or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)
Theme: 22345
Rules: Standard Skyscrapers rules.
Answer String: Enter 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 = 2:30, Master = 4:00, Expert = 8:00
Solution: PDF
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)
This is a “Twisted Tuesday” puzzle variation.
Theme: Big City
Rules: Standard Sudoku rules. Also, standard Skyscrapers rules.
Answer String: Enter the 8th column from top to bottom, followed by a comma, followed by the 9th column from top to bottom.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 6:30, Expert = 13:00
Solution: PDF
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)
This is a “Twisted Tuesday” puzzle variation.
Theme: TomTomTom: The Next Dimension?
Rules: Variation of TomTom rules, using digits from 1-8. In this variation, similar to Isodoku, the rows bend along the surface of an apparent cube.
Answer String: Enter the marked “column” A, starting at the arrow, followed by a comma, followed by the marked “column” B.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:45, Master = 5:00, Expert = 10:00
Solution: PDF
Today’s surprise comes from Tyler Hinman, five-time winner of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament and author of Winner’s Circle Crosswords. I’ve had the pleasure of co-solving with Tyler — whom I call “Kid Crossword” when in “Dr. Sudoku” mode — on many puzzle hunts in recent years and we’ve had a number of good conversations on puzzle design. Total Masyu, which appeared again this Tuesday, for example was an idea that came up in one such chat from Tyler that I constructed for my blog.
As I heard from Tyler a few months ago: “Here’s a weird idea I had the other night while unable to sleep. … It’s inspired by the Spy piece in Stratego, which wins a battle if it attacks the highest-ranked piece (the Marshal), but loses under all other circumstances.” The concept was for Spy Futoshiki, the subject of today’s surprise, where the lowest value (1) is considered greater than the highest value (5), but all other inequalities obey normal ordering. It’s a clever idea and Tyler’s provided a very nice puzzle to demonstrate the change.
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)
Theme: Spies among us
Rules: Insert a number from 1-5 into each square so that each number appears once in every row and column. Inequality signs between the boxes indicate the larger/smaller numbers, with the single exception that the number 1, the “Spy”, is considered larger than the number 5 if in adjacent cells.
Answer String: Enter the 1st column from top to bottom, followed by a comma, followed by the 5th column from top to bottom.
Solution: PDF
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)
Theme: Middles
Rules: Standard Skyscrapers rules.
Answer String: Enter the 1st row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 5th row from left to right.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:45, Master = 1:15, Expert = 2:30
Solution: PDF
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)
This is a “Franken-Friday” puzzle variation.
Theme: Spiral
Rules: Variation of TomTom rules, using digits from 1-6. In this variation, equations start at the cell marked by the arrow and proceed cell by cell performing operations in the order they are encountered to equal the value indicated in the last cell. In other words, A+BxC = 18 could be A=5, B=1, C=3 as 5+1 = 6 and 6×3 = 18.
Answer String: Enter the 3rd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 5th row from left to right.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:00, Master = 9:00, Expert = 18:00
Solution: PDF
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)
Theme: 2 to 5, twice
Rules: Standard Skyscrapers rules.
Answer String: Enter the 3rd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 4th row from left to right.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:00, Master = 7:30, Expert = 15:00
Solution: PDF
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)
Theme: Tetrominoes
Rules: Standard TomTom rules.
Answer String: Enter the 1st row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 2nd row from left to right.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:45, Master = 2:45, Expert = 5:30
Solution: PDF
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)
This is a “Twisted Tuesday” puzzle variation.
Theme: Arithmetic Series
Rules: Variant of Skyscrapers rules. The numbers outside the grid represent the sum of the buildings seen in that row or column. For example, if a row is 12534, the clue from the left would be an 8 (1+2+5) and from the right would be a 9 (4+5).
Answer String: Enter the 3rd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 5th row from left to right.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:30, Master = 2:45, Expert = 5:30
Solution: PDF
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)
Theme: Bracket Buster. Our 64th prescription is the perfect cure for anyone concerned with their logical decision making after the last 48(+4*) basketball games.
Rules: Standard TomTom rules, including the possibility for multi-cell subtraction or division by starting from the largest number.
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 = 1:15, Master = 1:45, Expert = 3:30
Solution: PDF
*Editorial Note: That the NCAA basketball tournament now starts with 68 teams is an accident of greed that I try not to think about too much. Like those two unclued cells in this grid that just don’t seem to fit in completely.