Nanro by Mystery Author
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use the tab key to alternate between shading and number entry modes)
Theme: Countdown to …
Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from our new contributing puzzlemaster who will be identified later this week. [ETA: The author has been revealed as Prasanna Seshadri.]
Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the segments labeled with numbers from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:15, Master = 3:30, Expert = 7:00
Solution: PDF
Note: This is our first Nanro puzzle, so if you are new to this puzzle type please also try out the example on the Rules and Info page.
A nice first puzzle, welcome! They almost look like letters hidden in the grid… 😉
PS who is the author
Hm, didn’t notice the letter aspect.
I was actually gonna guess: “PS”, who is the author
One thing I thought was interesting was that because of the theme, the entire top 2/3 or so of the puzzle is driven by the 2×2 rule with no real need to worry about connectivity or same numbers touching, while the bottom third or so is all connectivity and no same numbers touching.
who indeed – now there’s a puzzle!
Bram de Laat?
02:12 whee
Nice one. (What would be) my comment has been stated by Jack Bross, so I’ll just stop there.
I’m wondering which is the more elegant Nanro representation, using digits like this or using black/white squares with the rule “if two regions have the same number of shaded squares, no two shaded squares, one from each region, may share a side”. The upside is of course the much more natural connectivity, like Nurikabe and Tapa; the disadvantage is the above contrived phrasing of the rule.
Really interesting discussion here.
I played with both formatting ideas a lot on this puzzle. It turns out I like shading only on some instances of Nanro, and having the numbers on others, often tied to the particular logic being highlighted. Because the original author developed Nanro with numbers, I decided to stick with this presentation but emphasize the potential value of shading (either on or off squares) in our instructions.
I use shading almost all the time. I think it depends on the solver and what they’re good at visualizing/remembering and balancing that out. I’m good at remembering numbers so I don’t really need to mark the number for each region. Someone who’s good at visualizing connectivity and 2×2 violations even while using numbers would probably do it that way.
I’ve been enjoying these nanro puzzles (a new type to me), and have been solving with unshaded numbers and shaded “empty” squares. It took a moment of mental adjustment to accustom myself to having the 2×2 rule affect unshaded squares for a change, but it wasn’t so bad. (Less confusing than the masyu-ish black and white circles are to me in Statue Park, anyway.)