PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between shading mode, shape (star) placing mode, and the linex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)

Theme: White Hole

Author/Opus: This is the 306th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Balance Loop rules. Also, each row and column must contain exactly two stars. Stars cannot be placed in adjacent cells that share an edge or corner, and all stars must be on empty cells not used by the loop.

Difficulty: 4.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 13:00, Master = 18:30, Expert = 37:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other Balance Loop puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Balance Loop Puzzles to get started on. More Balance Loops can be found in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli and in Balance Loop by Prasanna Seshadri and Murat Can Tonta.

PDF

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

Theme: Pairs

Author/Opus: This is the 184th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard Balance Loop rules. Also, numbers outside the grid show the number of separate loop segments visible in that direction. A segment of length N in a given direction is taken as a building of height N. Buildings of height N block the view of all buildings behind them of equal or lesser height.

Also, see this example:

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:30, Master = 7:00, Expert = 14:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other Balance Loop puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Balance Loop Puzzles to get started on. More Balance Loops can be found in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli and in Balance Loop by Prasanna Seshadri and Murat Can Tonta.

Yajilin and Battleships are two of our favorite Loop and Object Placement puzzles, respectively. What happens when you combine them? Our new e-book Yajilin Battleships by Serkan Yürekli will show you.

We’ve included here the example puzzle from the book which is now available for purchase. We have a companion solving video if you want to see what these puzzles are sometimes like. Some other prior posts with this style from Serkan, Freddie Hand and Grant Fikes are linked.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between Battleships placement and line drawing modes.)

Rules: Variation of Battleships and Yajilin. Place the fleet of ships in the grid so that different ships are not in adjacent cells that share an edge or corner. The grid contains internal clues (a number and an arrow) that show how many ship segments are in the indicated direction. All remaining white cells that do not contain a ship segment must be able to form a single loop, as in a Yajilin puzzle.

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

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between shading mode and the linex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)

Theme: 3×3 Squares

Author/Opus: This is the 189th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Cave rules. Also, exactly one digit is a joker wherever it appears; each instance of it may be replaced by any nonzero number, like a “?” clue.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:45, Master = 5:00, Expert = 10:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Caves and this link for Cave variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cave Puzzles to get started on. More Cave puzzles can be found in Roger Barkan’s Colossal Cave Collection, in The Art of Puzzles, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

A written transcript of the audio is here, to reduce the frightful nature of this difficult puzzle after Halloween.
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a shading mode and a number entry mode to track clues.)

Theme: Ten Out of Ten

Author/Opus: This is the 329th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules. Also, (as transcribed from the audio file): “You will hear the clues read to you, first the across clues (starting with the topmost row and moving towards the bottom) and then the down clues (starting with the leftmost column and moving towards the right). In this charming 10×10 puzzle, called “Ten Out of Ten”, grandmaster Grant Fikes demonstrates an affinity for the number 10, using it not just once but twice in the column clues.”

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 9:00, Master = 13:00, Expert = 26:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a shading mode and 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.)

Theme: Foursomes

Author/Opus: This is the 363rd puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules. Also, the shaded region must be able to be split into tetrominoes to form a valid LITS solution (meaning all tetrominoes are connected but no two tetrominoes sharing an edge are the same shape, including rotations and reflections).

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 other Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on.

(view directly for a larger image)

PDF

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

Theme: Cubes

Author/Opus: This is the 17th puzzle from guest contributor Bryce Herdt.

Rules: Variation of Cross the Streams. Instead of the “no 2×2 shaded square” rule, in this hexagonal grid no 3 cells that share a point can be shaded. All vertical clues and rows, whether slanted left or slanted right, are to be read from top to bottom.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:45, Master = 4:30, Expert = 9:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on.

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 number entry mode.)

Theme: Keep Away

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Nate Perkins.

Rules: Standard Fillomino rules. Also, adjacent polyominoes must not have any digits in common (e.g., a 24 polyomino cannot be adjacent to 2, 4, 12, 14, 20, or similar polyominoes).

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:45, Master = 9:30, Expert = 19:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other classic Fillomino and this link for more variations on Fillomino puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Fillomino puzzles to get started on. More Fillomino puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in Fill o’ Fillomino and Fill o’ Fillomino 2 by Grant Fikes, and in our beginner-friendly book Logic Puzzles 101.

(view directly for a larger image)

PDF

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

Theme: Nothing in Common

Author/Opus: This is the 300th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Skyscrapers rules. The grid is made of 4 overlapping 6×6 Skyscrapers puzzles. The clue cells shared between grids must see the same number of buildings (i.e., you should fill in all interior cells with clue numbers, as these are used by two grids).

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 10:00, Master = 16:00, Expert = 32:00

Solution: PDF

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: Antisymmetry

Author/Opus: This is the 179th 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: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:15, Master = 5:00, Expert = 10:00

Solution: PDF

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.