PDF

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

Theme: Ordered Maze

Author/Opus: This is the 288th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:00, Master = 1:20, Expert = 2:40

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; note that the dotted circles are just for answer entry and are where the number should be placed in the 2×2 cell. An alternate option with centralized digit entry is here.)

Theme: Stuck

Author/Opus: This is the 287th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Variation of Kakuro. The gray (2×2) cells are to be filled by a single digit which sits in multiple rows and columns. No digits can repeat within an entry, regardless of if it is in a small or large cell.

Difficulty: 4.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 11:00, Master = 15:30, Expert = 31:00

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; use tab to alternate between edgex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s and a number-entry mode)

Theme: Conjunction T

Author/Opus: This is the 286th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Slitherlink rules. Also, enter a number from 0 to 3 into each gray cell as additional Slitherlink clues. Numbers in the gray cells cannot repeat in any row, column, or gray tetrominoes.

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:45, Master = 7:30, Expert = 15:00

Solution: PDF

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

Author/Opus: This is the 285th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules. Additionally, shade two separate Tapa walls that do not overlap or cross each other. All digits in a clue cell refer to the shading of just one Tapa wall within the puzzle and provide no information on the shading of the other wall around that clue.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 4.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 11:45, Expert = 23:30

Solution: PDF

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; 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.