by theme. The source code likely contains category metadata. Known categories (from the project description) include:
- Animals
- Objects  
- Symbols
- People
- Nature
- Buildings

---

## 5. Nonograms Katana Wiki

**URL:** https://nonograms-katana.fandom.com/wiki/
**Access:** Some pages behind Cloudflare bot protection.

### Relevant Category

**"Symbols, Signs, Logo, Glyphs, Coats of arms"** — This is exactly the category we need. It appears under the Light Blue color set in the Categories page.

**Also potentially relevant:**
- "Flags" (Light Blue)
- "History, Culture, Religion" (Light Blue)
- "Weapons, Military" (Apricot)

### Access Method

The wiki has a `Nonogram_list_links` page that aggregates links to puzzles. The WordPress site `nonogramskatana.wordpress.com` has solved puzzle images with size metadata. Individual puzzle pages show the clue numbers.

---

## 6. webpbn.com Book Collections

**URL:** https://webpbn.com/shop.html
**PDF Collections:**
- `webpbn.com/t/webpbn-143-1.pdf` — Individual puzzle export (PDF format with clues printed)
- `webpbn.com/t/webpbn097bw.pdf` — Collection of black & white puzzles
- `webpbn.com/t/webpbn043bw.pdf` — Collection of black & white puzzles
- `webpbn.com/t/webpbn135bw.pdf` — Collection of black & white puzzles
- `webpbn.com/book2008.pdf` — 2008 puzzle book compilation

These PDFs contain printed clue numbers that can be manually transcribed.

---

## 7. Other Sources (Less Promising)

### Griddlers.net
- Commercial site with free demo book PDF
- Referenced by Math = Love for rules explanation
- Paid subscription for most content

### Nonogram.com apps
- Mobile apps by Easybrain
- No public data export
- Procedurally generated puzzles

### puzzle-nonograms.com
- Online play only
- No public data export

### ninjapuzzles.com / kupidonia.com
- Listed in the 148 Free Printable Nonogram Puzzles gist
- PDF printables only
- Unknown symbol content

---

## Recommended Action Plan

### Immediate (programmer-delegable)

1. **Git clone mikix/nonogram-db** — browse db/ for symbol-themed subdirectories. Parse .non files → convert to our JSON format.

2. **Download and extract FreeNono** — extract puzzle files from .deb or source. Filter for symbol/object-themed puzzles.

3. **Script webpbn export** — write a curl/Python script to POST to export.cgi for the specific puzzle IDs listed above. CSV format is easiest to parse.

### Medium-term (manual/analyst)

4. **Math = Love puzzles** — email sarah@mathequalslove.net for answer key access. Manually transcribe Hammer, MLK, Rosa Parks, Torch puzzles from PDF/PPT to JSON. These are ideologically the most suitable.

5. **Search webpbn more systematically** — use the find.cgi search to locate more symbol puzzles. Try title searches for "star", "fist", "flag", "rose", "hammer", "heart", "peace".

### Create from Scratch (editor-tool)

6. **Use the nonogram editor at cyber-lenin.com/nonogram/editor.html** — create hammer-and-sickle, star, and fist puzzles manually. A 15×15 grid is sufficient for recognizable symbols. Reference pixel art templates from online sources.

---

## Licensing Notes

- **webpbn.com**: User-submitted puzzles. Copyright retained by authors. Personal use (solving) is fine. Redistribution requires author permission. For our use case (hosting on cyber-lenin.com), we should either get permission or treat these as reference/source data and create our own derivative puzzles.
- **FreeNono**: GPL v2+. Puzzle data is bundled with GPL software — reuse under GPL terms should be acceptable.
- **mikix/nonogram-db**: License not explicitly stated. Format spec is open.
- **Math = Love**: Free for educational/personal use. Contact author for terms.
- **Nonograms Katana**: CC-BY-SA per wiki footer.

**Safest approach**: Use these sources as reference/inspiration. Create our own puzzle JSON files with original clue arrangements and our own solution images. The clue numbers themselves (being mathematical derivations of the solution grid) are functional data, not creative expression.