Balance Loop by Murat Can Tonta
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools in linex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)
Theme: No Numbers
Author/Opus: This is the 163rd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.
Rules: (Standard Balance Loop rules.) Draw a single, non-intersecting loop that passes through all circled cells. All white circles must have equal segment lengths on both sides of the circle before turning. All black circles must have unequal segment lengths on both sides of the circle before turning. Numbers indicate the sum of the segment lengths on both sides of the circle.
Also, see this example:
Difficulty: 1.5 stars
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:40, Master = 1:30, Expert = 3:00
Solution: PDF
Note: Follow this link for other Balance Loop puzzles and this link for other less common Loop variations. More Balance Loops can be found in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli and in Balance Loop by Prasanna Seshadri and Murat Can Tonta.
Welcome back, and congratulations on the relaunch! I found this site months ago after starting to follow Cracking the Cryptic, and I’m excited for your return.
I’m having trouble with the log in/register for answer checker buttons. When I try to register it says my email address is already registered, but when I try to log in nothing happens. Any suggestions?
Thanks for your message Tony.
On the “answer checker” piece, that is still maintained by thegriddle.net so if you have a login there it should also work here. However the only part of the tracker we’re still using is the part where you can mark FAVE on the puzzle. There is no more solution checking. If we can find another way to capture FAVE votes, we might remove the tracker entirely since it has been hard to support user access issues over the years.
Thanks for the quick reply! That makes sense, and I’m glad to know I’m not missing any major features. Best of luck as you continue to ramp things up, these puzzles are a lovely thing to have in these troubled times.
Cheers,
Tony
Welcome back!
I am so happy to see the puzzle header changing every day once again, and Murat has an excellent start here to a grandmaster month. I have very high hopes for the relaunch and it’s great to have a trustworthy source in Thomas and Serkan.
I’m so glad you’re back! Neat theme and some interesting points despite the small size. Solve time 0:28.
Just a side remark – I think the puzzle art looks a fair bit nicer without the arrows for the answer key. Along with the fact that this means a lot less checking, I’m glad that you have removed this feature.
Welcome back GMP!
Can’t wait to see what you have planned for us ahead. Best wishes to the team and stay safe everyone.
Will there be any options to get them delivered via e-mail in a printable PDF format like e.g. last year?
We will be posting the weekly PDFs and solution PDFs on Sundays after the live posts complete. We could see about making an email opt-in list for distribution.
Will really miss the checker…
So much better than visual inspection of a solved puzzle against.