Easy as Pentomino by Serkan Yürekli
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools).
Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic
Author/Opus: This is the 84th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.
Rules: Place the twelve pentominoes into the grid, rotations and reflections allowed. Pentominoes cannot touch each other, not even diagonally. Letters outside the grid indicate the first pentomino seen in that direction. Some cells are blackened and cannot be used by any pentomino.
Or see this example:
Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the pentominoes 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 = 3:30, Master = 6:15, Expert = 12:30
Solution: PDF
Note: Follow this link for other puzzles involving Pentominoes.
Could anyone give me some hints as to how to solve this uniquely? It flowed pretty smoothly from thinking about where pieces generally go and then looking at how to place them while blocking as few cells as possible, but I’m having trouble coming up with a “rigorous” way of doing it.
Pretty complete (rot13’d) walkthrough of how I think the “logical” path goes. Spoilers ho!
Gur cynprzrag bs gur V naq gur A ner sbeprq ng gur ortvaavat. Gur V unf gb or iregvpny, naq tbvat gbb sne gb gur evtug vagresrerf jvgu gur K naq C, ohg rvgure gur svefg be guveq pbyhza chfurf gur A hc gb ebj 6. Chggvat gur V va pbyhza guerr zrffrf jvgu gur C, fb jr xabj vg’f va pbyhza bar. Gur Y pna’g fgvpx gbb sne gb gur evtug naq yrnir ebbz sbe obgu gur G naq J, juvpu sbeprf vgf cynprzrag rknpgyl. Gura gur I pna’g or va gur gbc gjb fdhnerf va vgf pbyhza, naq zhfg or va gung zvqqyr nern, juvpu chfurf gur M bhg bs gur evtug unaq nern. Ba gur bgure unaq, gur M pna’g tb nyy gur jnl gb gur yrsg unaq fvmr bs gung zvqqyr nern orpnhfr vg jvyy vagresrer jvgu gur S. Gur “M ebj” pna’g or gur obggbz bs gur M orpnhfr gura gur gbc bs gur M jvyy rvgure tenmr gur J be gur G (jr unira’g dhvgr cynprq gur J lrg, ohg vg tbrf qbja gb ng yrnfg gur guveq ebj, naq jr xabj ebhtuyl jurer vg vf). Vs gur “M” ebj vf gur zvqqyr ebj bs gur M naq jr arrq gb yrnir ebbz sbe gur S, gura gung cynprf gur M rknpgyl. Juvpu sbeprf gur G, gur J, gur S, gur C, gur K naq gur L (va ebhtuyl gung beqre) va fubeg fhpprffvba (guvatf snyy vagb cynpr va n uheel urer). Nyy jr unir yrsg vf gur I naq gur H, naq juvyr va cevapvcyr gurer ner gjb cynprf gur I pbhyq tb, gur H pna bayl tb va gur obggbz bs gur gjb erznvavat fybgf, fb jr’er qbar.
Thanks Jack! That all makes sense, and I appreciate your help.