Kuromasu by Swaroop Guggilam
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between shading mode and the linex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)
Theme: X
Author/Opus: This is the 14th puzzle from guest contributor Swaroop Guggilam.
Rules: Shade some empty cells black so that each number indicates the total count of white cells connected vertically and horizontally to that number including the numbered cell itself. Black cells cannot share an edge, and all white cells must belong to a single connected group.
Also see this example:
Difficulty: 3.5 stars
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 8:00, Expert = 16:00
Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.
Note: Follow this link for more Kuromasu puzzles.
Nice one! Master time! (12mins) took a while, always looked for a MAGIC deduction instead of slow progress
‘X’cellent …
Surprised at how well this one went for me. Was stuck for much longer on yesterday’s. Very fun though!
Yeah, also solved this more quickly than yesterday’s. Very fun solve path.
Thanks R, chandrachud, Chris and Menderbug. Glad you enjoyed it.
Lovely puzzle! I took a very different solve path from the video vaibyivat gnxvat gur fhz bs gur sbhe pyhrf va rnpu “evat” sebz bhgfvqr gb va, naq cebivat ng rnpu fgntr gung gur evat zhfg unir rknpgyl bar oynpx fdhner ba rnpu fvqr (naq pubbfvat gur ybpngvba bs bar fdhner cre evat cvaf gur bgure guerr rknpgyl).
Thank you dave glasser 🙂