PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools in edgex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 38th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Tom Collyer.

Rules: Standard Slitherlink rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the internal loop segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:15, Master = 3:30, Expert = 7:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Slitherlink. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Slitherlink puzzles to get started on. More Slitherlink puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, Slitherlink and Variations, and our beginner-friendly book Logic Puzzles 101.

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Theme: Road Trip across America

Author/Opus: This is the 173rd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Slitherlink rules, on an irregular grid that can only follow the lines. Ignore the gray letters while solving.

Answer String: Enter the values (number of fences) for the light letters A-G in order.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:45, Master = 12:00, Expert = 24:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Slitherlink. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Slitherlink puzzles to get started on. More Slitherlink puzzles can be found in our books The Art of Puzzles and Slitherlink and Variations.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools in edgex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)

Theme: Circuitous

Author/Opus: This is the 79th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard Slitherlink rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the internal loop segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 7:30, Expert = 15:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Slitherlink. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Slitherlink puzzles to get started on. More Slitherlink puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, Slitherlink and Variations, and our beginner-friendly book Logic Puzzles 101.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools in edgex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)

Theme: S Tetrominoes

Author/Opus: This is the 78th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard Slitherlink rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the internal loop segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:45, Master = 2:30, Expert = 5:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Slitherlink. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Slitherlink puzzles to get started on. More Slitherlink puzzles can be found in our books The Art of Puzzles and Slitherlink and Variations.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools in edgex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)

Theme: Dominoes

Author/Opus: This is the 34th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Tom Collyer.

Rules: Standard Slitherlink rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the internal loop segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:20, Master = 2:00, Expert = 4:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Slitherlink. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Slitherlink puzzles to get started on. More Slitherlink puzzles can be found in our books The Art of Puzzles and Slitherlink and Variations.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools in edgex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)

Theme: Zero Box

Author/Opus: This is the 33rd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Tom Collyer.

Rules: Standard Slitherlink rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the internal loop segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:40, Master = 1:15, Expert = 2:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Slitherlink. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Slitherlink puzzles to get started on. More Slitherlink puzzles can be found in our books The Art of Puzzles and Slitherlink and Variations.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools in edgex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 252nd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Slitherlink rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the internal loop segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:45, Master = 1:20, Expert = 2:40

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Slitherlink. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Slitherlink puzzles to get started on. More Slitherlink puzzles can be found in our books The Art of Puzzles and Slitherlink and Variations.

Here are our best Loop/Path puzzles of 2017, a style which was featured in 30 posts in 2017.

Puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta brought us our first top loop puzzle, a Yajlin, with a fun logical solving path.

Guest contributor Walker Anderson picked up his third “best of…” award with this easy and elegant Slitherlink.

The best “Loop” puzzle of 2017 pulled out a lot of the stops, as a super-sized combination of four different styles. Those solvers who were able to find their way to the final solution of this 4-Way Loop by Serkan Yürekli surely felt rewarded for the experience.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools in edgex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)

Theme: Four Squares

Author/Opus: This is the 6th puzzle from guest contributor Walker Anderson.

Rules: Standard Slitherlink rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the internal loop segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:40, Master = 1:15, Expert = 2:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Slitherlink. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Slitherlink puzzles to get started on. More Slitherlink puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles.

Here are our best Loop/Path puzzles of 2016, a style which gained in overall representation last year and had 56 posts, the most of any genre.

The first best “Loop” puzzle was a classic Masyu from Murat Can Tonta that appeared in early January with a Knight Steps theme.

One of our patrons requested a “Roller Coaster” puzzle, an arithmetic loop variation that debuted in the MIT Mystery Hunt. Serkan’s take on a Roller Coaster — with a 1 to 9 ride of clues — was recognized by our solvers as a top puzzle.

Prasanna Seshadri had a couple of our best Loop puzzles this year including this transparent Yajilin that made the most of the variation’s new rule that clue cells could be shaded in.

Grant Fikes gave us a very clever twist on a Slitherlink puzzle with a cipher inspired by LITS.

But the best loop puzzle of the year was a “giant” loop creation from Prasanna, specifically this birthday puzzle Castle Wall (with Towers). Solvers who persevered to the end of this challenging puzzle had something to celebrate.

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