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Theme: Diamond Archipelago

Author/Opus: This is the 380th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Variation of Nurikabe rules. Every region of white cells must contain exactly two numbers (instead of one) and have total size equal to the sum of the two numbers.

Also, see this example:

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 6:15, Expert = 12:30

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

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.

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or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; in default edgex mode: left-click+drag draws line, right click marks X on edge, tab shifts to a circle shape drawing mode that can help mark the vertices with different circle choices with another tab going back to default edgex)

Theme: Circular Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 197th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Draw a single, non-intersecting loop that only consists of horizontal and vertical segments between the dots. Numbers inside a cell indicate the number of turns taken by the loop at the four dots around it.

Also, see this example:

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:00, Master = 10:00, Expert = 20:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other Loop/Path puzzles. The puzzle styles featured this week are part of the book Loop Variety Collection by Ashish Kumar and Murat Can Tonta.

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or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; in default linex mode: left-click+drag draws line, right click marks X on edge)

Theme: Four T’s

Author/Opus: This is the 196th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Draw a single, non-intersecting loop in the grid that passes through all white cells. If a number clue is given in a bold region, that number indicates the total count of cells passed through by the largest connected loop section(s) in the region.

Also, see this example:

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:30, Master = 8:00, Expert = 16:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other Loop/Path puzzles. The puzzle styles featured this week are part of the book Loop Variety Collection by Ashish Kumar and Murat Can Tonta.

PDF

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

Theme: Nothing Unusual to See Here

Author/Opus: This is the 379th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Variation of Kakuro Rules. Exactly one digit must appear twice in each entry (i.e., group of cells connected horizontally or vertically without any black cells between). All other digits must not repeat within an entry.

Difficulty: 4.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 9:00, Master = 15:45, Expert = 31:30

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

Note: Follow this link for classic Kakuro and this link for Kakuro variations. More Kakuro puzzles can be found in Kakuro and Variations by Serkan Yürekli and in The Art of Puzzles 2.

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Theme: T Up

Author/Opus: This is the 6th puzzle from guest contributor Salih Alan.

Rules: Standard Kakuro Rules.

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:45, Master = 8:15, Expert = 16:30

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

Note: Follow this link for classic Kakuro and this link for Kakuro variations. More Kakuro puzzles can be found in Kakuro and Variations by Serkan Yürekli and in The Art of Puzzles 2.

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

Theme: Checkerboards

Author/Opus: This is the 194th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard Statue Park rules. This puzzle uses a standard pentomino set.

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:30, Master = 11:30, Expert = 23:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other classic Statue Park and this link for Statue Park variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Statue Parks to get started on. More Statue Park puzzles can be found in the ebook Statue Park by Murat Can Tonta.

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Theme: Pent-Up Rage

Author/Opus: This is the 77th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Place each of the twelve pentominoes into the grid once, with rotations and reflections allowed. No two pentominoes can overlap or be orthogonally adjacent, and all cells not occupied by the pentominoes must be traversed by a single, closed loop (connecting cells horizontally or vertically). The black circles indicate some cells that must be covered by pentominoes, white circles indicate spaces that may not be contained in pentominoes and must be part of the loop.

See also this example with five pentominoes:

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:30, Master = 10:00, Expert = 20:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other classic Statue Park and this link for Statue Park variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Statue Parks to get started on. More Statue Park puzzles can be found in the ebook Statue Park by Murat Can Tonta.

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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: WXY

Author/Opus: This is the 21st puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster JinHoo Ahn.

Rules: Standard Pentominous rules.

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 8:30, Expert = 17:00

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

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.

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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: PENTOMINO

Author/Opus: This is the 6th puzzle from guest contributor Jonas Gleim.

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

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 5:30, Expert = 11:00

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

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.

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

Theme: Plus and Minuses

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Michael Rios.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules. Also, each row, column and bold region must contain two negative digits. The sum of the positive and negative digits in each cage must equal the value given in the upper-left corner of that cage. Digits (ignoring sign) cannot repeat inside a cage.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 15:30, Master = 26:00, Expert = 52:00

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

Note: Follow this link for more Killer Sudoku and this link for classic Sudoku. More Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku, The Art of Sudoku 2 and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.