This is a puzzle-hunt style puzzle, prepared for an evening event at the World Puzzle Championship. There are no instructions; finding out what to do is part of the puzzle. Some UK cultural knowledge may be required.
Author/Opus: This is the 289th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.
Answer String: Enter the final answer of the puzzle in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.
Solution: PDF
This is a puzzle-hunt style puzzle, prepared for an evening event at the World Puzzle Championship. There are no instructions; finding out what to do is part of the puzzle. Some US cultural knowledge may be required.
Author/Opus: This is the 288th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.
Answer String: Enter the final answer of the puzzle, a single word, in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.
Solution: 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 1st puzzle from guest contributor Ken Endo.
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:
Answer String: For each cell in the marked rows/columns, enter the length of the snake it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. This example has the key “33553,44664”.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:30, Master = 10:45, Expert = 21:30
Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.
Note: Follow this link for other Snake puzzles.
(view directly for a larger image)
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools).
Theme: GMP (see Bridge Shapes)
Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Gomatamago.
Rules: Shade some cells to make sunglasses. The sunglasses consist of a bridge (a given line, in red) and two lenses made out of orthogonally connected black 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. The numbers on the right and bottom edges of the grid indicate the number of shaded lens cells in that row or column.
Also see this example:
Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black lens segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry with a comma. This example has the key “22,121,12”.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:30, Master = 9:15, Expert = 18:30
Solution: PDF
Note: Follow this link for other shading puzzles.
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: Eight 8s
Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Shinichi Aoki.
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:
Answer String: For each cell in the marked rows/columns, enter the length of the snake it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. This example has the key “33553,44664”.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:15, Master = 5:30, Expert = 11:00
Solution: PDF
Note: Follow this link for other Snake puzzles.
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools).
Theme: Bridge Symmetry and Logic
Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Yuki Kawabe.
Rules: Shade some cells to make sunglasses. The sunglasses consist of a bridge (a given line, in red) and two lenses made out of orthogonally connected black 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. The numbers on the right and bottom edges of the grid indicate the number of shaded lens cells in that row or column.
Also see this example:
Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black lens segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry with a comma. This example has the key “22,121,12”.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:00, Master = 3:45, Expert = 7:30
Solution: PDF
Note: Follow this link for other shading puzzles.
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: X Box
Author/Opus: This is the 2nd puzzle from guest contributor Takeya Saikachi.
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:
Answer String: For each cell in the marked rows/columns, enter the length of the snake it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. This example has the key “33553,44664”.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:00, Master = 1:30, Expert = 3:00
Solution: PDF
Note: Follow this link for other Snake puzzles.
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools).
Theme: Logical
Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Eden.
Rules: Shade some cells to make sunglasses. The sunglasses consist of a bridge (a given line, in red) and two lenses made out of orthogonally connected black 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. The numbers on the right and bottom edges of the grid indicate the number of shaded lens cells in that row or column.
Also see this example:
Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black lens segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry with a comma. This example has the key “22,121,12”.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:30, Master = 2:15, Expert = 4:30
Solution: PDF
Note: Follow this link for other shading puzzles.
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: XOXOXO (+ Antisymmetry)
Author/Opus: This is the 4th puzzle from guest contributor Nikolai Beluhov.
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:
Answer String: For each cell in the marked columns, enter the length of the snake it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. This example has the key “33553,44664”.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 11:30, Master = 17:30, Expert = 35:00
Solution: PDF
Note: Follow this link for other Snake puzzles.
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)
Theme: Logical
Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Fidel Zapico.
Rules: Standard Skyscrapers Rules. Additionally, each outside clue is also an “Easy as A, B, C” puzzle type clue, showing which digit of 2, 3, and 4 appears first in that direction in the row or column.
Answer String: Enter the 7th row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 6th column from top to bottom.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 10:00, Master = 14:00, Expert = 28:00
Solution: PDF
Note: Follow this link for other classic Skyscrapers. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Skyscrapers to get started on. More Skyscrapers puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles.