Spiral Galaxies by Grant Fikes
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or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a composite mode for line/edge drawing and a shading mode.)
Theme: Something Meta?
Author/Opus: This is the 289th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.
Rules: Standard Spiral Galaxies rules (treat white and black circles the same when solving). After completing the grid, there is a secret message to find.
Answer String: Enter the hidden word in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 20:00, Master = 30:00, Expert = 60:00
Solution: PDF
Note: Follow this link for classic Spiral Galaxies puzzles on this website and this link for variations on Spiral Galaxies puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Spiral Galaxies Puzzles to get started on. More Spiral Galaxies puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles 2.
Going somewhere?
Phew… And with that, I’ve finally gone through all of the puzzles on the site (aside from a few of the giant/super-hard ones, and the Number-Placement/Sudoku types.. something about those just doesn’t mesh with my brain quite right). Took me nearly a year and a half, but it was worth it. Thanks for all the puzzles! I’ll likely be subscribing at the end of the year.
Congrats for solving so many puzzles. Any favorite styles or challenges?
Shading and Loop/Path puzzles tend to be my favorite styles, (closely followed by Region Division and Object Placement types). In particular, I think Nurikabe and Yajilin.
I like shading puzzles a lot too. We just released a Nurikabe e-book and are starting to work on a Yajilin for early next year.
Really liked this puzzle; how long did it take to construct?
I’ve also been trying to solve every puzzle on the site; I’ve worked backwards to December 2014 now. Really interesting seeing some of the regular puzzle contributors’ first few puzzles.
Thanks for the giant puzzle! But I suck at finding hidden messages. Any hints without giving too much away?
[Edit: updated to rot-13]
Lbh ner ybbxvat sbe na rapbqvat (yvax gb na bx fvgr sbe gurfr) gung ybbxf fvzvyne gb fbzrguvat va gur tevq.
Argh, thanks. I actually had started going down the right path, but didn’t follow it far enough!
Very nice puzzle, exactly the kind of spiral galaxies that I like.
Having solved the meta-puzzle as well, I wonder if there is any significance to the solution word, or if it is just a random word?
Just finished this puzzle [that means I solved every 2018 puzzle except that Transcendent Puzzle involving 4 new types joined together in a masterwork]. Nice solve but I sure am glad that we were told to look for a hidden message or I never would have found it.
To egrieg: It is never a random word with Grant’s puzzles… [Not saying I understand it yet but will sleep on it.]
57:04 (to solve the puzzle not the message thing).Happy to have made the expert timing.
I also made this my last solve of my site recompletion. 53:07, with lots of lovely galaxies all over and great logic that looks like a broken puzzle repeatedly when it isn’t. Figured out how to get the answer pretty quick once I started looking. Grant never goes totally random but I haven’t quite got the joke or pun, so I too will meditate over it.