Shapes in the Boxes by Zoltán Horváth
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools).
Theme: Logical (Originally on 2014 Hungarian Puzzle Championship)
Author/Opus: This is the 4th puzzle from guest contributor Zoltán Horváth.
Rules: Put the given shape into each box; the shape can be rotated and reflected. Relationship signs (<, =, >) indicate the relative number of shaded cells for that row/column in adjacent boxes.
See also this smaller example with four boxes:
Answer String: Enter the length in cells of the black shaded segments in the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row with a comma. Shaded groups continue across the box boundaries. The example has the key “5,32”.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:30, Master = 4:30, Expert = 9:00
Solution: PDF
The solving times were higher on this than I would have expected. It seems to me that once you work out some basic logic of what order to place parts of the shapes in, it goes very quickly and easily.
Specifically: Lbh pna dhvpxyl jbex bhg jurgure gur guerr havg pragre fgevcr tbrf ubevmbagnyyl be iregvpnyyl sbe rirel oybpx, gura jbex bhg juvpu fvqr gur guerr havg genafirefny vf ba, gura fbeg bhg gur cynprzrag bs gur bar erznvavat fdhner.
I felt this was easier than the average Thursday. Still fun though.
10:14 – Always nice to tackle an original puzzle type.
Mostly tricky for having to mentally juggle the shape in different orientations; not too hard otherwise.
~19 mins…Very nice puzzle