PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a composite mode for line/edge drawing and a number entry mode.)

Theme: Poison Apples

Author/Opus: This is the 57th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Palmer Mebane.

Rules: (Hybrid of Fillomino and Snake Puzzles.) Divide the grid along the boundary lines so that every cell belongs to a snake. A snake is a one-cell-wide path at least two cells long that does not touch itself, not even diagonally. Circled cells must be at one of the ends of a snake. A snake may contain one circled cell, two circled cells, or no circled cells at all. Numbered cells must be part of a snake with a length of exactly that number of cells. A snake may contain one number, multiple identical numbers, or no numbers at all. Two snakes of the same length cannot touch each other horizontally or vertically.

Also see this example:

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:00, Master = 4:30, Expert = 9:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for more Snake Pit puzzles. Follow these links for other Fillomino or Snake puzzles.

PDF

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

Theme: Second Generation

Author/Opus: This is the 56th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Palmer Mebane.

Rules: Standard Statue Park rules. This puzzle uses a standard pentomino set.

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 6:00, Master = 10:30, Expert = 21:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other classic Statue Park and this link for Statue Park variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Statue Parks to get started on. More Statue Park puzzles can be found in the ebook Statue Park by Murat Can Tonta.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use the tab key to alternate between shading and number entry modes)

Theme: Six Afraid of Seven

Author/Opus: This is the 55th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Palmer Mebane.

Rules: Standard Nanro rules.

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 7:30, Expert = 15:00

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

Note: Follow this link for Nanro puzzles on this website and this link for variations on Nanro puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Nanro Puzzles to get started on. More Nanro puzzles can be found in A Number o’ Nanro by Prasanna Seshadri.

PDF

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

Theme: 2 by N

Author/Opus: This is the 54th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Palmer Mebane.

Rules: Standard Kakuro Rules.

Difficulty: 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:00, Master = 2:45, Expert = 5:30

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

Note: Follow this link for classic Kakuro and this link for Kakuro variations. More Kakuro puzzles can be found in Kakuro and Variations by Serkan Yürekli and in The Art of Puzzles 2.

PDF

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

Theme: Crossing the River

Author/Opus: This is the 53rd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Palmer Mebane.

Rules: Standard Kakuro Rules.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:50, Master = 1:20, Expert = 2:40

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

Note: Follow this link for classic Kakuro and this link for Kakuro variations. More Kakuro puzzles can be found in Kakuro and Variations by Serkan Yürekli and in The Art of Puzzles 2.

This year, we started posting 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 eighth Sunday Stumper is a Hungarian Tapa from puzzlemaster Palmer Mebane.

(view directly for a larger image)

PDF

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

Theme: Four Corners of Four

Author/Opus: This is the 52nd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Palmer Mebane.

Rules: Variation of Tapa. Shade some empty cells black to create a single connected wall. Cells with numbers cannot be shaded, and the shaded cells cannot form a 2×2 square anywhere in the grid. Each row and column must contain eight shaded cells (four for the example). Place a number from 1 to 8 (1-4 for the example) into each shaded cell so that each number appears once in each row and column.

Numbers in a cell indicate the sums of the numbers of consecutive shaded blocks in the neighboring cells. If there is more than one number in a cell, then there must be at least one white (unshaded) cell between the black cell groups. Numbers on the shaded cells can repeat in a sum.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 35:00, Master = 1:05:00, Expert = 2:10:00

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

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, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles, all by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

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

Theme: Squares

Author/Opus: This is the 51st puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Palmer Mebane.

Rules: Standard Statue Park rules, using a standard pentomino set. Also, there are some given cages with dashed lines. In each cage, exactly half of the total number of cells must be occupied by pentominoes.

Difficulty: 4.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 10:00, Master = 16:30, Expert = 33:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other classic Statue Park and this link for Statue Park variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Statue Parks to get started on. More Statue Park puzzles can be found in the ebook Statue Park by Murat Can Tonta.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools. Use left click to place mine, right click (in cell) to mark unused, right click (on edge/corner) to mark a note. If you want more solving options, turn off Penpa-Lite option.)

Theme: Frames

Author/Opus: This is the 50th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Palmer Mebane.

Rules: Standard Minesweeper rules.

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 8:00, Master = 13:15, Expert = 26:30

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

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

This week we are sharing easy sample puzzles from our ebook The Puzzlemasters’ Workshop which showcases six authors exploring new puzzle styles or variations with 8-10 challenges in each section. Today’s post is Triplets.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between a number entry mode and a shape mode where clicking on edges in setting 3 for gray will mark off the triple inventory.)

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Background: An original number placement puzzle created by Palmer Mebane.

Rules: Fill each cell with a number so that all 27 three-digit numbers with digits 1, 2, or 3 are used exactly once. For each pair of cells sharing a side, the two numbers in those cells must have equal digits in exactly two of the three positions (ones, tens, or hundreds).

Example by Palmer Mebane:

(No official times or solution entry for this week; just click “SOLVE?” when finished.)

Solution: Last page of PDF

Note: More Triplets puzzles can be found in The Puzzlemasters’ Workshop.

Our master+ subscribers receive access to two bonus puzzles each week in addition to other rewards. We make these posts so those supporters have a space to comment on these puzzles, mark as FAVES, or log their solving. If you are interested in subscribing and seeing these bonus puzzles, click here for more info.

Theme: Good Odds

Author/Opus: This is the 49th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Palmer Mebane.

Rules: Place a digit from 1 to 9 into each empty cell so that, for each row above the bottom row, every digit is the sum or difference of the two digits immediately below it. Rows marked in gray cannot have repeated digits; rows in white must have at least one repeated digit.

Also see this example:

Answer String: Enter the digits in the marked rows from left to right, separating each row with a comma.

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