Please come back later today for the first in our “Best of 2014” entries. Our supercomputers (read: Thomas, working with a spreadsheet and some graphs) are crunching the numbers as we speak to bring you this exciting summary of the last year at Grandmaster Puzzles.
All the Pentomino puzzles from last week can be found in this PDF.
Instead of new puzzles, this coming week will highlight our best rated puzzles of 2014. Have you liked what GMPuzzles has offered over 2014? How do you want to see our site grow over the next year?
All the variety puzzles from last week can be found in this PDF.
This next week will feature a set of Pentomino puzzles, specifically Pentominous and Pentopia puzzles.
The bonus puzzle for our high-level supporters will also be a Yajilin by Grant Fikes.
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: Clue Symmetry and Logic
Author/Opus: This is the 212nd puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.
Rules: Standard Battleships rules. Use the indicated fleet.
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 = 2:00, Master = 3:15, Expert = 6:30
Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.
Note: Follow this link for other classic Battleships. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Battleships to get started on.
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: 12/15
Author/Opus: This is the 211st puzzle from Thomas Snyder aka Dr. Sudoku.
Rules: Standard Tapa rules.
Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the shaded segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:00, Master = 2:15, Expert = 4:30
Solution: PDF
Note: Follow this link for other classic Tapa. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Tapa to get started on.
All the variety puzzles from last week can be found in this PDF.
This next week will feature another variety mix. The puzzles will be:
Monday: Tapa by Thomas Snyder
Tuesday: Masyu by Grant Fikes
Wednesday: Battleships by Thomas Snyder
Thursday: TomTom by Grant Fikes
Friday: Arrow Sudoku by Swaroop Guggilam
Saturday: Star Duel by Carl Worth
The bonus puzzle for our high-level supporters will also be a Cross the Streams by Prasanna Seshadri.
All the Fillomino puzzles from last week can be found in this PDF.
This next week will feature a variety mix, all from Grant Fikes. Specifically, we will have:
Monday: Slitherlink
Tuesday: Cave
Wednesday: Round Trip
Thursday: Skyscrapers
Friday: Fillomino
Saturday: Cross the Streams (LITS)
The bonus puzzle for our high-level supporters will also be a Nurikabe by Grant Fikes.
All the puzzles from last week’s variety mix can be found in this PDF.
This next week will feature a set of classic puzzles and variations on Fillomino. Puzzles will be from Hans van Stippent, Grant Fikes, Prasanna Seshadri, and Robert Vollmert.
The bonus puzzle for our high-level supporters will also be a Fillomino by Grant Fikes.
All the puzzles from last week’s Letters and Numbers (Pentominous/Sudoku) collection can be found in this PDF.
This next week will feature a variety of styles from guest contributors. Specifically:
Monday: Nanro by Carl Worth
Tuesday: Round Trip by Hans van Stippent
Wednesday: Masyu by Murat Can Tonta
Thursday: Tapa by John Bulten
Friday: Cave by Murat Can Tonta
Saturday: Fractional Skyscrapers by Robert Vollmert
The bonus puzzle for our high-level supporters will also be a Pentominous by Grant Fikes.
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)
Theme: Postage Stamps (Originally for 2014 Arlington Puzzle Festival — this was the playoff finals puzzle)
Author/Opus: This is the 210th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.
Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.
Answer String: Enter the 3rd 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 = 5:00, Expert = 10:00
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.