See more discussion of the puzzles from the United States’ 2021 Puzzle Grand Prix on this post. Note there are some construction details and potential spoilers on that post so view it after you solve.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab mode to shift between letter entry, line drawing, and shape entry — for word list marking — modes)

Author/Opus: This is the 356th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Combination of Word Search and Meandering Words rules (see prior posts, and below). Each bold word in the given list should be either located as in a Word Search (possibly filling in missing letters in the grid) or should be placed in an outlined region as in a Meandering Words puzzle.

Meandering Words rules: Place a letter into each empty cell so that each outlined area has exactly one bold word from the given list. Cells that contain the same letter cannot be placed in adjacent cells that share an edge or corner. Each outlined area must contain the word from the first letter to the last letter such that consecutive letters within an outlined area are orthogonally adjacent. (In other words, for each region it must be possible to draw a path that starts at the first letter and ends at the last letter, going through each other cell exactly once.)

Word Search rules: Locate the bold words in the given list in the grid, running in one of eight possible directions horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Some letters in the middle of the grid are missing and must be discovered while solving.

Difficulty: 4.5 stars (estimate based off competition points; timing standards not available from our usual testers)

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Word puzzles.

See more discussion of the puzzles from the United States’ 2021 Puzzle Grand Prix on this post. Note there are some construction details and potential spoilers on that post so view it after you solve.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab mode to shift between letter entry, line drawing, and shape entry — for word list marking — modes)

Author/Opus: This is the 355th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Place a letter into each empty cell so that each outlined area has exactly one bold word from the given list. Cells that contain the same letter cannot be placed in adjacent cells that share an edge or corner. Each outlined area must contain the word from the first letter to the last letter such that consecutive letters within an outlined area are orthogonally adjacent. (In other words, for each region it must be possible to draw a path that starts at the first letter and ends at the last letter, going through each other cell exactly once.) Gray cells indicate the position of the first letter in that region.

Difficulty: 4 stars (estimate based off competition points; timing standards not available from our usual testers)

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Word puzzles.

(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.

(view directly for a larger image)

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a letter entry mode and a shading mode to mark off cells).

Theme: Pi Filling

Author/Opus: This is the 31st puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Carl Worth.

Rules: Place each of the given words into the grid, one letter per cell, reading from left to right or top to bottom. All words must be connected, and no words other than the given words can appear in the grid. All occurrences of PI have already been entered into the grid (as the symbol π).

Answer String: Enter all crisscross letters (and spelling out PI where it is used) from left to right for the marked rows and top to bottom for the marked columns. Separate each row/column’s entry with a comma. Use CAPITAL LETTERS and ignore all empty cells.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 25:00, Master = 40:00, Expert = 1:20:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other word logic puzzles.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between letter entry and a composite mode for line/edge drawing.)

Theme: Snakes in a Bee Hive

Author/Opus: This is the 6th puzzle from guest contributor Joseph Howard.

Rules: Variation on Snake Pit (new rules in italics). Divide the grid along the boundary lines so that every cell belongs to a snake. A snake is a one-cell-wide path at least two cells long that does not touch itself, not even diagonally. Circled cells must be at one of the ends of a snake. A snake may contain one circled cell, two circled cells, or no circled cells at all. Each snake houses a word (given below the grid) with one letter in each cell. Some letters are given. Snakes of the same length cannot touch each other horizontally or vertically.

Also see this example:

Answer String: Enter the letter placed in each cell in the marked rows from left to right, separating the two rows by a comma. Use CAPITAL LETTERS!

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Snake puzzles.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a letter entry mode and a shading mode to mark off the clues.)

Theme: Two Lonely Dots (prepared for the 2017 Puzzle Grand Prix)

Author/Opus: This is the 275th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Place all the given strings into the grid, one letter per cell, so they can be read from left to right or from top to bottom, without crossing or overlapping each other. A dot between two cells indicates that both cells must contain the same letter. All possible dots are given.

Answer String: Enter the 1st row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 7th row from left to right. USE CAPITAL LETTERS. If a cell is empty, use X for that cell.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:00, Master = 13:00, Expert = 26:00 (*Estimates from competition scoring, not our usual process)

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other word puzzles.

(view directly for a larger image)

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a letter entry mode and a shading mode to mark off the clues.)

Theme: Game of Letters (for Daniel Cohen)

Author/Opus: This is the 142nd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Place the 18 names into the grid, one letter per cell, so they can be read from left to right or from top to bottom, without crossing or overlapping each other. Treat the first and last names as separate entries. A dot between two cells indicates that both cells must contain the same letter. All possible dots are given.

Answer String: For each row from top to bottom, enter the number of unused cells in that row.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 9:00, Master = 14:30, Expert = 29:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other word puzzles.

(View image directly for larger form.)

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between lineox mode where left click+drag draws lines and left click in a square marks O and X, and a Letter entry mode.)

Theme: Up to Eleven (for patron Phleb)

Author/Opus: This is the 111th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Place the words into the grid (one letter per cell) so that they do not touch each other, not even diagonally, and so that they can be read in a straight line in a vertical or horizontal direction. Some letters in the words are already given in the grid. Then find a path that passes through every cell of the grid, starting with the first letter of the first word, passing through the words in order from their first letters to their last letters, and ending at the last letter of the last word. Ignore the black cell.

Or see this example:

Answer String: Enter the number of turns the path takes between each of the words in order as a single string of numbers. (Ignore turns in cells with letters.) The answer for this example is “224”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:30, Master = 7:00, Expert = 14:00

Solution: PDF

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a letter entry mode and a shading mode. CAPS LOCK is recommended for letter entry.)

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 25th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Place each of the given words into the grid, one letter per cell, reading from left to right or top to bottom. All words must be connected, and no words other than the given words can appear in the grid. The dots mark spots where two diagonally adjacent cells contain letters and the other diagonally adjacent cells are empty as in a checkerboard. (Not all possible dots are necessarily given.)

Answer String: Enter all letters in the indicated rows from left to right, separating each row with a comma. Use CAPITAL LETTERS.

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other word puzzles.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a letter entry mode and a shading mode. CAPS LOCK is recommended for letter entry.)

Theme: One to Thirteen, Almost

Author/Opus: This is the 24th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Place each of the given words into the grid, one letter per cell, reading from left to right or top to bottom. All words must be connected, and no words other than the given words can appear in the grid. The highlighted cells must contain the first letters of each of the words.

Answer String: Enter all letters in the indicated rows from left to right, separating each row with a comma. Use CAPITAL LETTERS.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:30, Master = 8:00, Expert = 16:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other word puzzles.