PDF

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

Theme: Four

Author/Opus: This is the 377th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Pentominous rules. Additionally, there are some gray cells that do not contain any pentominoes. The numbers in these gray cells indicate how many pentomino regions are present in the 8 neighboring cells.

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 6:00, Master = 7:30, Expert = 15:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

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.

PDF

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

Theme: Loss

Author/Opus: This is the 387th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Variation of Pentominous rules. Some borders between pentominoes are already drawn.

Difficulty: 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:15, Master = 2:15, Expert = 4:30

Solution: PDF and solving video.

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.

Since 2021, we have posted some extra difficult Sunday Stumpers, about once a month. These will be quite tough puzzles, but with a logical path to be found (and solution videos to help). This tenth Sunday Stumper of 2022 is a Tapa-Like Loop (Transparent) puzzle by Prasanna Seshadri. Will all the cells be used in this puzzle like the title and the clues suggest?

(view directly for a larger image)

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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 on edges)

Theme: All Cells?

Author/Opus: This is the 243rd puzzle from contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Variation of Tapa-Like Loop rules. (Form a single non-intersecting loop. Clues inside the grid represent the number of neighboring cells visited by the loop; if there is more than one number in a cell, each number should be represented with a separate loop segment. There is no 2×2 rule of Tapa in this puzzle.)

The loop can travel through clue cells. Each clue now describes the entire 3×3 area the clue cell is in the middle of.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 32:00, Master = 45:00, Expert = 1:30:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for other Tapa-Like Loop puzzles. More Tapa-Like Loop puzzles can be found in the Tapa-Like Loop Collection by Prasanna Seshadri.

(view directly for a larger image)

PDF

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

Theme: Unique Groups

Author/Opus: This is the 241st puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Variation of Pentopia rules: Place some of the given polyominoes in the grid so that no polyominoes are in adjacent cells that share an edge or corner. Polyominoes cannot repeat in the grid; rotations and reflections of a polyomino are considered the same shape. The arrow clues indicate all the directions (up, down, left, and right) where the nearest polyominoes are located when looking from that square, ignoring the clue cell itself. Polyominoes can sit on the clue cells.

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 6:30, Master = 12:15, Expert = 24:30

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for more Pentopia puzzles and this link for other puzzles involving Pentominoes.

PDF

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

Theme: Test Your Wits

Author/Opus: This is the 90th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Place the given pentominoes into the grid, rotations and reflections allowed, but without repeats of any shape. Pentominoes cannot cover the numbered cells, and different pentomino shapes cannot be placed in adjacent cells that share an edge or corner. Numbered cells indicate how many of the surrounding cells (including diagonally adjacent cells) contain parts of the pentominoes.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:15, Master = 6:15, Expert = 12:30

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for classic Minesweeper puzzles on this website and this link for variations on Minesweeper puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Minesweeper Puzzles to get started on. More Minesweeper puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles 2.

PDF

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

Theme: 11V

Author/Opus: This is the 6th puzzle from guest contributor Elyot Grant.

Rules: Shade some cells so that the numbers outside the grid indicate the groups of consecutive black cells which are in that row/column in order, either from left to right or from top to bottom. There must be at least one white cell between any consecutive shaded groups. Rows and columns without outside clues can have any pattern of shaded and unshaded cells. Also, all the shaded cells must be able to be split into the eleven given pentomino shapes. Pentominoes may be flipped and/or rotated.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:15, Master = 4:45, Expert = 9:30

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for other less common Shading 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 letter entry mode.)

Theme: Dead Ends

Author/Opus: This is the 385th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Variation of Pentominous rules. Some borders between pentominoes are already drawn.

Difficulty: 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:40, Master = 2:30, Expert = 5:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

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.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a shading mode, a mode to mark edges with an X, and a letter entry mode that may help with notation.)

Theme: Words

Author/Opus: This is the 232nd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard LITS rules. Also, the letters outside the grid indicate the first tetromino encountered in the corresponding direction. Or see this:

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

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

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for more variations of LITS and this link for classic LITS. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest LITS to get started on. More LITS puzzles can be found in LOTS O’ LITS by Grant Fikes and Prasanna Seshadri, in The Art of Puzzles 2, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a shading mode and a mode to mark edges with an X.)

Theme: Jigsaw

Author/Opus: This is the 14th puzzle from guest contributor Chris Green.

Rules: Variation of LITS. Some cells or groups of cells are outlined and labeled with a letter. If any of these cells is shaded, then the tetromino shape must match the clued letter.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:15, Master = 5:00, Expert = 10:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for more variations of LITS and this link for classic LITS. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest LITS to get started on. More LITS puzzles can be found in LOTS O’ LITS by Grant Fikes and Prasanna Seshadri, in The Art of Puzzles 2, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

Since 2021, we have posted some extra difficult Sunday Stumpers, about once a month. These will be quite tough puzzles, but with a logical path to be found (and solution videos to help). This ninth Sunday Stumper of 2022 is a Slitherlink (Switch) puzzle by Matej Uher, author of our new Slitherlink and Variations 2 book. Each clue here has to switch with one of its orthogonal neighbors, so it will be quite a challenge to find the complete loop.

(view directly for a larger image)

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to switch between edgex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s, and a shading and number entry mode to mark/update the switched clues.)

Theme: Knight’s Moves

Author/Opus: This is the 5th puzzle from guest contributor Matej Uher.

Rules: Standard Slitherlink rules. Also, each given clue has to switch its initial position with one of its adjacent neighbors.

Also, see this example:

Difficulty: 5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 30:00, Master = 45:00, Expert = 1:30:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for classic Slitherlink and this link for Slitherlink variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Slitherlink puzzles to get started on. More Slitherlink puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, Slitherlink and Variations, and our beginner-friendly book Logic Puzzles 101.