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Theme: Duplexes (for Veep)

Author/Opus: This is the 24th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Standard Skyscrapers rules.

Answer String: Enter the 2nd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 3rd row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:45, Master = 5:00, Expert = 10:00

Solution: PDF

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

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

Theme: Half and Half

Author/Opus: This is the 268th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard TomTom rules, using the integers 1-8.

Answer String: Enter the 3rd row from left to right followed by the 5th row from left to right. Separate the entries with a comma.

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic 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.

PDF

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

Theme: Increasing Series

Author/Opus: This is the 267th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Skyscrapers rules.

Answer String: Enter the 2nd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 6th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:30, Master = 14:15, Expert = 28:30

Solution: PDF

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

PDF

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

Theme: Sum of 1 & 2 (for Randy Rogers)

Author/Opus: This is the 146th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Place the digits 1-9 in some of the cells, so that no digit is repeated in any row or column. Numbers on the outside of the grid indicate the sums of adjacent digit groups in that row or column, in order. Each sum is separated by at least one unused cell.

Answer String: Enter the 1st row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 10th row from left to right. Use a capital X for empty cells.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 18:00, Master = 32:00, Expert = 1:04:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Japanese Sums puzzles.

PDF

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Dan Adams.

Rules: Place digits into some cells and shade all remaining cells so that: each dodecagon contains the digits 1-9 exactly once; digits in cells sharing a vertex with a black triangle add up to the indicated clue number without repeats; and shaded cells cannot share an edge with another shaded cell.

Answer String: Enter the digits in the marked central rows (triangle, hexagon, triangle, …). Use a capital X for shaded cells. Separate each row with a comma. The example has the key “8178XX,243”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 16:00, Master = 32:00, Expert = 1:04:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other less common Number Placement puzzles.

PDF

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

Theme: Octets (for Randy Rogers)

Author/Opus: This is the 226th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Kakuro rules. Also, digits do not repeat within the red bold regions. (The shading is used to help distinguish the regions as well.)

Answer String: Enter the values in each cell in the 2nd row from left to right and then in the 9th column from top to bottom, separating the two entries with a comma. Ignore black cells.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:15, Master = 11:00, Expert = 22:00

Solution: PDF

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

(view directly for a larger image)

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Theme: Sevens

Author/Opus: This is the 142nd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Skyscrapers Rules, with two grids at the bottom to solve. The top grid indicates the sum of the digits in the bottom two grids in the corresponding positions.

Answer String: For the rightmost grid, enter the 4th row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 6th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 6:30, Expert = 13:00

Solution: PDF

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

PDF

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

Theme: Spinner

Author/Opus: This is the 225th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

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

Answer String: Enter the 3rd row from left to right followed by the 4th row from left to right. Separate the entries with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:45, Master = 3:00, Expert = 6:00

Solution: PDF

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

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between a number entry mode and the linex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)

Theme: 1 to 9 (for patron Veep, who co-wrote this style for the 2016 MIT Mystery Hunt)

Author/Opus: This is the 130th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Fill each cell with a digit from 1 to 9 (1 to 6 in example) so that no digit repeats in any row or column, and also draw a single, non-intersecting loop through some of the cells in the grid. The loop cannot pass through gray cells. Numbers on the outside of the grid show the sum of digits of ALL horizontal/vertical loop segments in that row/column in order. (Note: as in column 5 of the example, only segments that pass horizontally/vertically in a row/column appear as clues; the 5 in that column is not part of a vertical segment and is not represented by a clue). Not all outside clues are given, and unclued rows/columns can have any possible distribution of loop segments/sums.

Answer String: Enter the digits in 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 = 9:15, Master = 14:00, Expert = 28:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

Note: Follow this link for other less common Number Placement puzzles.

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: Cloverleaf (for patron Randy Rogers)

Author/Opus: This is the 222nd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

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 digit may be repeated within a single entry, regardless of if it is in a small or large cell.

Answer String: Enter the values in each cell in the 4th row from left to right and then in the 4th column from top to bottom, separating the two entries with a comma. Ignore black cells.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:45, Master = 6:15, Expert = 12:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Kakuro puzzles.