PDF

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

Theme: Nine Digits

Author/Opus: This is the 31st puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Tom Collyer.

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.)

Answer String: Enter the 1st row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 9th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 6:00, Master = 8:00, Expert = 16:00

Solution: PDF

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.

PDF

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

Theme: Self-Centered

Author/Opus: This is the 14th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

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

Answer String: For each row from top to bottom, enter the number of the first column from the left where a star appears. Enter these numbers as a single string with no separators.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:15, Master = 4:45, Expert = 9:30

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.

PDF

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

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 172nd 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 left to right/top to bottom for the marked rows/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 = 4:00, Master = 6:00, Expert = 12:00.

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: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 73rd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules. Also, the sum of the digits in each cage must equal the value given in the upper-left corner of that cage. Digits cannot repeat inside a cage.

Answer String: Enter the 2nd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 9th row from left to right.

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for more Killer Sudoku and this link for classic Sudoku. More Killer Sudoku puzzles can be found in Killer Sudoku by Serkan Yürekli.

(View image directly for larger form.)

PDF

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 number entry mode. Note that the default puzzle info is too long — even for an url shortener — so copy and paste all the text in this file into the “Load” option in the upper-right of the penpa-edit interface to access.)

Theme: Spirit of ’76

Author/Opus: This is the 168th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Fillomino rules.

Answer String: For each cell in the marked rows/columns, enter the area of the polyomino it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. Start with the 6th row, followed by a comma, followed by the 29th row.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 13:30, Master = 20:00, Expert = 40:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Fillomino. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Fillomino puzzles to get started on.

PDF

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

Theme: H (patron puzzle created for Paul Hlebowitsh)

Author/Opus: This is the 80th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Arrow Sudoku rules. Also, standard Thermo-Sudoku rules.

Answer String: Enter the 4th row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 9th row from left to right.

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for more Arrow Sudoku. Follow this link for more Thermo-Sudoku puzzles. More Arrow and Thermo-Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku 2.

(View image directly for larger form.)

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: TYCG (Thank You, Chris Green) — this is a Patron Puzzle reward.

Author/Opus: This is the 79th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Find a path from one dot to the other by moving horizontally or vertically between adjacent squares. The path cannot touch itself, even diagonally. All highlighted regions must be visited by the path, 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. Or see here.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of the horizontal path segments from left to right in the marked rows, starting at the top. If the path only has vertical segments in the marked row, enter 0. Separate each row’s entry with a comma.

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

Solution: PDF

PDF

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 number entry mode.)

Theme: 28 Dice

Author/Opus: This is the 10th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Standard Fillomino rules.

Answer String: For each cell in the marked rows/columns, enter the area of the polyomino it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. Start with the 5th row, followed by a comma, followed by the 9th column.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:30, Master = 7:15, Expert = 14:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Fillomino. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Fillomino puzzles to get started on.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between shading mode, a number entry mode for placing Tapa clues, 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: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 8th puzzle from guest contributor Carl Worth.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules, except that the digits have been encoded with a cipher into letters. Each letter represents a different positive integer, for the solver to determine.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the shaded segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:30, Master = 4:00, Expert = 8:00

Solution: PDF

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

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between Sudoku number entry mode and two modes, Shape and Surface, to manage the domino inventory.)

Theme: Double Domino
(Hidden shapes include a complete double-eight domino set. Double dominoes have been “doubled over” to fit within one square. Hidden names include J.S. Bach, Gabriel Faure, John Cage, and various chordal progressions and crossword game vocabulary.)

Author/Opus: This is the 9th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules, using the letters A-H and a blank. Also, as in Shape Sudoku, there are some lettered shapes given beneath the grid that must be put in their proper places inside the grid; and, as in Battleship Sudoku, their proper places are indicated only partially. (Partial shape clues in the grid are not lettered but do not necessarily indicate the location of blanks.) The shapes can be rotated, but cannot be reflected; they can touch but cannot overlap.

Answer String: Enter the 3rd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 3rd column from top to bottom. (Use the capital letters A-H; use X for a blank.)

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 12:00, Master = 21:00, Expert = 42:00

Solution: PDF

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