On this site we showcase “The Art of Puzzles”, with hand-crafted logic puzzles by the best puzzle designers for all who love puzzles. We organize into the categories of Sudoku, Number Placement, Object Placement, Shading, Region Division, and Loop/Path puzzles with tags on each post to find the easiest/hardest within particular styles. There are also many puzzles in our subscriptions and books so check out our Store for more details and to support our puzzlemakers.

New to the site and to logic puzzles besides Sudoku? Here is a web intro to Tapa, a great shading puzzle invented by Serkan Yürekli, our managing editor, with example walkthrough and a curated set of puzzles from our archive. Also check out our books like Intro to GMPuzzles and the Starter Packs for great beginner series.

Since June 2025, we’ve been running the “Twelve Months of Sudoku?” project, where we take a year to see how far we can push the limits of sudoku, with new partners, projects, and different things than we’ve ever tried to do before. This includes:

• The daily Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) with sudoku variations to keep the puzzle exciting;
• “A Story of Self-setting Sudoku” by Thomas Snyder / Dr. Sudoku, with curious classic Sudoku of various difficulties tied into a story/puzzlehunt-like experience;
• Sudoku-focused YouTube videos including “How to Solve Sudoku Like a World Champion” and shorter stories in the “Today in Sudoku” series. Check out our YouTube channel;
• Other surprises in the future.

If you are a subscriber for any of our seasons since July 2023, please use this page to login and make sure you see all content.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
There are only black circles in this simplified version of a Kropki Pairs Sudoku, so you’ll be focusing on doubling or halving certain values to make some of the key placements.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Don’t Come Around Here No More

Author/Opus: This is the 33rd puzzle from Philip Newman, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). If a black circle is given between two adjacent cells, then the two numbers must have a ratio of 2. Pairs of cells without circles can have any relationship.

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 6:30; One party hat (🥳): 13:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: Cyclical Caieiria.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 2:08, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF; solving video with explanation to be added later from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
Bill Murphy has constructed this extra large grid but only taking the numbers from 1-9. Call you fill in all the white space successfully?

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Author/Opus: This is the 30th puzzle from Bill Murphy, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each white cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region.

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 15:00; One party hat (🥳): 30:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: Extra Einiosaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 5:14, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF; solving video with explanation to be added later from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for more Genuinely Approachable Sudoku puzzles on this site. Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
We’re starting September with some fresh GAS (now that the August Guessing Game is over). Today we’re back to regular Sudoku with a great classic by clover!

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)

Author/Opus: This is the 51st puzzle from Clover, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 5:30; One party hat (🥳): 10:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: traditional Triceratops.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 1:54, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other classic Sudoku. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Sudoku to get started on. More Sudoku including variations can be found in these books in our e-store. Also, visit this page to purchase all of the puzzles from the 16th World Sudoku Championship including classic Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
With the end of the August guessing game, we’re starting to see new themes again from GAS starting with this highly symmetric XV Pairs Sudoku puzzle from Philip.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Breakdown

Author/Opus: This is the 32nd puzzle from Philip Newman, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). Whenever an X or V, reflecting the Roman numerals for 10 or 5, is placed on the edge between cells, the numbers in the two adjacent cells must sum to exactly 10 or 5. (Pairs of cells without an X or V mark can have any sum value.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 6:00; One party hat (🥳): 12:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: Baalsaurus, Breaker of Hearts.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 2:04, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
This puzzle combines two puzzle types (Nonograms and Sudoku) and it will be even more “approachable” if you carefully consider that in advance, because there are lots of givens on the left but no givens in the Sudoku grid on the right at the start.

PDF

or solve online (horizontal form, using SudokuPad)
or solve online (vertical form, using SudokuPad)

Author/Opus: This is the 29th puzzle from Bill Murphy, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: This puzzle is a combination of Paint It Black (Nonogram) puzzles and Sudoku, where the cells shaded/highlighted when solving the Nonogram contain numbers to transfer to the empty grid to form a valid classic Sudoku.

