Aqre by Eric Fox
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: Shutters
Author/Opus: This is the 4th puzzle from guest contributor Eric Fox. Eric invented this style and more Aqre from Eric are on his blog here.
Rules: Standard Aqre rules: Shade some cells so that all shaded cells form one connected group. Regions with numbers must contain the indicated count of shaded cells, and it is allowed to shade over the numbered cells. There may not exist a run of four or more consecutive shaded or unshaded cells horizontally or vertically anywhere in the grid.
Difficulty: 2 stars
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:30, Master = 2:30, Expert = 5:00
Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.
Note: Follow this link for more Aqre puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Aqre to get started on. More Aqre puzzles are in Shading Variety Collection by Prasanna Seshadri.
Neat genre and puzzle!
Nice break-in … logic flowed.
Turns out this problem style is much more difficult if you don’t notice that 4+ UNshaded cells in a row is also not allowed. (Although amazingly this particular instance is still *almost* solvable without that restriction.)
Ha. Glad it wasn’t just me. I didn’t notice the UNshaded rule either, and repeated attempts always left two ambiguous cell-pairs. Seemed much harder than a 2-star. Must learn to read directions.