Our second site category for the Best of 2022 posts is “Number Placement”, where we had 50 posts during the year. All of the puzzles are gathered together in this PDF file.

We kick off the “best of 2022” number placement with a Kakuro (Hex) puzzle by Murat Can Tonta that had a marvelous solving path with very minimal clues used throughout.

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

Less familiar genres often get recognition during the best of series, particularly when they have a memorable solving path with several Aha moments. Grant Fikes’ Skyscrapers (Haido) with an Evens theme was such a puzzle and received a lot of favorite votes.

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

Our last puzzle of 2022, a Kakuro (Gapped) puzzle by Prasanna Seshadri, also ended up being a best of 2022 puzzle. The grid is fairly open yet follows a nicely hidden logical path throughout.

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

2nd best in the Number Placement category for 2022 was an elegant Skyscrapers (Cipher) by Serkan Yürekli which combined an interesting visual theme with an interesting solving path.

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; note that solution checking requires the eleven ciphered clues and the twenty-five interior cells to all be marked)

The top Number Placement puzzle of 2022 was a “milestone” puzzle, the 400th post by Thomas Snyder. This TomTom (Mystery) with just one clue also came with a YouTube video describing the puzzle-making process behind the grid.

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

[This is a repost from our archives with new notes at the top (original post here): In this Star Battle, the second posted on the site, a common cage shape theme is used multiple times to lead to a logical solving path.]

PDF

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

Theme: Crossed Crosses

Rules: Standard Star Battle rules. Two stars per row, column, and region.

Estimated Difficulty*: 2 stars

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

Solution: PDF

Note 2: Follow this link for other classic Star Battles and this link for Star Battle variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Star Battles to get started on. More Star Battle puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in the books Star Battle and Star Battle 2, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

We’re starting off our six part series of Best of 2022 posts with Sudoku, a puzzle category with 59 entries throughout the year as well as a place in many of our e-book releases including the Masterpiece Sudoku Mix series and the Grandmaster Puzzles Quarterly series.

As in years past, we selected the top Sudoku by reviewing FAVE votes, web comments, and tested comments. All of these puzzles are gathered in this PDF file.

Our first “best of” puzzle goes to a challenging Classic Sudoku by Ashish Kumar that had some unusual steps to get to the finish.

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

Another top sudoku was the t-shirt puzzle by Thomas Snyder for the United States team at the recent World Sudoku and Puzzle Championships, with a very clean theme not needing any given digits.

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

Guest constructor Jonas Gleim made a fantastic combination of Arrow and Thermo-Sudoku puzzles with this “Compass” Sunday Stumper from May that received a lot of favorite votes.

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

A Thermo-Sudoku from Kishore Kumar Sridharan took the second overall Sudoku spot, with a “weighty” theme from the given dumbbell.

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

Surprisingly, the top puzzle for the year was a new variation, Multiples Sudoku, and the “example” puzzle that Thomas Snyder wrote for the Sudoku Grand Prix round from the United States. We haven’t featured those puzzles here yet, but the fresh logic surrounding the two-digit placements got the attention of many solvers, earning the most votes to be our best of 2022 Sudoku.

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

[This is a repost from our archives with new notes at the top (original post here): Symmetrically marked cells are one of the easier themes to achieve with Thermo-Sudoku, and in this puzzle the double zeroes highlight a few different kinds of logic to get to the unique solution.]

PDF

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

Theme: Double Zeroes

Rules: Standard Thermo-Sudoku rules.

Estimated Difficulty*: 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:15, Master = 3:30, Expert = 7:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for more Thermo-Sudoku puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Thermo-Sudoku to get started on. More Thermo-Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku 2 and in Masterpiece Sudoku Mix 2.

[This is a repost from our archives with new notes at the top (original post here): Star Battle, which was originally designed by Hans Eendebak for the 2003 World Puzzle Championship, is one of our favorite object placement styles. The region constraints and no touching constraints lead to a lot of different logic. While there are computer-generated versions of this style in major newspapers now, the hand-crafted themes and logical flows of this puzzle are what we look for with any Grandmaster Star Battle.]

PDF

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

Theme: Downward Spiral

Rules: Standard Star Battle rules. One star per row, column, and region.

