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.

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: White Whorl

Author/Opus: This is the 8th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules. Also, the Tapa wall in this puzzle is made using one of each pentomino given below the grid with no overlaps. Rotations and reflections are allowed. (Note: There is no P pentomino here because it would violate Tapa rules).

Answer String: Enter letters for all pentomino segments from left to right in the marked rows, with one letter for each cell it appears in. Separate each row’s entry with a comma, and use CAPITAL LETTERS.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 9:00, Master = 13:30, Expert = 27:00

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)

Theme: Middle Numbers (Originally for the 2015 Polish Puzzle Championship Online Qualifier)

Author/Opus: This is the 29th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Tom Collyer.

Rules: Standard Skyscrapers rules.

Answer String: Enter the 2nd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 6th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 9:00, Master = 18:00, Expert = 36:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

Note: Follow this link for other classic Skyscrapers. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Skyscrapers 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 77th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules. Also, around the three symbols (circle, diamond, and square), the indicated pairs of labelled cells must have identical sums.

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 = 6:45, Master = 13:30, Expert = 27:00

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.

(View image directly for larger form.)

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: V is for Valvino (this puzzle was written for our patron Chris Green)

Author/Opus: This is the 74th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules. Also, if two cells are separated by a thick border, this means that exactly one of those cells is shaded and the other is unshaded. (Cells missing a border that appear as larger shapes are entirely shaded or entirely unshaded. The count of shaded cells is always based on 1×1 squares, meaning if a “large” cell with missing borders occupies multiple 1×1 squares around a clue it would contribute 2 or more cells if shaded for that clue.)

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 = 24:00, Master = 45:00, Expert = 1:30:00

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 shift between number entry and shading modes.)

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor James McGowan.

Rules: Variation of Top Heavy Number Place. Fill the grid with digits from 1-5 so that each digit appears exactly once in every row and column. When digits touch, the digit to the left (if horizontal touching) or the digit to the top (if vertical touching) must always be bigger.

Answer String: Enter the values in each cell in the marked columns from top to bottom, using a capital X for blank cells.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:30, Master = 10:00, Expert = 20:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

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

PDF

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

Theme: Double Vision

Author/Opus: This is the 7th puzzle from guest contributor Carl Worth. The theme was inspired by Grant’s “Single Vision” Pentopia.

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:

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the shaded pentomino segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma. The example has the solution “21,23”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:45, Master = 7:00, Expert = 14:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other puzzles involving Pentominoes.

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: Digit Series

Author/Opus: This is the 224th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: (Standard Balance Loop rules.) Draw a single, non-intersecting loop that passes through all circled cells. All white circles must have equal segment lengths on both sides of the circle before turning. All black circles must have unequal segment lengths on both sides of the circle before turning. Numbers indicate the sum of the segment lengths on both sides of the circle.
Also, see this example:

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of the horizontal loop segments from left to right in the marked rows, starting at the top. If the loop only has vertical segments in the marked row, enter 0. Separate each row’s entry with a comma. This example has the key “11,311”.

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Balance Loops.

PDF

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: 24-7-365

Author/Opus: This is the 2nd puzzle from guest contributor Bryce Herdt (the 1st was his winning submission for our first hidden contest).

Rules: Draw a single loop in the grid which may cross itself orthogonally, but otherwise does not touch or retrace itself. The clue numbers to the left/right of the rows indicate the number of squares visited by the nearest section of the loop that travels horizontally in the rows. The clue numbers to the top/bottom of the columns indicate the number of squares visited by the nearest section of the loop that travels vertically in the columns.

Also, see this example:

Answer String: Enter the number of empty squares for each row from top to bottom, followed by a comma, and then the number of turns for each row from top to bottom. This example has the key “100000,422224”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 6:45, Expert = 13:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Round Trip puzzles. Some more Round Trip puzzles can be found in the book Loop Variety Collection by Ashish Kumar and Murat Can Tonta.