Tapa (Triomino) by Prasanna Seshadri
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between shading mode and the composite Yajilin mode where left click marks cells, right click marks dots in cells or X’s on edges, left click+drag draws lines.)
Theme: Open Middle
Author/Opus: This is the 7th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.
Rules: Standard Tapa rules. Also, the entire Tapa must be made out of L triominoes, without overlapping. The L triominoes can be rotated.
Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the shaded segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry with a comma.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:30, Master = 6:30, Expert = 13:00
Solution: PDF
Note: Follow this link for other Tapa variations and this link for classic Tapa. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Tapa puzzles to get started on.
Nice how the center part evolves to exactly one solution with only clues along the edges !
Had to google triminoes though, learned that it’s a combo of three cells shaped like :
x
xx
The shape was in the PDF, but we’ve now added the shape in the post as well. Thanks.
04:47.
This is a gem with that center. Amazing puzzle!
Center is awesome 🙂
Hm… i’ve tried this 3 times and each time it ended up having no solution.. i don’t know what could possibly be wrong, i’ve double and triple checked each step :/
And now i’ve proved it four times. Does anyone have a solution? I just cannot find the wrong step. I’m quite frustrated with this Puzzle :/
I assume the problem you are facing is towards the end, because I’ve received mails on this puzzle too at that point. A hint – You can fit two triminos in a middle area where it may seem like only one can be fit in.
Thank you so much for your quick reply! After your hint and letting the puzzle rest for a few hours, solving it again finally let me see the admittedly stupid mistake i made 4 times in a row… thank you for the great puzzles you share, i am very sorry for complaining earlier when the only problem was my inability to think 😉
Happy to help 🙂 I’ve made some silly errors too and completely understand. Plus, like I said, this one seems to be a more common error, which is why I was so quick with the reply.
Ok, Prasanna, I’m right where egrieg was 4 1/2 years ago. I feel like I’m so carefully placing trimonos, avoiding 2x2s, and blocking off the empty cells from reaching two edges. Multiple times trying the puzzle, and I keep coming to the same “nope!” right when I think I’m just about finished. Your clue about the middle that was so helpful to egrieg hasn’t helped me yet. Any chance you might post a solution? … maybe a picture on imgur or something with a link here? I’ve been at this type of spot before where it seems to me like a great puzzlemaker has messed up, and it almost always turns out that something obvious just wasn’t revealing itself to me while trying to solve. And, based on all the compliments to you on this one and the happy solvers, it’s clear that’s exactly what’s happened again. 🙂
I’ve added a PDF of the solution to this post.
Thanks so much, Tom! For some reason, each time I got to placing a trimino part in r4c7 (which I call “G4”), I could only visualize it as an end piece and not a middle part. I think by that point, I was just so accustomed to entering each new trimino as end, middle, end. Thanks again.
Maybe at least it’s nice to know that folks are still enjoying old posts like these. Well, I am anyway.