Battleships by Thomas Snyder
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between ship placement and shading modes. In ship placement mode, right click gives sea, left click gives circle/square, left click and drag for rounded ships.)
Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic
Author/Opus: This is the 212nd puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.
Rules: Standard Battleships rules. Use the indicated fleet.
Answer String: For each row from top to bottom, enter the number of the first column from the left where a ship segment appears (enter just the last digit for any two-digit number). If the row is empty, enter 0. Enter these numbers as a single string with no separators.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:00, Master = 3:15, Expert = 6:30
Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.
Note: Follow this link for other classic Battleships. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Battleships to get started on.
6:51 Thanks for a fun battleship puzzle, Thomas.
Given Thomas’ dislike of place-all-the-big-ships-first battleships puzzles, I knew to expect something different here. And since three of the four subs were given, I thought he might have set things up to place the fourth sub as an early step.
Well, I failed to find a breakin along those lines. I’m glad Thomas posted a video walkthrough showing what he actually did intend, because it’s totally different than what I found. Here is what I found for a breakin:
Nsgre fhogenpgvat gur tvira fhof, jvgu bayl guerr pyhrf nf ynetr nf
guerr, naq abar zber guna svir, gur ebjf naq pbyhzaf bs nyy guerr bs
gur ynetrfg fuvcf ner xabja sebz gur ortvaavat, (ebj gra, pbyhza
frira, naq pbyhza avar). Naq gur iregvpny fuvc va pbyhza frira zhfg
vapyhqr gur pryy ng ebj rvtug.
Ohg vs gung fuvc rkgraqrq qbja gb ebj avar, vg jbhyq sbepr frn vagb
pbyhzaf fvk naq rvtug va ebj gra, yrnivat ab ebbz sbe gur ynetr fuvc
juvpu jr xabj zhfg or va gung ebj. Fb ebj avar, pbyhza frira zhfg or
frn naq gur iregvpny, fvmr-guerr fuvc va pbyhza frira vf shyyl cynprq.
Naq guvatf cebprrq va n svneyl fgenvtugsbejneq znaare sebz gurer.
Thomas’ intended breakin would probably have been less effort, so hopefully I can learn from that and start seeing easier starts to some of these puzzles.
What a remarkable little puzzle.
15:35.I wrongly deduced that Ebj gra pbyhza 7 nf abg orvat n onggyrfuvc cneg which created me lots of problems until I found that it could indeed be a battleship part.