PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; in default edgex mode: left-click+drag draws line, right click marks X on edge)

Theme: Twin Tornadoes

Author/Opus: This is the 65th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Ashish Kumar.

Rules: Draw a single, non-intersecting loop that only consists of horizontal and vertical segments between the dots. The arrow clues indicate all the directions (up, down, left, and right) where the nearest loop segments are located when looking from that square.

Also, see this example:

Difficulty: 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:20, Master = 2:15, Expert = 4:30

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

Note: Follow this link for other Loop/Path puzzles. The puzzle styles featured this week are part of the book Loop Variety Collection by Ashish Kumar and Murat Can Tonta.

PDF

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

Theme: Nothing Unusual to See Here

Author/Opus: This is the 379th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Variation of Kakuro Rules. Exactly one digit must appear twice in each entry (i.e., group of cells connected horizontally or vertically without any black cells between). All other digits must not repeat within an entry.

Difficulty: 4.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 9:00, Master = 15:45, Expert = 31:30

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

Note: Follow this link for classic Kakuro and this link for Kakuro variations. More Kakuro puzzles can be found in Kakuro and Variations by Serkan Yürekli and in The Art of Puzzles 2.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; note that the dotted circles are just for answer entry and are where the number should be placed in the 2×2 cell. An alternate option suggested in the comments below with centralized digit entry is here.)

Theme: Circular Reasoning

Author/Opus: This is the 342nd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Variation of Kakuro. The gray (2×2) cells are to be filled by a single digit which sits in multiple rows and columns. No digits can repeat within an entry, regardless of if it is in a small or large cell.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:50, Master = 1:45, Expert = 3:30

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

Note: Follow this link for classic Kakuro and this link for Kakuro variations. More Kakuro puzzles can be found in Kakuro and Variations by Serkan Yürekli and in The Art of Puzzles 2.

This year, we have started to have some extra difficult Sunday Stumpers, about once a month. These will be quite tough puzzles, but with a logical path to be found (and solution videos to help). This third Sunday Stumper is a new Statue Park variation with a double set of pentominoes to place.

(view directly for a larger image)

PDF

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

Theme: GMP

Author/Opus: This is the 23rd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster JinHoo Ahn.

Rules: Standard Statue Park rules. Also, there are some given cages with dashed lines. In each cage, exactly half of the total number of cells must be occupied by pentominoes.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 30:00, Master = 40:00, Expert = 1:20:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other classic Statue Park and this link for Statue Park variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Statue Parks to get started on. More Statue Park puzzles can be found in the ebook Statue Park by Murat Can Tonta.

PDF

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

Theme: Pent-Up Rage

Author/Opus: This is the 77th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Place each of the twelve pentominoes into the grid once, with rotations and reflections allowed. No two pentominoes can overlap or be orthogonally adjacent, and all cells not occupied by the pentominoes must be traversed by a single, closed loop (connecting cells horizontally or vertically). The black circles indicate some cells that must be covered by pentominoes, white circles indicate spaces that may not be contained in pentominoes and must be part of the loop.

See also this example with five pentominoes:

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:30, Master = 10:00, Expert = 20:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other classic Statue Park and this link for Statue Park variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Statue Parks to get started on. More Statue Park puzzles can be found in the ebook Statue Park by Murat Can Tonta.

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 letter entry mode.)

Theme: PENTOMINO

Author/Opus: This is the 6th puzzle from guest contributor Jonas Gleim.

Rules: Variation of Pentominous rules. Some borders between pentominoes are already drawn.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 5:30, Expert = 11:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other Pentominous puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Pentominous to get started on. More Pentominous puzzles can be found in the Plenty o’ Pentominous series by Grant Fikes and Murat Can Tonta and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

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

Theme: Plus and Minuses

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Michael Rios.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules. Also, each row, column and bold region must contain two negative digits. The sum of the positive and negative digits in each cage must equal the value given in the upper-left corner of that cage. Digits (ignoring sign) cannot repeat inside a cage.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 15:30, Master = 26:00, Expert = 52:00

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

Note: Follow this link for more Killer Sudoku and this link for classic Sudoku. More Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku, The Art of Sudoku 2 and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between shading mode and the composite Yajilin mode where left click marks cells, right click marks dots in cells or X’s on edges, left click+drag draws lines.)

Theme: Rising Up

Author/Opus: This is the 377th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules. Also, there may not be four consecutive black cells in any row or column.

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:15, Master = 11:45, Expert = 23:30

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

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

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between shading mode and the composite Yajilin mode where left click marks cells, right click marks dots in cells or X’s on edges, left click+drag draws lines.)

Theme: Faraday Cage

Author/Opus: This is the 321st puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules. Additionally, shade two separate Tapa walls that do not overlap or cross each other. All digits in a clue cell refer to the shading of just one Tapa wall within the puzzle and provide no information on the shading of the other wall around that clue.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 5:45, Expert = 11:30

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

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

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between shading mode and the composite Yajilin mode where left click marks cells, right click marks dots in cells or X’s on edges, left click+drag draws lines.)

Author/Opus: This is the 193rd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules. Also, similar to Nurikabe, each Tapa clue cell is part of an island of horizontally and vertically connected white cells and the area of the island must be one of the numbers in the clue (as an example, if a clue is 1 5, then the island containing that clue must be either 1 cell or 5 cells large). Islands are allowed to touch diagonally, and there may be islands without any number clues in the grid.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:15, Master = 4:00, Expert = 8:00

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

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