Archive for the ‘Variation’ Category:

Battleships (Minesweeper) by Ozan Kaya

Battleships by Ozan Kaya

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between ship placement and shading modes. In ship placement mode, right click gives sea, left click gives circle/square, left click and drag for rounded ships.)

Theme: Evens and Odds

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Ozan Kaya.

Rules: Variation of standard Battleships rules. Instead of exterior clues, clues inside the grid indicate the number of adjacent squares, including diagonally adjacent squares, containing ship segments. Ships do not sit on cells with numbers.

Answer String: For each row from top to bottom, enter the number of the first column from the left where a ship segment appears (enter just the last digit for any two-digit number). If the row is empty, enter 0. Enter these numbers as a single string with no separators.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:45, Master = 4:00, Expert = 8:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for more variations on Battleships and this link for classic Battleships. More Battleships puzzles can be found in Battleships and Variations, in The Art of Puzzles, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

SSS (Sundoko Snake Shape) by Yuki Kawabe

SSS by Yuki Kawabe

(view directly for a larger image)

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: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 3rd puzzle from guest contributor Yuki Kawabe.

Rules: Combination of Sundoko, Snake, and Shape puzzle styles.

Sundoko: Shade some cells to make sunglasses, consisting of a bridge (a given line, in red) and two lenses made out of orthogonally connected cells that are symmetric with respect to the perpendicular bisector of the bridge. Two lenses may not share an edge, but can intersect at a point. Cells with the bridges are not shaded, except at the bridge ends. Numbers in the grid are unshaded, and indicate the total count of unshaded cells connected vertically and horizontally to the numbered cell, including the cell itself.
Sundoko example:

Sundoko Example

Snake: Shade some cells to create a one-cell wide snake in the grid that does not cross or touch itself, not even diagonally. The snake starts and ends at the black circles and must pass through all white circles.
Snake example:

Snake Example

Shape: Place each of the given shapes into the grid exactly once (rotations and reflections allowed). Shapes cannot touch each other, not even diagonally.
Shape example:

Shape Example

SSS: In SSS, shade some cells to make sunglasses, create a single snake, and place all of the shapes in the grid. Shaded cells of different categories (sunglasses, snake, shapes) cannot share an edge. Number clues referring to unshaded cell counts consider all three categories of objects as shaded cells in this hybrid.

Or see this example:

SSS Example

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the shaded segments (sunglasses, snake, and shapes) from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 16:00, Master = 22:00, Expert = 44:00

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

Transporter by Gomatamago

Transporter by Gomatamago

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: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 2nd puzzle from guest contributor Gomatamago.

Rules: Draw a route that starts at the gray Start circle (S) and passes through adjacent cells without crossing itself or revisiting any cells. Some cells may not be part of the route. White circles with letters represent packages that are to be picked up and delivered to the black circles marked with the same letter. The carrier has a maximum capacity of packages that can be handled at once, shown below the grid. The carrier must pick up and deliver all packages on the route, returning to S with no packages in hand.

Also see this example:

Transporter Example by Thomas Snyder

Answer String: Enter the number of turns in each row, starting at the top and proceeding to the bottom. This example has the answer “224244”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:00, Master = 12:00, Expert = 24:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other Loop/Path puzzles.

Nanro (Doubleback) by Takeya Saikachi

Nanro by Takeya Saikachi

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use the tab key to alternate between shading and number entry modes)

Theme: Grid Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 4th puzzle from guest contributor Takeya Saikachi.

Rules: Variation of Nanro and Nanro Signpost puzzles.

Label some cells with numbers to form a single connected group of labeled cells; no 2×2 group of cells may be fully labeled. Each bold region must contain at least one labeled cell. The small clue numbers indicate how many cells in that region are used. When two numbers are orthogonally adjacent across a region boundary, the numbers must be different. Each bolded region must be visited twice (i.e., have exactly two distinct connected groups inside it).

Also see this example:

Nanro (Doubleback) Example by Thomas Snyder

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the segments labeled with numbers from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:45, Master = 7:15, Expert = 14:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for Nanro puzzles on this website and this link for variations on Nanro puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Nanro Puzzles to get started on. More Nanro puzzles can be found in A Number o’ Nanro by Prasanna Seshadri.

SSS (Sundoko Snake Shape) by Yuki Kawabe

SSS by Yuki Kawabe

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: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 2nd puzzle from guest contributor Yuki Kawabe.

Rules: Combination of Sundoko, Snake, and Shape puzzle styles.

