PDF

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

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 119th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Double variations of Cross the Streams rules. First, both the shaded and the unshaded cells must be valid streams (single connected groups with no 2×2 areas). Second, while row clues act as usual and refer to shaded cells, the column clues refer to the distribution of white cells.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from left to right for the marked rows and from top to bottom for the marked columns in the two grids, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:00, Master = 11:00, Expert = 22:00.

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

Note: Follow this link for variations of Cross the Streams and this link for other classic Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on.

PDF

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

Theme: Fibonacci Sequence

Author/Opus: This is the 4th puzzle from guest contributor Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from top to bottom for the marked columns in the two grids, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:15, Master = 10:30, Expert = 21:00.

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a shading mode and 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: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 118th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules. Also, the shaded region must be able to be split into tetrominoes to form a valid LITS solution (meaning all tetrominoes are connected but no two tetrominoes sharing an edge are the same shape, including rotations and reflections).

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from left to right for the marked rows and from top to bottom for the marked columns in the two grids, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:00, Master = 8:30, Expert = 17:00.

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for variations of Cross the Streams and this link for other classic Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on.

PDF

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

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 117th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules. Also, the solution has 55 shaded cells which must be divisible into the 11 given pentominoes (rotations and reflections allowed) without overlapping.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from left to right for the marked rows and from top to bottom for the marked columns in the two grids, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:15, Master = 6:00, Expert = 12:00.

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

Note: Follow this link for variations of Cross the Streams and this link for other classic Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on. Follow this link for other puzzles involving Pentominoes.

PDF

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

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 116th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from top to bottom for the marked columns in the two grids, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:15, Master = 3:15, Expert = 6:30.

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on.

PDF

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

Theme: Four Lack of a Better Title (contributed by GMPuzzles to the Indian Puzzle Championship)

Author/Opus: This is the 114th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from top to bottom for the marked columns, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:15, Master = 3:00, Expert = 6:00.

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on.

PDF

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

Theme: GEMINI / INIGEM

Author/Opus: This is the 111th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules. There are two puzzles to solve.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from top to bottom for the marked columns in the two grids, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:30, Master = 10:00, Expert = 20:00 – Note these time standards are for finishing both puzzles.

Solution: PDF 1 and PDF 2

Note: Follow this link for other Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on.

Editor’s Note: It seems a lot of people aren’t taking us seriously this week, as if our April 1st announcement of a puzzle app combining TomTom with 2048 and Threes! was just a joke. Today’s puzzle actually grew out of a past April 1st announcement that led to a real audiobook deal for our Grandmaster titles. This puzzle is a sample from Grant Fikes’ upcoming Cross the Streams audiobook. Listen carefully or you won’t be able to solve the puzzle.

or Click here to download the audio file.

The following grid may be helpful to keep in mind (or actually on paper in front of you):

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a shading mode and a number entry mode to track clues.)

Theme: Asterisk, Asterisk, Asterisk, _***

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules. Also, (as transcribed from the audio file): “You will hear the clues read to you, first the across clues (starting with the topmost row and moving towards the bottom) and then the down clues (starting with the leftmost column and moving towards the right). In this beautiful 10×10 puzzle, called “Asterisk, Asterisk, Asterisk”, grandmaster Grant Fikes has challenged the normal conventions of Cross the Streams, sometimes having two or more consecutive asterisks in a single row or column.”

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from top to bottom for the marked columns, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:00, Master = 12:00, Expert = 24:00

Solution: PDF 1 and PDF 2; a solution video is available here.

Shading puzzles are amongst our favorite puzzles here at GMPuzzles. They are our most crowded category amongst non-Sudoku styles as we now regularly offer four puzzle styles in this genre. But this shouldn’t be a huge surprise; when you have the original designers of Tapa (Serkan Yürekli) and Cross the Streams (Grant Fikes) as contributors, you’re going to see a lot of shading puzzles.

Because of the crowded genre, and many high vote recipients (this is our most popular category!), we awarded six puzzles the “Best of” status for 2013.

While a bit of a novelty, the Tapa Group Think by Serkan Yürekli which we posted in September was definitely enjoyed by a number of solvers.

The variation Tapa (Pentomino) from Dr. Sudoku also received a large number of votes in this category.

An absolutely spectacular Cross the Streams, Two Hard!, happened during Grant’s first week on the site. A lot of solvers gave it two thumbs up.

Nurikabe was the home to the most top ranked puzzles in this category, though. Tied for 2nd amongst the Nurikabe were the 72nd Prescription from April

and the Nurikabe Time puzzle from the second week of January which is the second “clock” theme to make the top of the listings.

But the winner of the category, with a few more votes than any other puzzle, was the “Crypt-Oceanography” variation written by Dr. Sudoku in May. Our test-solvers will remember well that this Nurikabe Cipher puzzle went through a few drafts before it was just right*.

You’ll find all of these excellent shading puzzles gathered together in this PDF.

* (That the world changed its four ocean model to a five ocean model in 2000 did not change the way Dr. Sudoku counts the oceans. Similarly, any planetary themed puzzles are still likely to include Pluto if it helps the logic.)

(view image directly for a larger form)

PDF

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

Theme: Logical

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from top to bottom for the marked columns, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 9:00, Master = 14:00, Expert = 28:00

Solution: PDF