Here are our best Loop/Path puzzles of 2018, selected from the 54 web posts in this category:

While we post bonus puzzles each week, only our subscribers get to solve them so it is very rare — even though these can be really great puzzles — for them to win enough votes for consideration for the Best of prizes. The challenging Roller Coaster by guest contributor Joseph Howard is the one bonus puzzle to win a Best of award for 2018.

This regional Yajilin by Murat Can Tonta got a lot praise from our solvers with an easy start that draws you into the variation style but a challenging conclusion.

Another gem from Murat Can Tonta came in the form of “Circuitous”, a large Slitherlink puzzle with no zero clues and a fun solving theme.

But winning the category was the puzzle that posted the next day and was called an “Early candidate for puzzle of the year” by one of the commenters. This Slitherlink grid variant from Serkan Yürekli ultimately got the third most votes for all of our puzzles across genres. It is an incredibly original idea for a loop puzzle that has many of the properties of our best puzzles: visually engaging, to make you want to solve it, and then a complex and interesting logical path that rewards the time spent when you reach the solution.

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Our most recent variety mix of Sudoku puzzles can be found in this PDF.

This week from Monday to Saturday we’ll be posting our “Best of 2018” in each of our six genres, as determined by our solvers through using the “FAVE” button on the solver widget that goes along with each puzzle post. We’ll be back next week with our first new week of puzzles for 2019, featuring Fillomino and a Fillomino variation.

Our most recent variety mix of Spiral Galaxies puzzles can be found in this PDF.

Our last week of 2018 features Sudoku puzzles, particularly some less common variations spread across the week. This winter break is letting us complete the editing of The Art of Sudoku 2 and many more sudoku puzzles will be available on our e-store in the coming months.

This week, our subscribers are getting early access to the full week of puzzles and images of the puzzle solutions. Master+ subscribers to the site are getting a bonus Tight Fit (Even/Odd) Sudoku by Serkan Yürekli and an Isodoku by John Bulten. If you want to become a subscriber and get access to bonus puzzles, solutions, e-books, and other rewards, check out this page.

Q: Are you going to write about your experiences in Prague this year? Did you expect you would ever win the World Puzzle Championship?

Several people have asked if I would write a report on my experiences this year as I finally became World Puzzle Champion. Long ago, before I started this site, I would frequently write live blogs during or shortly after puzzle events, capturing the “heat” of competition. Some wanted to see me write an epilogue, after so many close runner-ups, to conclude a chapter in my life. Many of these championship stories (when posted in the late aughts) were the first ways people learned about me. I now prefer to let my own volume of written and edited puzzles speak more for me.

The live blogs capture my moments of great success and also great failure, as someone writing with full transparency and passion about what it is like to compete. I shared photos of “dirty laundry” — the stupid mistakes a competitor can make. I gave complaints earned and unearned against event organizers (the “So yeah, [insert event] happened” posts). I wrote an open letter that led to disqualifying a cheater and another that unfortunately did not lead to any WSC competition changes and continuing questions about what a Sudoku is almost 10 years later, ….

I stopped posting on that blog in 2013, with a primary focus on my own scientific career and a secondary focus on growing GMPuzzles. The reconnecting with science jobs was a major reason I stopped going to competitions from 2014 until 2017, “retired” from competitive puzzling in a sense. I never fully explained that choice, and I’ve never explained a few things that have had the most impact on my adult life. I’ve separated my very public “puzzle life” from my private life.

This time it is hard for me to answer questions like “did you expect you could win this year?” or “how does it feel?” without starting from a more private angle.

For the very private and introspective angle, continue here (note: some sadness/personal loss covered).

To go straight to the competition report, click here.

The Playoff story and video annotation is here.

Our most recent variety mix of WPC practice puzzles from Palmer Mebane can be found in this PDF.

This coming week features Spiral Galaxies, a region division style that focuses on symmetry. We have several classic Galaxies and a few variations during the week. We are close to finishing an e-book (part of The Art of Puzzles 2) featuring Spiral Galaxies; be on the watch for this before the new year.

This week, our subscribers are getting early access to the full week of puzzles and images of the puzzle solutions. Master+ subscribers to the site are getting a bonus Spiral Galaxies and a Double Spiral Galaxies both by Thomas Snyder. If you want to become a subscriber and get access to bonus puzzles, solutions, e-books, and other rewards, check out this page.

Our most recent week of Nurikabe puzzles can be found in this PDF.

This coming week features a variety mix of puzzles by Palmer Mebane, created as practice for the US team before the most recent World Puzzle Championship. There are several Skyscrapers (with Mirrors) puzzles, as well as other variations — 9 puzzles in total. Note: these puzzles can have high variance in solving time partially due to the genres being less familiar to solvers at this site, so expect some of the “days of the week” to be out of order for you.

This week, our subscribers are getting early access to the full week of puzzles, images of the puzzle solutions, and video talkthroughs of two of the less common puzzles. Master+ subscribers to the site are getting a bonus Gaps Between Battleships puzzle and a Pyramid puzzle by Palmer Mebane. If you want to become a subscriber and get access to bonus puzzles, solutions, e-books, and other rewards, check out this page.

PS: Also look towards the end of the week for a competition report from the World Puzzle Championship, telling my story of an unexpected world title win.

PPS: The answer checker (maintained by thegriddle.net) is undergoing end of year maintenance; please be patient as it may be missing from posts or not accepting solutions this week.

Our most recent week of TomTom puzzles can be found in this PDF.

Our next week of puzzles features Nurikabe, including a few variations. Two of the puzzles come from Ashish Kumar who recently completed a new Nurikabe e-book that we are releasing today. The book contains 35 classic Nurikabe, 5 Nurikabe (Cipher), 5 Nurikabe (Skyscrapers), and 5 Nurikabe (Borders) puzzles

This week, our subscribers are getting early access to the full week of puzzles, images of the puzzle solutions, and video talkthroughs of the Wednesday and Saturday puzzles. Master+ subscribers to the site are getting a bonus Nurikabe by Serkan Yürekli and another by Murat Can Tonta. If you want to become a subscriber and get access to bonus puzzles, solutions, e-books, and other rewards, check out this page.

PS: We just got back from the World Puzzle Championship, and will have some practice puzzles and a report on the events (including my first WPC title) in the coming weeks.

Our most recent week of variety puzzles can be found in this PDF.

Our next week of puzzles features a set of TomTom puzzles including a few variations.

This week, our subscribers are getting early access to the full week of puzzles as well as images of the puzzle solutions. Master+ subscribers to the site are getting a bonus TomTom by Thomas Snyder and another by Murat Can Tonta. If you want to become a subscriber and get access to bonus puzzles, solutions, e-books, and other rewards, check out this page.

Our next week of puzzles features a variety mix of puzzles from many authors.

This week, our subscribers are getting early access to the full week of puzzles as well as images of the puzzle solutions. Master+ subscribers to the site are getting a bonus Slitherlink by Tom Collyer and a bonus Star Battle by Serkan Yürekli. Our Grandmaster subscribers also received an early release of an e-book of Nurikabe puzzles by Ashish Kumar which we will be released here later this month. If you want to become a subscriber and get access to bonus puzzles, solutions, e-books, and other rewards, check out this page.

Our most recent week of Battleships puzzles can be found in this PDF.

This is another “off week” for the site, but we just added a new book to our e-store, Castle Wall by Serkan Yürekli, which offers a fresh take on this interesting loop puzzle genre. If you enjoyed our Castle Wall puzzles from two weeks ago, please check out 58 more challenges in this collection.