PDF

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

Theme: Hawaii
Note on theme: The 1 represents Hawaii; the other 49 island cells represent the continental US

Author/Opus: This is the 13th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Standard Nurikabe rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments (the unnumbered, connected “ocean”) 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 = 3:00, Master = 4:00, Expert = 8:00

Solution: PDF

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

PDF

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

Theme: Increasing Ripples (Originally for the 2015 Polish Puzzle Championship Online Qualifier)

Author/Opus: This is the 27th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Tom Collyer.

Rules: Standard Nurikabe rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments (the unnumbered, connected “ocean”) 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 = 2:00, Master = 2:30, Expert = 5:00

Solution: PDF

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

PDF

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

Theme: Antisymmetry

Author/Opus: This is the 9th puzzle from guest contributor Tapio Saarinen. You can find more of Tapio’s puzzles on his blog.

Rules: Standard Nurikabe rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments (the unnumbered, connected “ocean”) from left to right for the marked rows. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:45, Master = 2:15, Expert = 4:30

Solution: PDF

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

With new styles Nanro and Kurotto joining Tapa, Nurikabe, Cross the Streams, and LITS this year, shading puzzles are now by far the most common style of puzzle we post at Grandmaster Puzzles (86 total posts in 2014). As a result, we’re going to give out a few more awards for the Best Shading puzzles than in the other categories.

Half of our “April Fool’s” week puzzles got very high ratings, including this Nanro from Prasanna Seshadri:

This LITS puzzle from Palmer Mebane also received a lot of praise for a simple but elegant solving theme:

Tapa continues to be one of our most popular puzzle styles, both in regular form or as a variation. We had three highly rated “best” Tapa puzzles this year. Amazingly, they all ended up using the same general theme. Will Shortz sometimes remarks that “As human beings, we have a natural compulsion to fill empty spaces.” Well, our favorite Tapa all featured impressive empty spaces that solvers would need to fill. Starting the year was this Tapa Triomino variation by Prasanna Seshadri called “Open Middle”:

Then in May came “Open Spaces” by Murat Can Tonta:

(View image directly for larger form)

Then in October, perhaps inspired by what came before, John Bulten provided “White Hole”:

While really a hybrid of a shading puzzle and a loop puzzle, Serkan Yürekli’s Nurikabe Loop “The Magic of 23” had the magic to make this list:

(View image directly for larger form)

Finally, we had some noteworthy Cross the Streams puzzles. Murat Can Tonta used a lot of just four basic clues in this masterpiece:

But the best Shading puzzle, and the last of the puzzles tied for Puzzle of the Year (with the TomTomTom, and the C Major Cipher Fillomino) was Grant Fikes’ audiobook form of a Cross the Streams puzzle. There isn’t really a puzzle to show here, just an MP3 link for you to hear.

All of the Best Shading puzzles for 2014 have been gathered in this PDF.

PDF

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.

PDF

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 59th 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 = 3:30, Master = 4:45, Expert = 9:30

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.

PDF

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 58th 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 = 0:45, Master = 1:15, Expert = 2:30

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.

(View image directly for larger form.)

PDF

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

Theme: Big Twister

Author/Opus: This is the 4th puzzle from guest contributor Tapio Saarinen. You can find more of his puzzles on Perplexible.

Rules: Standard Nurikabe rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments (the unnumbered, connected “ocean”) from left to right for the marked rows. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

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

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

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

PDF

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

Theme: One, Two

Author/Opus: This is the 3rd puzzle from guest contributor Tapio Saarinen, including one earlier Outside Nurikabe. You can find more of his puzzles on Perplexible.

Rules: In this variation of Nurikabe, the island clues are now given outside the grid. These numbers must be placed in the first white island cell encountered in the corresponding direction. Each number represents a distinct island, with a total of 23 islands in this puzzle.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments (the unnumbered, connected “ocean”) from left to right for the marked rows. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:15, Master = 10:00, Expert = 20:00

Solution: PDF

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

PDF

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

Theme: Big One!

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Swaroop Guggilam.

Rules: Standard Nurikabe rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments (the unnumbered, connected “ocean”) from left to right for the marked rows. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:30, Master = 4:30, Expert = 9:00

Solution: PDF

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