PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between shading mode and the linex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)

Theme: Surrounded by 258

Author/Opus: This is the 9th puzzle from guest contributor William Hu.

Rules: Standard Cave rules.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 4:45, Expert = 9:30

Solution: PDF and solving video.

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

Note that we’ve referred to this style before as “Tren” and this particular variation as “Ghost Tren”. While not a common puzzle style, we are updating to the nomenclature “Parking Lot” for “Tren” and “Parking Lot (Extra Parking)” for “Ghost Tren” for this style this week.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools in Yajilin mode allowing line drawing and cell shading/unmarking; hitting tab can alternate to separate shading and edge drawing modes).

Theme: Prime Edges

Author/Opus: This is the 380th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Locate some automobiles in the grid having size 1×2 or 1×3. Each number in the grid should be part of an automobile, indicating the number of unoccupied cells the automobile can move to by traveling along its longest axis, stopped only by an edge of the grid or another automobile. No more than one number can be in an automobile; automobiles can also be placed without any numbers, with no restrictions on their ability to move. All unused cells must be part of a single connected group.

Also, see this example:

Difficulty: 5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 12:30, Master = 20:00, Expert = 40:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for more Parking Lot puzzles.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools. Use left click to place mine, right click (in cell) to mark unused, right click (on edge/corner) to mark a note; hitting tab will also enable a shading mode. If you want more solving options, turn off Penpa-Lite option.)

Theme: Equal and Unequal

Author/Opus: This is the 425th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Minesweeper rules (with a hexagonal grid): Place a mine into some of the empty hexagonal cells so that each number represents the total count of mines in neighboring cells.

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

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

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for classic Minesweeper puzzles on this website and this link for variations on Minesweeper puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Minesweeper Puzzles to get started on. More Minesweeper puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles 2.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between number entry and shading modes.)

Theme: Almost All Triples

Author/Opus: This is the 19th puzzle from guest contributor Salih Alan.

Rules: Fill some cells with numbers 1-5 so that each row and column contains each number from 1 to 5 exactly once as well as three empty cells (1-4 and two empty cells in the example). Numbers outside of the grid indicate the sum of all numbers in the first connected group in that direction as in a Japanese Sums puzzle.

Difficulty: 4.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 8:30, Master = 17:15, Expert = 34:30

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for other Japanese Sums puzzles.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a letter entry mode and a shading mode. CAPS LOCK is recommended for letter entry.)

Theme: Yell Out Greetings!

Author/Opus: This is the 245th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Fill some empty cells with the letters E, H, I, L, O, Y (A, B, C, D in the example) so that each row and column contains each letter exactly once. The letters outside the grid indicate the first letter seen from that direction, but each row and column has one transparent letter that is ignored by the clues. The transparent letters must be different in each row and column.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 8:30, Expert = 17:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for other less common Number Placement variations.

PDF

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

Theme: Hexed

Author/Opus: This is the 423rd puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Castle Wall rules except on a hexagonal grid.

Difficulty: 5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 15:30, Master = 21:30, Expert = 43:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for more Castle Wall puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Castle Wall puzzles to get started on. More Castle Wall puzzles can be found in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles as well as the larger collection Castle Wall, both by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

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

Theme: Odds

Author/Opus: This is the 378th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Castle Wall rules, but any two consecutive line segments cannot have the same length (i.e., on both sides of any turn, the loop must travel different lengths).

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 6:30, Master = 9:45, Expert = 19:30

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for more Castle Wall puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Castle Wall puzzles to get started on. More Castle Wall puzzles can be found in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles as well as the larger collection Castle Wall, both by Serkan Yürekli.

(view directly for a larger image)

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a composite mode for line/edge drawing, a letter entry mode, and a shading mode.)

Theme: In Tux

Author/Opus: This is the 91st puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Standard Pentominous rules.

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:15, Master = 10:15, Expert = 20:30

Solution: PDF and solving video.

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.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a composite mode for line/edge drawing, a letter entry mode, and a shading mode.)

Theme: Four

Author/Opus: This is the 377th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Pentominous rules. Additionally, there are some gray cells that do not contain any pentominoes. The numbers in these gray cells indicate how many pentomino regions are present in the 8 neighboring cells.

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 6:00, Master = 7:30, Expert = 15:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

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.

PDF

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

Author/Opus: This is the 242nd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Pentopia rules: Place some of the given pentominoes in the grid so that no pentominoes are in adjacent cells that share an edge or corner. Pentominoes cannot repeat in the grid; rotations and reflections of a pentomino are considered the same shape. The arrow clues indicate all the directions (up, down, left, and right) where the nearest pentominoes are located when looking from that square. (Arrow clues cannot contain pentomino shapes.) Also, see this example:

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

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

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for more Pentopia puzzles and this link for other puzzles involving Pentominoes.