PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools with a composite mode for line/edge drawing and a composite mode for coloring.)

Theme: Loop

Author/Opus: This is the 362nd puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Araf rules. Also, there may not be four consecutive cells that are part of a region in any row or column.

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:30, Master = 9:00, Expert = 18:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for more Araf puzzles on this website. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Araf Puzzles to get started on. More Araf puzzles can be found in the ebook Araf by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

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

Theme: Cool

Author/Opus: This is the 12th puzzle from guest contributor Salih Alan.

Rules: Standard Consecutive Pairs Sudoku rules. (If a gray circle is given between two adjacent cells, then the two numbers in those cells must be consecutive. Note not all gray circles are given; adjacent cells without a circle may contain either consecutive numbers or nonconsecutive numbers.)

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:00, Master = 9:00, Expert = 18:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for Consecutive Pairs Sudoku puzzles on this website. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Consecutive Pairs Sudoku to get started on. More Consecutive Pairs Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku 2 and in Masterpiece Sudoku Mix 6: Consecutive Pairs Sudoku.

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: Low/High

Author/Opus: This is the 7th puzzle from guest contributor Sam Cappleman-Lynes.

Rules: Standard Tight Fit Sudoku rules, except that the bold regions are irregularly shaped. Remember, the smaller number goes above the larger number in all slashed cells. The range of this puzzle is 1-9.

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 6:00, Master = 9:00, Expert = 18:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

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, in The Art of Sudoku 2, and in Masterpiece Sudoku Mix 5: Tight Fit Sudoku.

(view directly for a larger image)

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: TIE Fighter

Author/Opus: This is the 6th puzzle from guest contributor Sam Cappleman-Lynes.

Rules: Standard Star Battle rules. Two stars per row, column, and region. (The shading of the large central region is for thematic purposes only.)

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:15, Master = 7:45, Expert = 15:30

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

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 The Art of Puzzles, in the books Star Battle by JinHoo Ahn and Star Battle 2 by JinHoo Ahn and Murat Can Tonta, and in our beginner-friendly collections Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli and Starter Pack 5: Star Battle by JinHoo Ahn.

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: 3×3

Author/Opus: This is the 88th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Ashish Kumar.

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

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:15, Master = 6:15, Expert = 12:30

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

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 The Art of Puzzles, in the books Star Battle by JinHoo Ahn and Star Battle 2 by JinHoo Ahn and Murat Can Tonta, and in our beginner-friendly collections Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli and Starter Pack 5: Star Battle by JinHoo Ahn.

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: Sixes

Author/Opus: This is the 8th puzzle from guest contributor Eric Fox. Eric invented this style and more Aqre from Eric are on his blog here.

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: 4.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 8:15, Master = 20:00, Expert = 40:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

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 are in Shading Variety Collection by Prasanna Seshadri.

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: Swirl

Author/Opus: This is the 7th puzzle from guest contributor Eric Fox. Eric invented this style and more Aqre from Eric are on his blog here.

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: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:15, Master = 7:00, Expert = 14:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

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 are in Shading Variety Collection by Prasanna Seshadri.

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: Quarters

Author/Opus: This is the 359th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Shade some cells black so that all unshaded number and arrow clues indicate the exact count of shaded cells in the given direction. Shaded cells cannot share an edge, and all white cells must remain connected as part of a single connected group. It is allowed to shade over some of the numbered cells; a shaded over clue may or may not be true.

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:15, Master = 9:45, Expert = 19:30

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for other shading puzzles. More Yajisan Kazusan puzzles are in Shading Variety Collection by Prasanna Seshadri.

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: Winner is You

Author/Opus: This is the 226th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Shade some cells black so that all remaining white cells are connected as part of a single connected group; shaded cells cannot share an edge. No unbroken sequence of white cells in any row or column can cross two thick boundaries. A number in a region indicates the number of shaded cells in that region. Regions with no number may have any number of shaded cells. Cells with numbers can be shaded over.

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

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

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for other shading puzzles. More Heyawake puzzles are in Shading Variety Collection by Prasanna Seshadri.

PDF

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

Theme: 400 Posts

Author/Opus: This is the 400th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard TomTom rules, except the digit set is unknown. This puzzle uses 8 distinct non−negative integers.

Difficulty: 5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 10:30, Master = 20:30, Expert = 41:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here. A video telling the story of how this puzzle was constructed by Thomas is here.

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