PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; in composite Star Battle mode a left click places a star, right click in a cell marks off the cell, and a right click on an edge or corner marks in a dot as a placement note.)

Theme: Zzzzz…

Author/Opus: This is the 115th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster JinHoo Ahn.

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

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:35, Master = 1:00, Expert = 2:00

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: 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 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-0-discussion thread on the GMPuzzles Discord. If you are not yet part of this Discord community, use this link.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools using a composite mode where left click inside cell shades square, left click + drag draws line segment, right click inside cell adds dot, and right click on cell edge adds an x.)

Theme: Spiral

Author/Opus: This is the 3rd puzzle from guest contributor David Olmsted.

Rules: Standard Yajilin rules.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:45, Master = 5:00, Expert = 10:00

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for classic Yajilin and this link for Yajilin variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Yajilin to get started on. More Yajilin 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-0-discussion thread on the GMPuzzles Discord. If you are not yet part of this Discord community, use this link.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools using a composite mode where left click inside cell shades square, left click + drag draws line segment, right click inside cell adds dot, and right click on cell edge adds an x.)

Theme: Spinner

Author/Opus: This is the 480th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Yajilin rules.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:50, Master = 1:10, Expert = 2:20

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for classic Yajilin and this link for Yajilin variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Yajilin to get started on. More Yajilin 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-0-discussion thread on the GMPuzzles Discord. If you are not yet part of this Discord community, use this link.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a number entry mode, a number candidates mode, and a path drawing mode.)

Theme: Double Vision

Author/Opus: This is the 497th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Write a number from 1 to N (N is given for each puzzle) into each cell so that every number appears in the grid once. There must be a path using just adjacent cells to travel between consecutive numbers from 1 to N. Also, the number in the upper-left corner of each bold cage indicates the value of a mathematical operation (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) applied successively to all numbers in the cage, starting with the largest number for subtraction and division (e.g. 1,2,4 with subtraction is a 1- clue as 4-2-1 = 1). The operation may or may not be given in the cage, but at least one of the four operations must apply.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:45, Master = 4:00, Expert = 8:00

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for other Math Path puzzles and this link for other Number Placement variations.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our week-0-discussion thread on the GMPuzzles Discord. If you are not yet part of this Discord community, use this link.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a number entry mode, a number candidates mode, and a path drawing mode.)

Theme: Twenty Something

Author/Opus: This is the 496th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Write a number from 1 to N (N is given for each puzzle) into each cell so that every number appears in the grid once. There must be a path using just adjacent cells to travel between consecutive numbers from 1 to N. Also, the number in the upper-left corner of each bold cage indicates the value of a mathematical operation (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) applied successively to all numbers in the cage, starting with the largest number for subtraction and division (e.g. 1,2,4 with subtraction is a 1- clue as 4-2-1 = 1). The operation may or may not be given in the cage, but at least one of the four operations must apply.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:45, Master = 1:30, Expert = 3:00

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for other Math Path puzzles and this link for other Number Placement variations.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our week-0-discussion thread on the GMPuzzles Discord. If you are not yet part of this Discord community, use this link.

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: Fields

Author/Opus: This is the 475th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Aqre rules: Shade some cells so that all shaded cells form one connected group. Regions with numbers must contain the indicated count of shaded cells, and it is allowed to shade over the numbered cells. There may not exist a run of four or more consecutive shaded or unshaded cells horizontally or vertically anywhere in the grid.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:45, Master = 1:45, Expert = 3:30

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-0-discussion thread on the GMPuzzles Discord. If you are not yet part of this Discord community, use this link.

The Season 4 preview week starts with this “warm-up” Aqre puzzle by Murat Can Tonta with a Rectangles theme. The warm-up puzzles have blue stars at the top and use the same 1-5 star system as other puzzles on the site. Most warm-up puzzles will be 1 to 1.5 stars with a couple 2 star examples here and there.

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: Rectangles

Author/Opus: This is the 290th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard Aqre rules: Shade some cells so that all shaded cells form one connected group. Regions with numbers must contain the indicated count of shaded cells, and it is allowed to shade over the numbered cells. There may not exist a run of four or more consecutive shaded or unshaded cells horizontally or vertically anywhere in the grid.

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:20, Master = 0:30, Expert = 1:00

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-0-discussion thread on the GMPuzzles Discord. If you are not yet part of this Discord community, use this link.

We’re back for a fourth season of our elegant hand-crafted logic puzzles on Grandmaster Puzzles. This next week will be a free preview of what a subscription week is like. From Monday to Saturday there will be 2 daily puzzles, starting with a warm-up puzzle on the easier end and then a regular puzzle (scaling difficulty through the week). During the season itself, the warm-up puzzle will be free for everyone but the regular puzzle will be for subscribers only.

Subscribers will also get access to a Sunday Surprise every week, things like larger puzzles, extra hard stumpers, puzzle hunt puzzles, experiments with new genres, contests, and more. All puzzles have digital solving options and PDF files, as well as solution animations to help you understand steps where you might get stuck.

The schedule for the free preview week is:
Monday: Aqre
Tuesday: Math Path
Wednesday: Yajilin
Thursday: Star Battle
Friday: Fillomino (Non-consecutive)
Saturday: Consecutive Pairs Sudoku
Sunday: Masyu (giant but gentle)

Starting next Monday, the main puzzles will be for subscribers only. Subscriptions to Season 4 are $12 (only $4 per month) for about 100 puzzles.

We also have a special deal for people who purchase before the end of September: Get up to $4 off any other book/subscription on the GMPuzzles store by adding that item to the same cart when you purchase Season 4. This is a great way to pick up another GMPuzzles book, like our Starter Pack for Star Battle, or to catch up on prior subscriptions where you’ll be able to get access to all puzzles and blog posts right away.

We hope you enjoyed the recent “preview week” of puzzles for Season 3 of Grandmaster Puzzles.

Click here for a PDF of all the preview week puzzles.
Click here for a PDF of all the solutions.

Starting tomorrow will be the first subscribers-only week of this season, featuring Fillomino puzzles and variations. Overall there will be 12 weeks and greater than 150 puzzles in Season 3. Subscriptions can be purchased in our e-store at this link.

We also have a special deal for people who purchase before the end of June 15th: Get (a maximum of) $4 off any other book/subscription on the GMPuzzles store by adding that item to the same cart when you purchase Season 3. This is a great way to pick up another GMPuzzles book, or to catch up on prior subscriptions where you’ll be able to get access to all puzzles and blog posts right away.

Takeya Saikachi presents us with a new loop genre in which you need to discover the rules by solving the example first.

PDF

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

Theme: Triplets

Author/Opus: This is the 40th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Takeya Saikachi.

Rules: To solve the main puzzle, you must first discover the genre’s rules by solving the example puzzle.

Example: solve online

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:35, Master = 7:15, Expert = 14:30

Hints: 1. This is a loop puzzle style that involves visiting all cells, forming a single closed loop. But what do the number clues do?
2. When thinking the right way, each number clue will have two uses.
3. Looking at individual clues may not be enough.
4. Pair all the clues together (as passed through by the loop) and consider any special properties you find.
5. This puzzle draws inspiration from a region division puzzle with a four-letter name (rot13 = NENS) that also pairs clues together.

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

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

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our week-0-discussion thread on the GMPuzzles Discord. If you are not yet part of this Discord community, use this link.