Tapa (Loop) by Murat Can Tonta
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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: Powers of Two
Author/Opus: This is the 36th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.
Rules: Variation of Tapa. All the cells in the Tapa must form a single closed loop without any crossings or intersections.
See also this example:
Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the shaded segments (Not the loop 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 = 6:30, Master = 11:00, Expert = 22:00
Solution: PDF
Note: Follow this link for other Tapa variations and this link for classic Tapa. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Tapa puzzles to get started on.
I loved this tapa loop. The two styles work really well in tandem and recognizing strategies for both was crucial to solving this one. Nice work!
It took me ages to actually get the rules right for this one… I was trying to approach it as if it was a “Tapa-Like Loop” and was getting no-where with it. Today I reread the rules, and I was examining the example puzzle when it finally clicked, and I was able to start over and solve it.
-Neelix
Ditto. Doesn’t help that the example parses OK as a Tapa-Like Loop – if it had contained a given that was a pair, things would have been much clearer. Fun solve once understood though.
The 7 in the example doesn’t work properly for TLL (would be 2,5), but the point is understood. We’ll try to accentuate the difference better next time if we get another puzzle of this variety.
I think noticing that was what gave me my breakthrough. It’s not something that jumped out at me though.
-Neelix