Estimated Difficulty*: 1.5 stars

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

Solution: PDF

Note 2: Follow this link for other classic Star Battles and this link for Star Battle variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Star Battles to get started on. More Star Battle puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in the books Star Battle and Star Battle 2, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

[This is a repost from our archives with new notes at the top (original post here): Greater than/less than constraints can lead to good forcing chains in different number puzzles. However, I’ve never been a fan of using lots of < and > shapes (particularly when rotated 90 degrees) as that notation only works well across pairs of cells and not across chains of connected cells. I created Thermo-Sudoku as a new presentation method to make multi-cell constraints more easily seen and allow for graphically interesting themes. I first developed the style and name while planning for the book Mutant Sudoku with Wei-Hwa Huang, with imagery of a “melted thermometer in the boiling sudoku solution being poured out on paper” as the first mutation caused by Dr. Sudoku’s mistakes in the lab.]

PDF

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

Theme: Grandmaster Puzzles (the G and P shapes in the corners)

Rules: Standard Thermo-Sudoku rules. Range is 1-6.

Estimated Difficulty*: 1 star

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for more Thermo-Sudoku puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Thermo-Sudoku to get started on. More Thermo-Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku 2 and in Masterpiece Sudoku Mix 2.

[This is a repost from our archives with new notes at the top: This Tight Fit Sudoku (original post linked) goes to eleven! While most Tight Fit sudoku use the range of 1-9, these larger grids — in this case one that has already filled all the “big cells” and only has Tight Fit cells left — can stretch your mind and your notation in interesting ways.]

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between Sudoku = big digits and Number candidate = small entries in the corners of cells.)

Theme: The patterned digits in this Tight Fit Sudoku set up an interesting logical solve.

Rules: Standard Tight Fit Sudoku rules. Range is 1-11.

Estimated Difficulty*: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 7:30, Expert = 15:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for other Tight Fit Sudoku puzzles on this website. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Tight Fit Sudoku to get started on. More Tight Fit Sudoku can be found in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli and in The Art of Sudoku 2.

[This is a repost from our archives with new notes at the top: The final Nurikabe (original post) of week two was one of our “best of” puzzles in our launch year 2013, with an interesting visual clock theme and again a different kind of use of wide open white spaces for that unexpected number (if it was going to be anything, it had to be a 13! There might come a time you might need a clock that can point at that).]

PDF

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

Theme: Nurikabe Time; don’t wait for the 13th hour to figure out where all the clock islands go.

Rules: Standard Nurikabe rules.

Estimated Difficulty*: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:00, Master = 5:00, Expert = 10:00

Solution: PDF and solving video; advice on solving this puzzle has also been posted in “Ask Dr. Sudoku #2“.

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

[This is a repost from our archives with new notes at the top: Just as with classic sudoku, themes that look quite unusual (like separations of kinds of digits, far fewer than just 8 digit types, …, are some rich places to explore Tight Fit Sudoku to come up with something that looks unique. Original link here.]

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between Sudoku = big digits and Number candidate = small entries in the corners of cells.)

Theme: This Tight Fit Sudoku has separate even/odd right/left sides.

Rules: Standard Tight Fit Sudoku rules. Range is 1-9.

Estimated Difficulty*: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:45, Master = 5:15, Expert = 10:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Tight Fit Sudoku puzzles on this website. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Tight Fit Sudoku to get started on. More Tight Fit Sudoku can be found in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli and in The Art of Sudoku 2.

[This is a repost from our archives with new notes at the top: This Nurikabe (original post) still draws from some aspects of Nikoli puzzles at the start, but by the end starts to apply more global constraints and visualization that is very rarely seen from that publisher. Whether this is that they have a different audience than mine or something else is an interesting discussion. Fifteen years ago I learned from many of the styles/ideas they published; one goal of mine is to see that future generations of solvers draw inspiration from my prior work and my own style of puzzle design.]

PDF

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

Theme: Imbalance – the lower-left is slightly heavier than the upper-right, and is distributed less evenly, affecting the solve.

Rules: Standard Nurikabe rules.

Estimated Difficulty*: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:30, Master = 3:00, Expert = 6:00

Solution: PDF

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