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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: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 33rd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Palmer Mebane.

Rules: Standard Castle Wall rules.

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.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 11:00, Master = 20:00, Expert = 40:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

Note: This is our first week of Castle Wall puzzles. You can find other Castle Walls from their inventor Palmer Mebane here.

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: Rivals

Author/Opus: This is the 57th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Castle Wall rules.

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.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:15, Master = 3:45, Expert = 7:30

Solution: PDF

Note: This is our first week of Castle Wall puzzles. You can find other Castle Walls from their inventor Palmer Mebane here.

PDF

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

Theme: LITS

Author/Opus: This is the 205th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard LITS rules.

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 = 5:15, Master = 13:30, Expert = 27:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

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

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

Theme: SIT TILL ITS STILL LITS

Author/Opus: This is the 54th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard LITS rules. Also, the letters outside the grid indicate the first tetromino encountered in the corresponding direction. Or see this:

(Example by Chris Green, a patron who requested this puzzle style.)

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 = 4:30, Master = 6:30, Expert = 13:00

Solution: PDF

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

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: C Major

Author/Opus: This is the 30th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Palmer Mebane.

Rules: Standard Fillomino rules. Also, each musical note represents a different positive integer.

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 2nd row, followed by a comma, followed by the 7th row. (For this puzzle, use the integer values of the area, not the encoded letters.)

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 8:00, Master = 12:30, Expert = 25:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Fillomino and this link for more variations on Fillomino puzzles. 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: Jack-O’-Lantern

Author/Opus: This is the 202nd puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Thermo-Sudoku rules.

Answer String: Enter the 3rd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 4th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 10:00, Master = 25:00, Expert = 50:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is 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.

Note: This puzzle is a contest puzzle. All correctly submitted answers (in the applet below the puzzle) before November 9th will be entered into the contest drawing. Two solvers will each get a Grandmaster Puzzles/Thomas Snyder puzzle book of their choice.

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Theme: 200th Puzzle Contest Spectacular

Author/Opus: This is the 200th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: To be determined by solver. (Edit: the full rules are now available on this post.)

Answer String: Enter the final answer as a single string of twelve capital letters.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 20:00, Master = 35:00, Expert = 1:10:00

Solution: PDF

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

PDF

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

Theme: Windmill

Author/Opus: This is the 143rd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard TomTom rules, using the integers 1-8.

Answer String: Enter the 4th row from left to right followed by the 5th column from top to bottom. Separate the entries with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 6:15, Master = 10:00, Expert = 20:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

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

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: To The Nines

Author/Opus: This is the 8th puzzle from guest contributor Craig Kasper.

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 = 4:45, Master = 7:00, Expert = 14:00

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.

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or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use Tab key to alternate between line drawing and shading)

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 60th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Variation of Nurikabe. Shade some empty cells black so that the grid is divided into white areas, each containing at most one number. A white area with a number must have the same area in cells as that number. White areas may only touch diagonally. All shaded cells must be connected with each other, but no 2×2 group of cells can be entirely shaded. Also, all shaded cells must be divisible into snakes with the heads and tails given in the grid. Snakes cannot cross each other.

Also, see this example:

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry with a comma. This example has the key “7,32,31”.

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

Solution: PDF

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