We recently provided several of the puzzles for the United States Sudoku Team Qualifying Test and will be posting these here every couple days through July. This third puzzle (#5 from the contest) is a harder Classic Sudoku (10 points).

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Twenty-Six

Author/Opus: This is the 609th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each white cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 7:30, Expert = 15:00

Solution: PDF; this YouTube video discusses all of the classic competition puzzles with this time stamp showing a solving path.

Note: Follow this link for 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.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Twelve Months of Sudoku? post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
Some days everything seems to line up. Will that be the case as you work through this “Lineup” Thermo-Sudoku by clover!?

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Lineup

Author/Opus: This is the 155th puzzle from Clover, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Thermo-Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). Some thermometer shapes are in the grid; numbers must be strictly increasing from the round bulb to the flat end.

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 7:30; One party hat (🥳): 14:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: unidentified Unaysaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 2:01, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF; solving video with explanation to be added later from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
This puzzle may have been completed in the wee hours of the morning, but you’ll want to be fully awake to survive this Killer Sudoku.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Sleepy Time Time

Author/Opus: This is the 135th puzzle from Philip Newman, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). Also, the sum of the numbers in each cage must equal the value given in the upper-left corner of that cage. Numbers cannot repeat inside a cage.

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 8:00; One party hat (🥳): 15:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: Zestful Zizhongosaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 3:20, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF; solving video with explanation to be added later from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for more Killer Sudoku and this link for classic Sudoku. More Killer Sudoku puzzles can be found in Killer Sudoku by Serkan Yürekli.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

We recently provided several of the puzzles for the United States Sudoku Team Qualifying Test and will be posting these here every couple days through July. This second puzzle (#3 from the contest) is a harder Classic Sudoku (10 points).

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Tee Ball

Author/Opus: This is the 608th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each white cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:00, Master = 5:00, Expert = 10:00

Solution: PDF; this YouTube video discusses all of the classic competition puzzles with this time stamp showing a solving path.

Note: Follow this link for 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.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Twelve Months of Sudoku? post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
Bill’s here with a three-peat: a third three-cell line theme in three posts. Today the cells at the ends of the lines must sum to the value in the center.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Mission Accomplished

Author/Opus: This is the 133rd puzzle from Bill Murphy, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). For each line, the numbers in each pair of cells an equal distance away from the center of the line must sum up to the value in the central cell of the line.

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 7:00; One party hat (🥳): 13:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: Motif Maxakalisaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 2:16, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF; solving video with explanation to be added later from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
There are a lot of large numbers to think about in this X-Sums Sudoku. Can you find any simple ways to handle all the big math?

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Big Math

Author/Opus: This is the 154th puzzle from Clover, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). Also, the clues outside the grid indicate the sum of the first X numbers placed in the corresponding direction, where X is equal to the first number placed in that direction (e.g., if R1C7 is 6, then the six numbers in R1C7, R2C7, and on to R6C7 all add up to 39).

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 6:30; One party hat (🥳): 12:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: big Bagaraatan.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 1:47, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF; solving video with explanation to be added later from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

We recently provided several of the puzzles for the United States Sudoku Team Qualifying Test and will be posting these here every couple days through July. This first puzzle is the easiest Classic Sudoku (5 points) from the contest.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: One Vs. Many

Author/Opus: This is the 607th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each white cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:30, Master = 3:30, Expert = 7:00

Solution: PDF; this YouTube video discusses all of the classic competition puzzles with this time stamp showing a solving path.

Note: Follow this link for 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.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Twelve Months of Sudoku? post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
Numeral diffusion occurs gradually in this Slow Thermo-Sudoku.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Thermodynamic Disequilibrium

Author/Opus: This is the 134th puzzle from Philip Newman, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). Some thermometer shapes are in the grid; numbers must either increase or stay the same in each cell going from the round bulb to the flat end. (For instance, a thermometer might contain the sequence 233577888 in that order.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 5:00; One party hat (🥳): 12:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: Yuppie Yunmenglong.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 1:29, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF; solving video with explanation to be added later from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for more Thermo-Sudoku puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Thermo-Sudoku to get started on. More Thermo-Sudoku puzzles can be found in these books in our e-store. Also, visit this page to purchase all of the puzzles from the 16th World Sudoku Championship including some Thermo-Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
Bill is back with another three-cell line theme, this time as a set of German Whispers all the way around the grid.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Team Rocket Base

Author/Opus: This is the 132nd puzzle from Bill Murphy, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). Adjacent numbers connected by a green line must differ by at least 5.

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 7:00; One party hat (🥳): 13:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: Spinny Spinophorosaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 2:45, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF; solving video with explanation to be added later from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
The outside clues in this Sudoku variation will have you considering some pretty constrained sums to get to the solution.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Squashed Sums

Author/Opus: This is the 153rd puzzle from Clover, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). Clues on the outside of the grid indicate the sum of the largest and the smallest numbers of the first three cells seen in that direction. (For instance, the R3 outside clue (6) indicates that the sum of the largest number and smallest number out of the rightmost three numbers in that row is 6.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 7:30; One party hat (🥳): 14:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: squeezed Stygimoloch.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 2:00, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.