From the Foxger’s Den #40: Masyu (Semi-Liar)
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools in linex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)
This is a “Franken-Friday” puzzle variation.
Theme: Half Truths
Rules: Variation of Masyu rules. Half of the circles are lying; a lying white circle is actually a black circle and a lying black circle is actually a white circle. The loop must alternate between true circles and lying circles (T-L-T-L-…).
Answer String: Enter the length in cells of the horizontal loop segments from left to right in the marked rows, starting at the top. If the loop only has vertical segments in the marked row, enter 0. Separate each row’s entry with a comma.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:30, Master = 10:00, Expert = 20:00
Solution: PDF
Fun variant. I particularly liked having those loose ends swoosh around the right hand side of the puzzle.
I do think “semiliar” could use a hyphen (“semi-liar”). I read it to rhyme with familiar and was sitting there thinking “What the heck is a seMILLyer? Sounds like some sort of Pokemon…”.
It seems I read Grant’s file name more than his submission message; he went with the hyphen too so I’ve made the change.
06:30. I still can’t believe I made Master (and a plenty of leeway too); I thought the target times will be somewhere around 2-3 minutes (seeing that all three Semi-Liar Masyu I made in Deception are that easy)…
Oh well. A well-made puzzle, with logic driving the solve. I once got stuck because I didn’t realize two endpoints are of the same “parity” at the right; that makes up most of the final half of the puzzle. There are many what-ifs, but a quick one (always near a strand (which means should be intuitive to check first when one is stuck), and it’s a simple “if this is true/false, then some strands of the same parity are immediately stuck, needing to be connected). So I wouldn’t say there’s much bifurcation.
…so, yeah. Nice puzzle. I suppose I should have asked our foxger to make a few Semi-Liar Masyu for Deception 😛
I always love new rules that make a puzzle I’m comfortable with solve in interesting new ways. This puzzle did a great job of that and I really enjoyed it.
Any time I see lots of white space near the edge in a Masyu I try to predict whether it’s going to get walled off or ends-chased through. The parity restrictions on this one let it ends-chase through that big chunk of white space, which I enjoyed.