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.

PDF

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

Author/Opus: This is the 493rd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Variation of Skyscrapers rules. All exterior clues are false and should be either one higher or one lower than the value given.

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:45, Master = 1:15, Expert = 2:30

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for classic Skyscrapers puzzles and this link for variations on Skyscrapers puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Skyscrapers Puzzles to get started on. More Skyscrapers puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli, and in the e-book Skyscrapers by Ashish Kumar.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 5 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

Getting started with this difficult Skyscrapers (Sum) puzzle designed by Murat Can Tonta probably requires noting a lot about the two distinct clues in the grid.

PDF

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

Theme: Two Consecutive Numbers

Author/Opus: This is the 274th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Variation of Skyscrapers; each clue represents the sum of the heights of the visible buildings in that direction.

Difficulty: 5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 9:45, Master = 25:00, Expert = 50:00

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for classic Skyscrapers puzzles and this link for variations on Skyscrapers puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Skyscrapers Puzzles to get started on. More Skyscrapers puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli, and in the e-book Skyscrapers by Ashish Kumar.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our week-0-discussion thread on the GMPuzzles Discord. If you are not yet part of this Discord community, use this link.

Takeya Saikachi’s warm-up puzzle, in which he places all possible odd clues symmetrically, will be good practice for the second grid today.

PDF

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

Theme: Possible Odds

Author/Opus: This is the 39th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Takeya Saikachi.

Rules: Variation of Skyscrapers; each clue represents the sum of the heights of the visible buildings in that direction.

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:20, Master = 0:35, Expert = 1:10

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for classic Skyscrapers puzzles and this link for variations on Skyscrapers puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Skyscrapers Puzzles to get started on. More Skyscrapers puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli, and in the e-book Skyscrapers by Ashish Kumar.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our week-0-discussion thread on the GMPuzzles Discord. If you are not yet part of this Discord community, use this link.

The last Number Placement playoff puzzle from the World Puzzle Championship was a Skyscrapers (Gap) puzzle with an empty cell in each row and column. How long will it take you to solve David Altizio’s puzzle?

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between number entry modes and a shading mode to mark the unused cells.)

Author/Opus: This is the 15th puzzle from guest contributor David Altizio.

Rules: Variation of Skyscrapers rules. Insert numbers into some cells of the grid so that each row and column of the grid contains the numbers from 1 to 5 once each and one gap. Each number in the grid represents the height of a building and the clues on the outside of the grid indicate how many buildings can be “seen” when looking from that direction. Taller buildings block the view of smaller buildings.

Estimated Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Solution: PDF for all Number Placement playoff puzzles.

Note: Follow this link for classic Skyscrapers puzzles and this link for variations on Skyscrapers puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Skyscrapers Puzzles to get started on. More Skyscrapers puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli, and in the e-book Skyscrapers by Ashish Kumar.

PDF

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

Theme: Evens

Author/Opus: This is the 388th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Variation of Skyscrapers rules. Instead of their usual meaning, exterior clues indicate the height of one of the visible buildings that can be seen from that direction.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:50, Master = 1:20, Expert = 2:40

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for classic Skyscrapers puzzles and this link for variations on Skyscrapers puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Skyscrapers Puzzles to get started on. More Skyscrapers puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli, and in the e-book Skyscrapers by Ashish Kumar.

PDF

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

Theme: Am I Seeing Double?

Author/Opus: This is the 92nd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Ashish Kumar.

Rules: Variation of Skyscrapers; each clue represents the sum of the heights of the visible buildings in that direction.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 5:15, Expert = 10:30

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for classic Skyscrapers puzzles and this link for variations on Skyscrapers puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Skyscrapers Puzzles to get started on. More Skyscrapers puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli, and in the e-book Skyscrapers by Ashish Kumar.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; note that solution checking requires the eleven ciphered clues and the twenty-five interior cells to all be marked)

Theme: Numbers

Author/Opus: This is the 364th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Skyscrapers rules, using the integers 1-5. Also, each letter represents a different positive integer, for the solver to determine.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:40, Master = 2:45, Expert = 5:30

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for classic Skyscrapers puzzles and this link for variations on Skyscrapers puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Skyscrapers Puzzles to get started on. More Skyscrapers puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli, and in the e-book Skyscrapers by Ashish Kumar.

Note from Thomas (2022-03-22 8:18 AM PT): I rarely post my own editorial comments anywhere, but I just solved this puzzle for the first time and have to say this is really elegant and fun! Thanks Serkan for sharing this great Cipher puzzle with the world. I’m (we’re) blessed to have you as managing editor AND puzzle constructor for Grandmaster Puzzles.

PDF

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

Author/Opus: This is the 358th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Skyscrapers rules; also standard TomTom rules. Use the integers 1-6.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 6:00, Expert = 12:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for classic Skyscrapers puzzles and this link for variations on Skyscrapers puzzles. Follow this link for classic TomTom and this link for TomTom variations.

PDF

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

Theme: The Rising of 2022

Author/Opus: This is the 84th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Ashish Kumar.

Rules: Variation of Skyscrapers; each clue represents the sum of the heights of the visible buildings in that direction.

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:45, Master = 11:00, Expert = 22:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for classic Skyscrapers puzzles and this link for variations on Skyscrapers puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Skyscrapers Puzzles to get started on. More Skyscrapers puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli, and in the e-book Skyscrapers by Ashish Kumar.

See more discussion of the puzzles from the United States’ 2021 Puzzle Grand Prix on this post. Note there are some construction details and potential spoilers on that post so view it after you solve.

PDF

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

Author/Opus: This is the 407th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Skyscrapers rules; also standard TomTom rules. Use the integers 1-7.

Difficulty: 3 stars (estimate based off competition points; timing standards not available from our usual testers)

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for classic Skyscrapers puzzles and this link for variations on Skyscrapers puzzles. Follow this link for classic TomTom and this link for TomTom variations.