Araf by Thomas Snyder

This is a free “warm-up” puzzle; Season 4 subscribers will see today’s main puzzle in the same style posted at 9:05 AM PT.

Araf by Thomas Snyder

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 shading mode.)

Theme: Common Numbers

Author/Opus: This is the 504th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Araf rules.

Difficulty: 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:30, Master = 2:15, Expert = 4:30

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for more Araf puzzles on this website. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Araf Puzzles to get started on. More Araf puzzles can be found in the ebook Araf by Serkan Yürekli.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 3 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

Araf (Loop) by Takeya Saikachi

This is a free “warm-up” puzzle; Season 4 subscribers will see today’s main puzzle in the same style posted at 9:05 AM PT.

Araf (Loop) by Takeya Saikachi

PDF

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

Theme: V Formation

Author/Opus: This is the 49th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Takeya Saikachi.

Rules: Draw a single, non-intersecting loop that passes through all cells, including clue cells; the loop may either go straight through or turn at each clue. The length of each loop segment connecting the two circles must be any value between the numbers given in those circles.

See also this example:

Araf (Loop) Example by Takeya Saikachi

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:00, Master = 1:30, Expert = 3:00

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for more Araf puzzles on this website. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Araf Puzzles to get started on. More Araf puzzles can be found in the ebook Araf by Serkan Yürekli.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 3 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

Araf (Singleton) by JinHoo Ahn

This is a free “warm-up” puzzle; Season 4 subscribers will see today’s main puzzle in the same style posted at 9:05 AM PT.

Araf by JinHoo Ahn

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 shading mode.)

Theme: Triplets

Author/Opus: This is the 120th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster JinHoo Ahn.

Rules: Variation of Araf rules. Divide the grid into some regions formed of edge-adjacent squares. Each cell is part of one region, and each region should contain either one or two given numbers. If a region contains only one number, the area of that region must be represented by that number. If a region contains two numbers, the area of the region is strictly between those numbers.

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:30, Master = 1:00, Expert = 2:00

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for more Araf puzzles on this website. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Araf Puzzles to get started on. More Araf puzzles can be found in the ebook Araf by Serkan Yürekli.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 3 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

Araf by Grant Fikes

This is a free “warm-up” puzzle; Season 4 subscribers will see today’s main puzzle in the same style posted at 9:05 AM PT.

Araf by Grant Fikes

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 shading mode.)

Theme: What Are the Odds?

Author/Opus: This is the 488th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Araf rules.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:00, Master = 1:30, Expert = 3:00

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for more Araf puzzles on this website. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Araf Puzzles to get started on. More Araf puzzles can be found in the ebook Araf by Serkan Yürekli.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 3 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

Araf by Grant Fikes

This is a free “warm-up” puzzle; Season 4 subscribers will see today’s main puzzle in the same style posted at 9:05 AM PT.

Araf by Grant Fikes

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 shading mode.)

Theme: Cross

Author/Opus: This is the 487th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Araf rules.

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:45, Master = 1:00, Expert = 2:00

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for more Araf puzzles on this website. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Araf Puzzles to get started on. More Araf puzzles can be found in the ebook Araf by Serkan Yürekli.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 3 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

Golem Grad by Ashish Kumar

This is a free “warm-up” puzzle; Season 4 subscribers will see today’s main puzzle in the same style posted at 9:05 AM PT.

Golem Grad by Ashish Kumar

PDF

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

Theme: 1 to 6

Author/Opus: This is the 132nd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Ashish Kumar.

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:

Golem Grad by Serkan Yürekli

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:00, Master = 1:45, Expert = 3:30

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

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.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 2 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

Snake by Thomas Snyder

This is a free “warm-up” puzzle; Season 4 subscribers will see today’s main puzzle in the same style posted at 9:05 AM PT.

Snake by Thomas Snyder

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools with a composite mode where left click inside cell marks as O or X, left click + drag draws line segment; hit tab to also access a shading mode that can be used for answer entry.)

Theme: Arithmetic Series

Author/Opus: This is the 502nd puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Locate a snake (a 1-cell wide path) of unknown length in the grid, whose head and tail are given. The snake does not touch itself, even diagonally. Numbers outside the grid indicate the number of snake cells in that row/column.

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:45, Master = 1:00, Expert = 2:00

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

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

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 2 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

Dotted Snake by JinHoo Ahn

This is a free “warm-up” puzzle; Season 4 subscribers will see today’s main puzzle in the same style posted at 9:05 AM PT.

Dotted Snake by JinHoo Ahn

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools with a composite mode where left click inside cell marks as O or X, left click + drag draws line segment; hit tab to also access shading and number entry modes.)

Theme: S is for Snake

Author/Opus: This is the 118th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster JinHoo Ahn.

Rules: Locate a numbered snake (a 1-cell wide path) that starts with 1 and goes to 30 (in example, 1 to 15). The snake cannot touch itself, not even diagonally. Every third segment of the snake is marked with gray. Digits outside the grid indicate the number of gray snake segments in that row or column.

See also this example:

Dotted Snake by Serkan Yürekli

Difficulty: 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:15, Master = 2:15, Expert = 4:30

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

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

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 2 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

First Seen Snake by Thomas Snyder

First Seen Snake by Thomas Snyder

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools with a composite mode where left click inside cell marks as O or X, left click + drag draws line segment; hit tab to also access a shading mode that can be used for answer entry.)

Theme: Clue Pairs

Author/Opus: This is the 501st puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Draw a snake (a 1-cell wide path) of unknown length in the grid, whose head and tail are given. The snake does not touch itself, even diagonally. Numbers outside the grid indicate the length of the first snake segment encountered from that direction.

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:30, Master = 1:00, Expert = 2:00

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

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

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 2 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

Snake Egg by Serkan Yürekli

This is a free “warm-up” puzzle; Season 4 subscribers will see today’s main puzzle in the same style posted at 9:05 AM PT.

Snake Egg by Serkan Yürekli

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools with 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; hit tab to also access a shading mode that can be used for answer entry.)

Theme: Odd Regions

Author/Opus:  This is the 481st puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Draw a snake (a 1 cell-wide path) in the grid whose head and tail are given by circled cells. The snake can touch itself diagonally, but cannot touch itself orthogonally or revisit any square. Besides the snake, the remaining cells must form exactly nine white areas, one of each size from 1 to 9 (in example, 1 to 5). Numbers in the grid must be part of white areas of the indicated size.

See also this example:

Snake Egg by Serkan Yürekli

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:00, Master = 1:45, Expert = 3:30

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

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

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 2 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.