(This is a bonus “second” puzzle that is not connected to the usual Monday-Saturday week difficulty.)

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

Theme: A Tale of Two Cities

Author/Opus: This is the 9th puzzle from guest contributor Michael Tang.

Rules: Standard Cave rules.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 5:30, Expert = 11:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for classic Caves and this link for Cave variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cave Puzzles to get started on. More Cave puzzles can be found in Roger Barkan’s Colossal Cave Collection, in The Art of Puzzles, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

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

Theme: A Tale of Two Cities

Author/Opus: This is the 8th puzzle from guest contributor Michael Tang.

Rules: Shade some empty cells black so that each number indicates the total count of white cells connected vertically and horizontally to that number including the numbered cell itself. Black cells cannot share an edge, and all white cells must belong to a single connected group.

Also see this example:

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:45, Master = 4:30, Expert = 9:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for more Kuromasu puzzles.

PDF

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

Theme: Noughts and Crosses

Author/Opus: This is the 29th puzzle from guest contributor Joseph Howard.

Rules: 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. Numbered cells must be part of a snake with a length of exactly that number of cells. A snake may contain one number, multiple identical numbers, or no numbers at all. Two snakes of the same length cannot touch each other horizontally or vertically. Cells with an X cannot be an end of a snake.

Also see this example:

Difficulty: 4.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 9:30, Master = 14:00, Expert = 28:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for more Snake Pit puzzles. Follow these links for other Fillomino or Snake puzzles.

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

Theme: X

Author/Opus: This is the 14th puzzle from guest contributor Swaroop Guggilam.

Rules: Shade some empty cells black so that each number indicates the total count of white cells connected vertically and horizontally to that number including the numbered cell itself. Black cells cannot share an edge, and all white cells must belong to a single connected group.

Also see this example:

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 8:00, Expert = 16:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for more Kuromasu puzzles.

PDF

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

Theme: Even/Odd

Author/Opus: This is the 3rd puzzle from guest contributor Eric Fox.

Rules: Shade some empty cells black so that each number indicates the total count of white cells connected vertically and horizontally to that number including the numbered cell itself. Black cells cannot share an edge, and all white cells must belong to a single connected group.

Also see this example:

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 7:00, Expert = 14:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for more Kuromasu puzzles.

PDF

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

Theme: Twins

Author/Opus: This is the 210th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: 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. Numbered cells must be part of a snake with a length of exactly that number of cells. A snake may contain one number, multiple identical numbers, or no numbers at all. Two snakes of the same length cannot touch each other horizontally or vertically. Cells with an X cannot be an end of a snake.

Also see this example:

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:00, Master = 3:45, Expert = 7:30

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for more Snake Pit puzzles. Follow these links for other Fillomino or Snake puzzles.

PDF

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

Theme: Diamonds

Author/Opus: This is the 342nd puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: 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. Numbered cells must be part of a snake with a length of exactly that number of cells. A snake may contain one number, multiple identical numbers, or no numbers at all. Two snakes of the same length cannot touch each other horizontally or vertically.

Also see this example:

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:30, Master = 4:00, Expert = 8:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for more Snake Pit puzzles. Follow these links for other Fillomino or Snake puzzles.

PDF

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

Theme: Symmetric House

Author/Opus: This is the 35th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster JinHoo Ahn.

Rules: Shade some empty cells black so that each number indicates the total count of white cells connected vertically and horizontally to that number including the numbered cell itself. Black cells cannot share an edge, and all white cells must belong to a single connected group.

Also see this example:

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:40, Master = 1:15, Expert = 2:30

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for more Kuromasu puzzles.

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

Theme: Q

Author/Opus: This is the 3rd puzzle from guest contributor Elyot Grant.

Rules: Standard Pentominous rules.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:00, Master = 4:15, Expert = 8:30

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for other Pentominous puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Pentominous to get started on. More Pentominous puzzles can be found in the Plenty o’ Pentominous series by Grant Fikes and Murat Can Tonta and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

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or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools with a composite mode for line/edge drawing.)

Theme: Squares

Author/Opus: This is the 356th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Araf rules.

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:40, Master = 1:00, Expert = 2:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for more Araf puzzles on this website. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Araf Puzzles to get started on. More Araf puzzles can be found in the ebook Araf by Serkan Yürekli.