Sundoko: Shade some cells to make sunglasses, consisting of a bridge (a given line, in red) and two lenses made out of orthogonally connected cells that are symmetric with respect to the perpendicular bisector of the bridge. Two lenses may not share an edge, but can intersect at a point. Cells with the bridges are not shaded, except at the bridge ends. Numbers in the grid are unshaded, and indicate the total count of unshaded cells connected vertically and horizontally to the numbered cell, including the cell itself.
Sundoko example:

Sundoko Example

Snake: Shade some cells to create a one-cell wide snake in the grid that does not cross or touch itself, not even diagonally. The snake starts and ends at the black circles and must pass through all white circles.
Snake example:

Snake Example

Shape: Place each of the given shapes into the grid exactly once (rotations and reflections allowed). Shapes cannot touch each other, not even diagonally.
Shape example:

Shape Example

SSS: In SSS, shade some cells to make sunglasses, create a single snake, and place all of the shapes in the grid. Shaded cells of different categories (sunglasses, snake, shapes) cannot share an edge. Number clues referring to unshaded cell counts consider all three categories of objects as shaded cells in this hybrid.

Or see this example:

SSS Example

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the shaded segments (sunglasses, snake, and shapes) from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 5:15, Expert = 10:30

Solution: PDF

Transporter by Takeya Saikachi

Transporter by Takeya Saikachi

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: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 3rd puzzle from guest contributor Takeya Saikachi.

Rules: Draw a route that starts at the gray Start circle (S) and passes through adjacent cells without crossing itself or revisiting any cells. Some cells may not be part of the route. White circles with letters represent packages that are to be picked up and delivered to the black circles marked with the same letter. The carrier has a maximum capacity of packages that can be handled at once, shown below the grid. The carrier must pick up and deliver all packages on the route, returning to S with no packages in hand.

Also see this example:

Transporter Example by Thomas Snyder

Answer String: Enter the number of turns in each row, starting at the top and proceeding to the bottom. This example has the answer “224244”.

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Loop/Path puzzles.

Nanro (Doubleback) by Ken Endo

Nanro by Ken Endo

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use the tab key to alternate between shading and number entry modes)

Theme: Rectangles

Author/Opus: This is the 2nd puzzle from guest contributor Ken Endo.

Rules: Variation of Nanro and Nanro Signpost puzzles.

Label some cells with numbers to form a single connected group of labeled cells; no 2×2 group of cells may be fully labeled. Each bold region must contain at least one labeled cell. The small clue numbers indicate how many cells in that region are used. When two numbers are orthogonally adjacent across a region boundary, the numbers must be different. Each bolded region must be visited twice (i.e., have exactly two distinct connected groups inside it).

Also see this example:

Nanro (Doubleback) Example by Thomas Snyder

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the segments labeled with numbers from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:30, Master = 2:00, Expert = 4:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for Nanro puzzles on this website and this link for variations on Nanro puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Nanro Puzzles to get started on. More Nanro puzzles can be found in A Number o’ Nanro by Prasanna Seshadri.

Double Kakuro by Hatice Esra Aydemir

Kakuro by Murat Can Tonta

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; note that the dotted circles are just for answer entry and are where the number should be placed in the 2×2 cell. An alternate option with centralized digit entry is here.)

Theme: Checker

Author/Opus: This is the 2nd puzzle from guest contributor Hatice Esra Aydemir.

Rules: Variation of Kakuro. The gray (2×2) cells are to be filled by a single digit which sits in multiple rows and columns. No digits can repeat within an entry, regardless of if it is in a small or large cell.

Answer String: Enter the values in each cell in the 1st row from left to right and then in the 5th column from top to bottom, separating the two entries with a comma. Ignore black cells.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:00, Master = 9:30, Expert = 19:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Kakuro puzzles. More Kakuro puzzles can be found in Kakuro and Variations by Serkan Yürekli and in The Art of Puzzles 2.

Fillomino (Cipher) by Tim Marsden

Fillomino (Cipher) by Tim Marsden

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: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 4th puzzle from guest contributor Tim Marsden. [Update: this puzzle is the 13th puzzle from guest contributor Dan Katz and is part of a set connected to the 2019 Mystery Hunt.]

Rules: Standard Fillomino rules. Also, each letter represents a different positive integer.

Answer String: For each cell in the marked rows/columns, enter the area of the polyomino it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. Start with the 5th row, followed by a comma, followed by the 8th row.

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Fillomino and this link for more variations on Fillomino puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Fillomino puzzles to get started on. More Fillomino puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in Fill o’ Fillomino and Fill o’ Fillomino 2 by Grant Fikes, and in our beginner-friendly book Logic Puzzles 101.

Fillomino (Cipher) by Tim Marsden

Fillomino (Cipher) by Tim Marsden

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: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 3rd puzzle from guest contributor Tim Marsden. [Update: this puzzle is the 12th puzzle from guest contributor Dan Katz and is part of a set connected to the 2019 Mystery Hunt.]

Rules: Standard Fillomino rules. Also, each letter represents a different positive integer.

Answer String: For each cell in the marked rows/columns, enter the area of the polyomino it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. Start with the 5th row, followed by a comma, followed by the 7th row.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:15, Master = 6:30, Expert = 13:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Fillomino and this link for more variations on Fillomino puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Fillomino puzzles to get started on. More Fillomino puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in Fill o’ Fillomino and Fill o’ Fillomino 2 by Grant Fikes, and in our beginner-friendly book Logic Puzzles 101.