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: 2020

Author/Opus: This is the 284th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Battleships rules. Use the indicated fleet.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:00, Master = 1:40, Expert = 3:20

Solution: PDF

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

PDF

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

Theme: Key

Author/Opus: This is the 283rd puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

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

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:00, Master = 1:45, Expert = 3:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Star Battles. 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 book Star Battle by JinHoo Ahn, 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: 5-Star

Author/Opus: This is the 282nd puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:00, Master = 3:45, Expert = 7:30

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.

PDF

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

Theme: V for Victory

Author/Opus: This is the 281st puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Kakuro rules. Also, a white circle between two cells shows that the digits in those cells are consecutive (i.e., they differ by 1). A black circle shows that the digit in one of the cells has twice the value of the other. If there is no circle between adjacent cells, neither of these properties holds. (Note: between 1 and 2, either a white or a black circle can be given.)

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:30, Master = 7:00, Expert = 14:00

Solution: PDF

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

To enable our June reopening, Serkan Yürekli has stepped into a role as Managing Editor for the site. Serkan now oversees our puzzle submission and review process, assembles the web weeks, and has also brought new ideas for puzzle packet formatting, books, and other things you’ll see as we re-launch. As one small example, while we have always had an escalating set of puzzle difficulties from Monday to Saturday, we are now going to try to put star ratings (out of 5) on all puzzles for more comparison across weeks. We’re quite excited to have Serkan step into this larger role, and hope it increases the quantity of puzzles we can release without any change in the quality you have come to expect from GMPuzzles.

Enjoy this challenging Tapa (False) variation from Serkan as we count down the 8 days remaining.

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: 8 (or 2 cubed)

Author/Opus: This is the 280th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster — and new managing editor — Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Variation of Tapa rules. All clue digits are false and should be either one higher or one lower than the value given. (Note: Some corrected clue sets may be identical to their uncorrected versions, e.g. 1 2 becoming 2 1. Some corrected sets may contain zeroes, which have no effect on the remainder of the clue set.)

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Tapa variations and this link for classic Tapa. 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; use tab to alternate between Sudoku number entry mode and a line mode to mark the snake.)

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 279th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules. Additionally, locate a snake (a 1-cell wide path) that connects the gray circles marked with 1 and 9. The snake cannot touch itself, even diagonally. All cells marked with white circles must be part of the snake. Along the path, the snake must pass straight through any cell with an odd number from the sudoku, and must make a 90-degree turn in any cell with an even number from the sudoku.

Answer String: Enter the 2nd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 5th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:15, Master = 9:00, Expert = 18:00

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.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between Sudoku = big digits and Number candidate = small entries in the corners of cells.)

Theme: In Memory of Florian Kirch (FK)

Author/Opus: This is the 278th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Tight Fit Sudoku rules. Also, digits within a gray square must be even and digits within a gray circle must be odd. The range of this puzzle is 1-9.

Answer String: Enter the 1st row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 6th row from left to right. (Note: for the tight fit cells, enter the top before the bottom as would be normal for the read order.)

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:45, Master = 5:45, Expert = 11:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Tight Fit Sudoku puzzles on this website. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Tight Fit Sudoku to get started on. More Tight Fit Sudoku can be found in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli, in The Art of Sudoku 2, and in Masterpiece Sudoku Mix 5: Tight Fit Sudoku.

(view directly for a larger image)

PDF

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

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 277th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Place each of the given words into the grid, reading across or down; all words should interconnect, and all words formed in the grid must be from the list. Each given letter must be used by at least one word. Additionally, draw a Masyu loop: a single closed loop passing through each of the “O”s and otherwise using only unused squares. When passing through an “O”, the loop must go straight through and must make a 90 degree turn in at least one of the adjacent squares.

See also this example:

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of the horizontal loop segments from left to right in the marked rows, starting at the top. If the loop only has vertical segments in the marked row, enter 0. Separate each row’s entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:00, Master = 10:45, Expert = 21:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Masyu variations and this link for classic Masyu. 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.

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: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 276th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Kakuro rules.

Answer String: Enter the values in each cell in the 5th row from left to right and then in the 2nd column from top to bottom, separating the two entries with a comma. Ignore black cells.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:45, Master = 1:10, Expert = 2:20

Note: Follow this link for other Kakuro puzzles. 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; use tab to shift between shading mode, a number entry mode for placing Tapa clues, 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: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 275th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules. Additionally, the numbers outside the grid indicate the first clue cell seen from the corresponding direction.

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 = 9:30, Master = 14:30, Expert = 29:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other Tapa variations and this link for classic Tapa. 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.