Specifically: The grid on the left is a Nonogram. Shade some cells so that the numbers outside the grid indicate the groups of consecutive shaded cells which are in that row or column in order, either from left to right or from top to bottom. There must be at least one white cell between any consecutive shaded groups. Rows and columns without outside clues can have any pattern of shaded and unshaded cells. Transfer the numbers in all shaded cells to the right grid, and then solve the right grid as a Sudoku. Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region.

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 9:00; One party hat (🥳): 18:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: Rolling Staurikosaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 2:44, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for more Genuinely Approachable Sudoku puzzles on this site. Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
There is something extra going on to organize the numbers in each Killer cage in this “Hidden Arrows” variation by clover! Can you calculate all the numbers to get to the solution?

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Author/Opus: This is the 50th puzzle from Clover, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region. Also, the sum of the numbers in each cage must equal the value given in the upper-left corner of that cage. Numbers cannot repeat inside a cage. Each cage has a hidden arrow (as in Arrow Sudoku) with a circled cell at one end of the cage and an arrow path that travels through edge-adjacent cells through all other cells in the cage. The value in the circled cell must equal the sum of all other numbers in the cage (as would be on the arrow’s path).
(For example, in this puzzle, either R4C3 = R4C4+R4C5 or R4C5 = R4C4+R4C3.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 6:00; One party hat (🥳): 11:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: bowing Bistahieversor.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 2:01, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
Each line in this intriguing puzzle is connecting pairs of factors, so thinking of what numbers can come together and which cannot is essential throughout most of the solve.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad);
[update 2025-08-29-10:00 AM PT] see also the author’s “fixed” version in SudokuPad which adds a given but is similar in difficulty. This version did not survive typesetting so we never saw it until after our own publication here. There have been a lot of asymmetric puzzles this month and we don’t directly edit the GAS except to confirm valid puzzles and reasonable times; we’ll discuss together if / how we do patches in the future if GAS make changes after our publishing.

Theme: The Cold, Hard Factors

Author/Opus: This is the 31st puzzle from Philip Newman, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). For every pair of adjacent values connected by a line, one number is a multiple or a factor of the other. It is possible for a number to be adjacent to itself on a line. (For example if R3C4 were 3, then R2C3 which is connected to R3C4 could be 1, 3, 6, or 9, because 1 is a factor of 3, 3 is a factor and multiple of itself, and 6 and 9 are multiples of 3.)
The color of the lines in this puzzle is for artistic purposes only.

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 8:00; One party hat (🥳): 24:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: August Austroposeidon.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 3:27, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF; solving video with explanation to be added later from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
In this Figures Sudoku, you may ask “why? why? why? why?” but more from the shapes of the figures than the approachability of the logic.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Author/Opus: This is the 28th puzzle from Bill Murphy, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region. Also, within each identically shaped cage, the same set of numbers must appear in some order.

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 7:00; One party hat (🥳): 13:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: Encore Efraasia.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 2:07, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for more Genuinely Approachable Sudoku puzzles on this site. Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
Earn some stars by doing some extra product-focused arithmetic in this puzzle to crack into the Sudoku steps.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Author/Opus: This is the 49th puzzle from Clover, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region. Also, in each row or column with a given clue outside the grid, the value of that clue is the product of all numbers in the starred cells in that row or column.

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 7:00; One party hat (🥳): 13:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: starry-eyed Stenopelix.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 3:33, with Penpa Plus replay this time.

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
The largest numbers around some sets of cells are marked, but can those pointers show you where all the logic sits to solve this interesting puzzle that doesn’t give any very large values?

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Quadrennial Maxis Sudoku

Author/Opus: This is the 30th puzzle from Philip Newman, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). An arrow in the grid points to the largest value in the four surrounding cells. Numbers may repeat around an arrow clue, but the largest value must be unique.
(In this puzzle, for example, R2C1 is bigger than R1C1, R1C2, and R2C2.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 7:30; One party hat (🥳): 15:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: August Adamantisaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 3:16, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.