PDF

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

Theme: Asterisk

Author/Opus: This is the 382nd puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:05, Master = 1:45, Expert = 3:30

Solution: PDF and solving video.

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. More Cross the Streams can be found in these e-books in our store.

Our most recent variety week of puzzles, for our “Starter Pack” series, is gathered in this PDF and the solutions are in this PDF.

This week marks the release of Starter Pack 5: Star Battle by JinHoo Ahn, with 36 hand-crafted puzzles perfect for learning the fun object placement style Star Battle. All puzzles have a digital solving link provided in Penpa-Edit, as well as a solving animation to show how the puzzle can be solved.

The daily solution videos for our recent week are on the posts and linked below:

This coming week will feature Cross the Streams puzzles. We have also recently finished adding Penpa-Edit digital solving links to all Cross the Streams puzzle so if you enjoy this week, please check out the entire archive for this puzzle style.

PDF

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: Surrounded by 258

Author/Opus: This is the 9th puzzle from guest contributor William Hu.

Rules: Standard Cave rules.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 4:45, Expert = 9:30

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for classic Caves and this link for Cave variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cave Puzzles to get started on. More Cave puzzles can be found in Roger Barkan’s Colossal Cave Collection, in The Art of Puzzles, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; in composite Star Battle mode a left click places a star, right click in a cell marks off the cell, and a right click on an edge or corner marks in a dot as a placement note.)

Theme: Candy Canes

Author/Opus: This is the 60th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster JinHoo Ahn.

Rules: Standard Star Battle rules. Two stars per row, column, and region.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:15, Master = 3:00, Expert = 6:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for other classic Star Battles and this link for Star Battle variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Star Battles to get started on. More Star Battle puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in the books Star Battle by JinHoo Ahn and Star Battle 2 by JinHoo Ahn and Murat Can Tonta, and in our beginner-friendly collections Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli and Starter Pack 5: Star Battle by JinHoo Ahn.

PDF

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

Theme: Three Square Meals

Author/Opus: This is the 8th puzzle from guest contributor Jeffrey Bardon.

Rules: Standard TomTom rules, using the integers 1-6.

Difficulty: 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:00, Master = 3:00, Expert = 6:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for classic TomTom and this link for TomTom variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest TomTom to get started on. More TomTom puzzles can be found in the TomTom collection, in The Art of Puzzles, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

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

Theme: Even Versus Odd

Author/Opus: This is the 234th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Difficulty: 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:00, Master = 3:00, Expert = 6:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for other classic Sudoku. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Sudoku to get started on. More classic Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku, The Art of Sudoku 2 and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

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: Odd Ones Out

Author/Opus: This is the 15th puzzle from guest contributor Freddie Hand.

Rules: Standard Masyu rules.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:00, Master = 1:30, Expert = 3:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for classic Masyu and this link for Masyu variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Masyu to get started on. More Masyu puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles and in our beginner-friendly book Logic Puzzles 101.

PDF

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: Big and Small

Author/Opus: This is the 381st puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules.

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:40, Master = 1:00, Expert = 2:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for classic Tapa and this link for Tapa variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Tapa puzzles to get started on. More Tapa puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in Tapa and Variations 1 and 2, and in our beginner-friendly books Intro to GMPuzzles and Starter Pack 2: Tapa, all by Serkan Yürekli.

Our most recent week of Object Placement puzzles (on hexagonal grids) is gathered in this PDF and the solutions are in this PDF.

The daily solution videos are on the posts and linked below:

We will have a Parking Lot (Hex) puzzle soon as a Sunday Stumper, which is slightly different from the Saturday puzzle that also had “Extra Parking” = empty cars and white cell connectivity.

This coming week will feature an easier mix of puzzles as we also prepare for the release of our next Starter Pack 5: Star Battle by JinHoo Ahn. Watch for that special collection by next Sunday.

Since 2021, we have posted some extra difficult Sunday Stumpers, about once a month. These will be quite tough puzzles, but with a logical path to be found (and solution videos to help). This eleventh Sunday Stumper of 2022 is a Parking Lot (Hex) puzzle by Murat Can Tonta. Can you pack in all the automobiles (using the empty center and other open space wherever necessary)? Note that we’ve referred to this style before as “Tren”; while not a common puzzle style, we are updating to the nomenclature “Parking Lot” for this stumper.

(view directly for a larger image)

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools in Yajilin mode allowing line drawing and cell shading/unmarking; hitting tab can alternate to separate shading and edge drawing modes).

Theme: Empty Center

Author/Opus: This is the 234th puzzle from contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Locate some automobiles in the grid having size 1×2 or 1×3. Each number in the grid should be part of an automobile, indicating the number of unoccupied cells the automobile can move to by traveling along its longest axis, stopped only by an edge of the grid or another automobile. (Unlike other variations of this puzzle, there are no extra automobiles without numbers here.)

Also, see this example:

Difficulty: 5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 21:00, Master = 30:00, Expert = 60:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for more Parking Lot puzzles.