The last week of variety puzzles from guest contributors can be found in this PDF.

This next week will feature two new puzzle types. Serkan Yürekli has created a Nurikabe variation with snakes. It’s called Golem Grad, after a Macedonian island also known as “Snake Island”. Craig Kasper has created another interesting loop crossover variation called Round Trip. We’ll be alternating between the two styles this week with progressively harder puzzles. I hope you enjoy the new challenges.

The bonus puzzle for our high-level supporters will be a Round Trip by Craig Kasper.

PDF

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

Theme: One of Each Digit

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Wei-Hwa Huang.

Rules: Standard Isodoku rules, using numbers 1-8.

Answer String: Enter the 1st “row” from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 8th “row” from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 8:00, Master = 18:00, Expert = 36:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Isodoku. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Isodoku to get started on.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools using a composite mode where left click inside cell shades square, left click + drag draws line segment, right click inside cell adds dot, and right click on cell edge adds an x.)

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Ashish Kumar.

Rules: Locate a snake of unknown length in the grid, whose head, tail, and exact center are given. The snake does not touch itself, even diagonally. Numbers outside the grid indicate the number of snake cells in that row/column.
See also this example:

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the snake segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry with a comma. This example has the key “211,31”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 9:30, Expert = 19:00

Solution: PDF

(View image directly for larger form.)

PDF

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

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 9th puzzle from guest contributor Hans van Stippent.

Rules: Standard Star Battle rules. Three stars per row, column, and region.

Answer String: For each row from top to bottom, enter the number of the column where the middle star appears. Enter just the last digit of any two-digit numbers, and enter all these numbers as a single string with no separators.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 5:30, Expert = 11:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Star Battles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Star Battles to get started on.

PDF

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: White Hole

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor John Bulten.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules.

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 from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:45, Master = 4:45, Expert = 9:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Tapa. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Tapa to get started on.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a composite mode for line/edge drawing and a number entry mode.)

Theme: Small Numbers

Author/Opus: This is the 6th puzzle from guest contributor Tapio Saarinen. You can find more of Tapio’s puzzles on his new blog.

Rules: Standard Fillomino rules.

Answer String: For each cell in the marked rows/columns, enter the area of the polyomino it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. Start with the 5th row, followed by a comma, followed by the 8th row.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:45, Master = 2:45, Expert = 5:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Fillomino. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Fillomino puzzles to get started on.

PDF

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

Theme: Fifteen Puzzle

Author/Opus: This is the 12th puzzle from guest contributor Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard TomTom rules, using the integers 1-6.

Answer String: Enter the 4th row from left to right followed by the 6th row from left to right. Separate the rows with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:45, Master = 2:30, Expert = 5:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic TomTom. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest TomTom to get started on.

All of Zoltán’s puzzles from last week can be found in this PDF.

This year we’ve gotten a lot of tremendous submissions from authors around the world. We wanted to feature this group of authors again with another “guest contributors” week. Puzzles will come from regular guests Murat Can Tonta, Tapio Saarinen, Hans van Stippent, and first-time contributors John Bulten, Ashish Kumar, and Wei-Hwa Huang.

The bonus puzzle for our high-level supporters will be a Nurikabe by Thomas Snyder.

PDF

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

Theme: Logical (Originally on 2014 Hungarian Puzzle Championship)

Author/Opus: This is the 6th puzzle from guest contributor Zoltán Horváth.

Rules: Place all 12 pentominoes into the grid, rotations and reflections allowed. Pentominoes cannot touch each other, not even diagonally. Pentominoes cannot use any of the black squares. Outside numbers indicate how many cells in that row/column are part of pentominoes.

Answer String: Enter letters for all pentomino segments from left to right in the marked rows, with one letter for each cell it appears in (e.g. LLLLIV,XXXUU). Separate each row’s entry with a comma and use CAPITAL LETTERS.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:30, Master = 12:30, Expert = 25:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

Note: Follow this link for other puzzles involving Pentominoes.

PDF

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

Theme: Four Squares (Originally on 2014 Hungarian Puzzle Championship)

Author/Opus: This is the 5th puzzle from guest contributor Zoltán Horváth.

Rules: Standard Star Battle rules. Two stars per row, column, and region.

Answer String: For each row from top to bottom, enter the number of the first column from the left where a star appears. Enter these numbers as a single string with no separators.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:15, Master = 5:45, Expert = 11:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Star Battles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Star Battles to get started on.