This is a free “warm-up” puzzle; Season 4 subscribers will see today’s main puzzle in the same style posted at 9:05 AM PT.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between shading mode and the composite Yajilin mode where left click marks cells, right click marks dots in cells or X’s on edges, left click+drag draws lines.)

Theme: Into the Unknown

Author/Opus: This is the 506th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Aqre rules. Also, some regions have a circle in their center. In these regions, the shaded cells must have 180° rotational symmetry around the circle of the region. There is no restriction on regions without a circle. A ? can represent any Aqre number clue, including zero.

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:40, Master = 0:50, Expert = 1:40

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for more Aqre puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Aqre to get started on. More Aqre puzzles can be found in these books in our e-store.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 12 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

This is a free “warm-up” puzzle; Season 4 subscribers will see today’s main puzzle in the same style posted at 9:05 AM PT.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)

Theme: Faces

Author/Opus: This is the 504th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard TomTom rules, using the integers 1-8. The “rows” in this puzzle pass through opposite parallel sides of each quadrilateral; in other words, the rows bend across the surface of the apparent cube to travel in a “straight” line.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:20, Master = 1:45, Expert = 3:30

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for other TomTom. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest TomTom to get started on. More TomTom puzzles can be found in these books in our e-store.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 11 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

This is a free “warm-up” puzzle; Season 4 subscribers will see today’s main puzzle in the same style posted at 9:05 AM PT.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)

Theme: Space Oddity

Author/Opus: This is the 129th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster JinHoo Ahn.

Rules: Standard TomTom rules, using the indicated set of numbers {1,3,5,7,9}.

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:30, Master = 0:45, Expert = 1:30

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for classic TomTom and this link for TomTom variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest TomTom to get started on. More TomTom puzzles can be found in these books in our e-store.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 11 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

This is a free “warm-up” puzzle; Season 4 subscribers will see today’s main puzzle in the same style posted at 9:05 AM PT.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)

Theme: Even/Odd Diagonals

Author/Opus: This is the 499th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules. Also, the letter E stands for even digits (except zero) and O stands for odd digits.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:45, Master = 1:15, Expert = 2:30

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for classic Tapa and this link for Tapa variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Tapa puzzles to get started on. More Tapa puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in Tapa and Variations, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles, all by Serkan Yürekli.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 9 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

This is a free “warm-up” puzzle; Season 4 subscribers will see today’s main puzzle in the same style posted at 9:05 AM PT.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)

Author/Opus: This is the 300th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules. Also, white circles, representing the centers of the largest rectangle containing them, indicate centers of symmetry; both the shaded and unshaded cells within this rectangle must demonstrate rotational symmetry. Rectangles containing different circles can intersect.

See also this example:

and this colored image will help visualize the five largest rectangles in the example for each of the five colored circles:

Difficulty: 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:15, Master = 1:45, Expert = 3:30

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for classic Tapa and this link for Tapa variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Tapa puzzles to get started on. More Tapa puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in Tapa and Variations, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles, all by Serkan Yürekli.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 9 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

This is a free “warm-up” puzzle; Season 4 subscribers will see today’s main puzzle in the same style posted at 9:05 AM PT.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)

Theme: Enclosed

Author/Opus: This is the 318th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules. Also there are two windows in the upper left (blue) and lower right (red) of the grid. The cells in the same position in these windows must have the exact opposite shading. (Clue cells are considered unshaded.)

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:30, Master = 0:45, Expert = 1:30

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for classic Tapa and this link for Tapa variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Tapa puzzles to get started on. More Tapa puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in Tapa and Variations, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles, all by Serkan Yürekli.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 9 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

This is a free “warm-up” puzzle; Season 4 subscribers will see today’s main puzzle in the same style posted at 9:05 AM PT.

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: Consecutive Inner Numbers

Author/Opus: This is the 299th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard Cave rules. Also, numbers outside the grid show the number of separate cave segments (unshaded cells) visible in that direction. A segment of length N in a given direction is taken as a building of height N. Buildings of height N block the view of all buildings behind them of equal or lesser height.

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:45, Master = 1:15, Expert = 2:30

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

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 these books in our e-store.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 8 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

This is a free “warm-up” puzzle; Season 4 subscribers will see today’s main puzzle in the same style posted at 9:05 AM PT.

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: Hex Pairs

Author/Opus: This is the 518th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Cave rules. (The puzzle is on a hexagonal grid and cells now see in a maximum of six possible directions.)

Difficulty: 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:15, Master = 2:30, Expert = 5:00

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

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 these books in our e-store.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 8 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

This is a free “warm-up” puzzle; Season 4 subscribers will see today’s main puzzle in the same style posted at 9:05 AM PT.

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: A Huge Gap

Author/Opus: This is the 298th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard Cave rules. Also, the shaded cells (outside the cave) cannot form a 2×2 square anywhere in the grid. Additionally, an even number of cells in each row and in each column must be inside the cave.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:15, Master = 1:45, Expert = 3:30

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

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 these books in our e-store.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 8 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

This is a free “warm-up” puzzle; Season 4 subscribers will see today’s main puzzle in the same style posted at 9:05 AM PT.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools in linex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)

Theme: Square Number

Author/Opus: This is the 497th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Balance Loop rules. Also, each row and column must contain exactly one star. Stars cannot be placed in adjacent cells that share an edge or corner, and all stars must be on empty cells not used by the loop.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:00, Master = 1:30, Expert = 3:00

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for other Balance Loop puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Balance Loop Puzzles to get started on. More Balance Loops can be found in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli and in Balance Loop by Prasanna Seshadri and Murat Can Tonta.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 7 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.