Digging out
A deal stalls when a foundation is waiting for a card that has six others sitting on it. Everything else on the board is a detour until that card comes free.
Count before you move
At the start, find each ace and count the cards above it. An ace under one card is nothing; an ace under six is the shape of the whole game. The cards on top have to go somewhere, and every somewhere costs you space you would rather keep.
Uncovering is the point
A move that puts a card somewhere useful and uncovers a card that then has a home is worth two moves that only tidy the board. When the hint says a move uncovers a particular card, that is what it has spotted.
Twos matter as much as aces
An ace with its two buried deep is barely better than no ace. Foundations move in lockstep with the lowest card still stuck, so dig for the pair.
Reading the start of a deal
Before your first move, find all four aces and count what covers each. Start with the shallowest unless reaching it would fill two free cells at once. An ace on its foundation makes room for its two, and the two for its three — one early ace often pays for the cells it cost.
On a real board: deal 1
This is the start of deal 1, exactly as the board draws it. The solid outline marks the card the first hint moves; a dashed outline marks the card it is working towards.
On the board, this one reads: Digging towards the A♣: a foundation is waiting for it, and 2 cards were on top.
At the start of deal 1, the A♣ has 2 cards on top of it. The first hint moves the 3♦ off that pile into a free cell, so one card fewer stands between the ace and its foundation. It costs a cell — the limit drops from 5 to 4 — and the solver still plays it first, because that ace is what the rest of the deal is waiting for.
Play deal 1. It is the first hint of the deal.