Battleships (Minesweeper) by Ashish Kumar

Battleships by Ashish Kumar

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between ship placement and shading modes. In ship placement mode, right click gives sea, left click gives circle/square, left click and drag for rounded ships.)

Theme: Hanging Frame

Author/Opus: This is the 15th puzzle from guest contributor Ashish Kumar.

Rules: Variation of standard Battleships rules. Instead of exterior clues, clues inside the grid indicate the number of adjacent squares, including diagonally adjacent squares, containing ship segments. Ships do not sit on cells with numbers.

Answer String: For each row from top to bottom, enter the number of the first column from the left where a ship segment appears (enter just the last digit for any two-digit number). If the row is empty, enter 0. Enter these numbers as a single string with no separators.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 7:45, Expert = 15:30

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

Note: Follow this link for more variations on Battleships and this link for classic Battleships. More Battleships puzzles can be found in Battleships and Variations, in The Art of Puzzles, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

Battleships (Minesweeper) by Ashish Kumar

Battleships by Ashish Kumar

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between ship placement and shading modes. In ship placement mode, right click gives sea, left click gives circle/square, left click and drag for rounded ships.)

Theme: 4 Box

Author/Opus: This is the 14th puzzle from guest contributor Ashish Kumar.

Rules: Variation of standard Battleships rules. Instead of exterior clues, clues inside the grid indicate the number of adjacent squares, including diagonally adjacent squares, containing ship segments. Ships do not sit on cells with numbers.

Answer String: For each row from top to bottom, enter the number of the first column from the left where a ship segment appears (enter just the last digit for any two-digit number). If the row is empty, enter 0. Enter these numbers as a single string with no separators.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:30, Master = 5:15, Expert = 10:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for more variations on Battleships and this link for classic Battleships. More Battleships puzzles can be found in Battleships and Variations, in The Art of Puzzles, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

TomTom by Ashish Kumar

TomTom by Ashish Kumar

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

Theme: Three Thirty

Author/Opus: This is the 13th puzzle from guest contributor Ashish Kumar.

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

Answer String: Enter the 1st row from left to right followed by the 6th row from left to right. Separate the entries with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 6:00, Expert = 12:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other TomTom. 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 Art of Puzzles, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

Sudoku by Ashish Kumar

Sudoku by Ashish Kumar

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

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 12th puzzle from guest contributor Ashish Kumar.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Answer String: Enter the 1st row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 6th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:45, Master = 4:15, Expert = 8:30

Solution: PDF

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.

Consecutive Pairs Sudoku by Ashish Kumar

Consecutive Pairs Sudoku by Ashish Kumar

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

Theme: Dots Vs. Numbers

Author/Opus: This is the 11th puzzle from guest contributor Ashish Kumar.

Rules: Standard Consecutive Pairs Sudoku rules. (If a gray circle is given between two adjacent cells, then the two numbers in those cells must be consecutive. Note not all gray circles are given; adjacent cells without a circle may contain either consecutive numbers or nonconsecutive numbers.)

Answer String: Enter the 2nd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 9th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:30, Master = 12:30, Expert = 25:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for Consecutive Pairs Sudoku puzzles on this website. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Consecutive Pairs Sudoku to get started on. More Consecutive Pairs Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku 2.

XV Sudoku by Ashish Kumar

XV Sudoku by Ashish Kumar

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

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 10th puzzle from guest contributor Ashish Kumar.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules. Also, whenever the numbers in two adjacent cells sum to exactly 10 or 5, an X or V is placed on the edge between cells reflecting the Roman numerals for 10 or 5. All adjacent cells not marked with an X or V cannot add up to 10 or 5.

Answer String: Enter the 6th row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 9th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 8:30, Master = 15:00, Expert = 30:00

Solution: PDF

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

Even/Odd Sudoku by Ashish Kumar

Even Odd Sudoku by Ashish Kumar

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

Theme: Boxing Day

Author/Opus: This is the 9th puzzle from guest contributor Ashish Kumar.

Rules: Standard Even/Odd Sudoku rules (i.e., cells with a square contain an even digit; cells with a circle contain an odd digit).

Answer String: Enter the 6th row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 9th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:15, Master = 5:30, Expert = 11:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for more Even/Odd Sudoku puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Even/Odd Sudoku to get started on. More Even/Odd Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku 2.

Nurikabe (Borders) by Ashish Kumar

Nurikabe by Ashish Kumar

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

Theme: V

Author/Opus: This is the 8th puzzle from guest contributor Ashish Kumar.

Rules: Standard Nurikabe rules. Also, some borders are drawn in the grid between adjacent cells. One side of each border must be part of the ocean and the other side must be part of an island.

Nurikabe Skyscrapers by Thomas Snyder

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments (the unnumbered, connected “ocean”) from left to right for the marked rows. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:45, Master = 7:30, Expert = 15:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for classic Nurikabe puzzles on this website and this link for other variations on Nurikabe puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Nurikabe puzzles to get started on. More Nurikabe puzzles can be in The Art of Puzzles, in our beginner-friendly book Logic Puzzles 101, and in the e-book Nurikabe by Ashish Kumar.

Nurikabe (Skyscrapers) by Ashish Kumar

Nurikabe by Ashish Kumar

PDF

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

Theme: 1 to 9 (Originally on 2018 Puzzle Grand Prix Round 3)

Author/Opus: This is the 7th puzzle from guest contributor Ashish Kumar.

Rules: Standard Nurikabe rules. Also, the numbers outside the grid show the number of shaded segments visible in that direction (as in Skyscrapers). A shaded segment of length N in a given direction is taken as a building of height N. A building blocks the view of any building behind it of equal or lesser height. For instance, in the example, there are 3 buildings seen in the fourth row from the left (as 1 < 2 < 3) but only 1 building seen in the third row from the right (as 3 > 2).

Nurikabe Skyscrapers by Thomas Snyder

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments (the unnumbered, connected “ocean”) from left to right for the marked rows. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:45, Master = 4:30, Expert = 9:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for classic Nurikabe puzzles on this website and this link for other variations on Nurikabe puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Nurikabe puzzles to get started on. More Nurikabe puzzles can be in The Art of Puzzles, in our beginner-friendly book Logic Puzzles 101, and in the e-book Nurikabe by Ashish Kumar.

Thermo-Sudoku by Ashish Kumar

Thermo-Sudoku by Ashish Kumar

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

Theme: Clueless

Author/Opus: This is the 6th puzzle from guest contributor Ashish Kumar.

Rules: Standard Thermo-Sudoku rules.

Answer String: Enter the 5th row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 7th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:00, Master = 13:30, Expert = 27:00

Solution: PDF

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. More Thermo-Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku 2.