Cross the Tapa by Chris Green

Cross The Tapa by Chris Green

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between shading mode, a number entry mode for placing Tapa clues, 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: Sequences

Author/Opus: This is the 10th puzzle from guest contributor Chris Green.

Rules: (Style created by Chris Green as a combination of Cross the Streams and Tapa rules.)

Shade some empty cells black to create a single group of black cells that are all connected to each other through their edges. No 2×2 cell area within the grid contains all black cells.

Numbers and symbols to the left/top of the grid represent all unshaded cells in the grid in that row/column in order, either from left to right or from top to bottom. The numbers and symbols represent the value of Tapa-style clues inside the grid, specifically the length of consecutive shaded blocks in the neighboring cells. If there is more than one number in a cell, then there must be at least one white (unshaded) cell between shaded groups.

The three symbols indicate different kinds of missing information.
– A question mark (?) represents a single missing positive integer as part of a clue (either alone or in combination with other numbers/question marks).
– An octothorpe (#) represents a single white clue cell which may have any combination of values including a single number or multiple numbers.
– An asterisk (*) represents an unknown number of white clue cells, including one, multiple, or no clue cells at all. Any clue cells indicated by an asterisk can have any combination of values including a single number or multiple numbers.

Also see this example by Thomas Snyder:

Cross The Tapa by Thomas Snyder

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from top to bottom for the marked columns, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 10:00, Master = 24:00, Expert = 48:00.

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Cross the Streams and this link for other Tapa.

Cross the Streams (LITS) by Serkan Yürekli

Cross The Streams by Serkan Yürekli

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a shading mode and a composite mode where left click inside cell shades square, left click + drag draws line segment, right click inside cell adds dot, and right click on cell edge adds an x.)

Theme: Threes

Author/Opus: This is the 263rd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules. Also, the shaded region must be able to be split into tetrominoes to form a valid LITS solution (meaning all tetrominoes are connected but no two tetrominoes sharing an edge are the same shape, including rotations and reflections).

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from top to bottom for the marked columns, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:45, Master = 7:30, Expert = 15:00.

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for variations of Cross the Streams and this link for other classic Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on.

Cross the Streams by Grant Fikes

Cross The Streams by Grant Fikes

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)

Theme: Easy as 123

Author/Opus: This is the 307th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from left to right for the marked rows, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:30, Master = 5:00, Expert = 10:00.

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on.

Cross the Streams by Grant Fikes

Cross The Streams by Grant Fikes

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)

Theme: Mind Your 3’s and 2’s

Author/Opus: This is the 306th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from left to right for the marked rows, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:30, Master = 3:45, Expert = 7:30.

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on.

Cross the Streams by Serkan Yürekli

Cross The Streams by Serkan Yürekli

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)

Theme: Four

Author/Opus: This is the 262nd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from left to right for the marked rows, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:30, Master = 3:30, Expert = 7:00.

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on.

Cross the Streams by Murat Can Tonta

Cross The Streams by Murat Can Tonta

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)

Theme: Triangles

Author/Opus: This is the 142nd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from left to right for the marked rows, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:00, Master = 2:45, Expert = 5:30.

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on.

Cross the Streams by Grant Fikes [Bonus]

Our master+ subscribers receive access to two bonus puzzles each week in addition to other rewards. We make these posts so those supporters have a space to comment on these puzzles, mark as FAVES, or log their solving. If you are interested in subscribing and seeing these bonus puzzles, click here for more info.

Cross The Streams by Grant Fikes

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 305th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from top to bottom for the marked columns, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:30, Master = 2:30, Expert = 5:00.

Note: Follow this link for other Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on.

Schedule for Next Week

Our most recent variety mix of puzzles is in this PDF.

This coming week features a set of Cross the Streams puzzles and some variations. Our master+ subscribers will be receiving two bonus Cross the Streams by Grant Fikes as well as access to the puzzle solutions. If you want to become a subscriber and get access to bonus puzzles, solutions, e-books, and other rewards, check out this page.

Thermo-Sudoku by Serkan Yürekli [Bonus]

Our master+ subscribers receive access to two bonus puzzles each week in addition to other rewards. We make these posts so those supporters have a space to comment on these puzzles, mark as FAVES, or log their solving. If you are interested in subscribing and seeing these bonus puzzles, click here for more info.

Thermo-Sudoku by Thomas Snyder

Theme: Gordian Knot

Author/Opus: This is the 261st puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Thermo-Sudoku rules.

Answer String: Enter the 5th row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 5th column from top to bottom.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 5:30, Expert = 11:00

Note: Follow this link for more Thermo-Sudoku puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Thermo-Sudoku to get started on.

Yajilin (Strict Transparent) by Joseph Howard

Yajilin by Joseph Howard

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)

Theme: Every Which Way but Up

Author/Opus: This is the 13th puzzle from guest contributor Joseph Howard.

Rules: Variation of Yajilin rules, including both diagonal arrows and transparent clues that the loop can pass through. Any clue cells that are part of the loop must be true and indicate the number of shaded cells in that direction. Any clue cell that is not part of the loop must be blackened, and the clue value MUST also be false (e.g., if a 2 left clue is blackened, there must be some number of cells other than 2 blackened to the left of the clue).

See also this example:

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of the horizontal loop segments from left to right in the marked rows, starting at the top. If the loop only has vertical segments in the marked row, enter 0. Separate each row’s entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:15, Master = 10:30, Expert = 21:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for other classic Yajilin. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Yajilin to get started on. More Yajilin puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles 2, in Yajilin by Murat Can Tonta and Prasanna Seshadri, and in our beginner-friendly book Logic Puzzles 101.