Sigma Snake by Serkan Yürekli
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a letter entry mode and a shading mode. CAPS LOCK is recommended for letter entry.)
Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic
Author/Opus: This is the 94th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.
Rules: Add letters to some empty cells to make a snake that doesn’t touch itself, not even diagonally. The snake’s head and tail are indicated by circles. The snake is made out of spelled out numbers, and some letters are given that must be part of the snake. Each numbered cell indicates the total sum of the distinct words that touch that cell, including diagonally. Not all words need to be used, but no word is used more than once.
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. The answer to the example is “3,31”.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:30, Master = 7:30, Expert = 14:00
Solution: PDF
Note: Follow this link for other Snake puzzles.
Tricky throughout, but ultimately not that difficult.
Hmm, thirty-six letters. Can a Snake Egg puzzle fit nine white areas into a 9×9 square? (ONE and one area makes any solvable puzzle trivial. ONE-TWO and two areas in a 3×3 is impossible. ONE-FOUR and four areas in a 5×5 might be doable. Anything greater, I’m adding more white than snake and the solution space loses elegance.) As for clue meaning… either divisibility, or whether an area touches the word for its size.
Fun combination of different logical styles.