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Theme: Fantastic Five

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Rishi Puri.

Rules: Standard Even/Odd Sudoku rules (i.e., cells with a square contain an even digit; cells with a circle contain an odd digit).

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:45, Master = 6:30, Expert = 13:00

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

Note: Follow this link for more Even/Odd Sudoku puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Even/Odd Sudoku to get started on. More Even/Odd Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku 2 and Masterpiece Sudoku Mix 1.

(view directly for a larger image)

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Theme: Letters and Numbers

Author/Opus: This is the 178th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

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

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:00, Master = 13:15, Expert = 26:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Star Battles. 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 book Star Battle by JinHoo Ahn, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

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Theme: Hot and Cold

Author/Opus: This is the 16th puzzle from guest contributor Bryce Herdt.

Rules: Standard Thermo-Sudoku rules. (Note: The coloration of the hot/cold thermometers is only for aesthetic purposes and all thermometers obey standard rules.)

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:30, Master = 8:00, Expert = 16:00

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

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 Masterpiece Sudoku Mix 2.

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or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between a number entry mode and Yajilin 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: Cipher Snake

Author/Opus: This is the 298th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Locate a numbered snake (a 1-cell wide path) that starts with 1 and goes to 45. The snake cannot touch itself, not even diagonally. All numbers are encrypted with C, I, P, H, E, R, S, N, A, K letters and each letter represent a different digit from 0 to 9. Digits outside the grid indicate how many cells in that row or column are occupied by the snake. Some snake segments are already given.

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:00, Master = 11:00, Expert = 22:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other Snake puzzles. More Snake puzzles and variations can be found in Snake and Variations by Serkan Yürekli.

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: Tetrominoes

Author/Opus: This is the 186th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Draw a snake (a 1-cell wide path) from one dot to the other by moving horizontally or vertically between adjacent squares. The snake cannot touch itself, not even diagonally. All highlighted regions must be visited by the snake, and may be re-entered. If two or more highlighted regions have the same shape and orientation, then how the path passes through those shapes must be identical.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:45, Master = 7:30, Expert = 15:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Snake puzzles. More Snake puzzles and variations can be found in Snake and Variations by Serkan Yürekli.

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

Theme: Square in the Center

Author/Opus: This is the 296th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Kurotto rules. Also, each row and column must contain exactly two stars (one in the example). Stars cannot be placed in adjacent cells that share an edge or corner, and all stars must be on shaded cells.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 4.5 stars

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for classic Kurotto puzzles and this link for variations on Kurotto puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Kurotto to get started on. More Kurotto puzzles can be found in the ebook Kurotto by Prasanna Seshadri.

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Theme: Couples

Author/Opus: This is the 185th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Kurotto rules. Also, numbers outside the grid show the number of separate shaded cells visible in that direction. A segment of length N in a given direction is taken as a building of height N. Buildings of height N block the view of all buildings behind them of equal or lesser height.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:30, Master = 9:30, Expert = 19:00

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

Note: Follow this link for classic Kurotto puzzles and this link for variations on Kurotto puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Kurotto to get started on. More Kurotto puzzles can be found in the ebook Kurotto by Prasanna Seshadri.

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Theme: Consecutives

Author/Opus: This is the 176th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard Skyscrapers rules.

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:30, Master = 6:00, Expert = 12:00

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

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

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

Theme: Tetrominoes

Author/Opus: This is the 295th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Skyscrapers rules. Also, as in Thermo-Sudoku, digits must be strictly increasing in all thermometer shapes from round bulb to flat end.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:00, Master = 4:15, Expert = 8:30

Solution: PDF

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

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Theme: Circuit

Author/Opus: This is the 50th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Ashish Kumar.

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

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 6:30, Expert = 13:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other classic Star Battles. 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 book Star Battle by JinHoo Ahn, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.