PDF

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

Theme: Checkerboard

Author/Opus: This is the 187th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Skyscrapers rules. Also, cells with a circle must contain an odd digit.

Difficulty: 2 stars

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

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; 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: TAPA

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Jonas Gleim.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules. Also, if two cells are separated by a thick border, this means that exactly one of those cells is shaded and the other is unshaded.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:15, Master = 3:15, Expert = 6:30

Solution: PDF

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; 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 with centralized digit entry is here.)

Theme: Ring

Author/Opus: This is the 299th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

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 = 0:45, Master = 1:00, Expert = 2:00

Solution: PDF

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; use tab to shift between a number entry mode and Yajilin 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: Cipher Snake

Author/Opus: This is the 298th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Locate a numbered snake (a 1-cell wide path) that starts with 1 and goes to 45. The snake cannot touch itself, not even diagonally. All numbers are encrypted with C, I, P, H, E, R, S, N, A, K letters and each letter represent a different digit from 0 to 9. Digits outside the grid indicate how many cells in that row or column are occupied by the snake. Some snake segments are already given.

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:00, Master = 11:00, Expert = 22:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other Snake puzzles. More Snake puzzles and variations can be found in Snake and Variations by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools using 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: High-Low

Author/Opus: This is the 20th puzzle from guest contributor Joseph Howard.

Rules: Draw a snake (a 1 cell-wide path) in the grid whose head and tail are given by circled cells. The snake can touch itself diagonally, but cannot touch itself orthogonally or revisit any square. Besides the snake, the remaining cells must form exactly nine white areas, one of each size from 1 to 9 (in example, 1 to 5). Numbers in the grid must be part of white areas of the indicated size.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:15, Master = 6:45, Expert = 13:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Snake puzzles. More Snake puzzles and variations can be found in Snake and Variations by Serkan Yürekli.

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.)

Author/Opus: This is the 297th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Locate a numbered snake (a 1-cell wide path) that starts with 1 and goes to 45. The snake cannot touch itself, not even diagonally. Every third segment of the snake is marked with gray. Digits outside the grid indicate the number of gray snake segments in that row or column.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:15, Master = 4:00, Expert = 8:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Snake puzzles. More Snake puzzles and variations can be found in Snake and Variations by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

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

Author/Opus: This is the 177th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Blacken some cells and then locate two snakes (1-cell wide paths). The snakes do not touch themselves or each other, not even diagonally. All remaining white cells must be part of the snakes with the heads and tails given in the grid. Outside clues indicate the size of all groups of blackened cells in that row or column in order. There must be at least one white cell between each of these groups. When no clues are given, any number of cells may be shaded in that row/column.

Difficulty: 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:15, Master = 2:30, Expert = 5:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Snake puzzles. More Snake puzzles and variations can be found in Snake and Variations by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

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

Theme: Square in the Center

Author/Opus: This is the 296th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Kurotto rules. Also, each row and column must contain exactly two stars (one in the example). Stars cannot be placed in adjacent cells that share an edge or corner, and all stars must be on shaded cells.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 4.5 stars

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for classic Kurotto puzzles and this link for variations on Kurotto puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Kurotto to get started on. More Kurotto puzzles can be found in the ebook Kurotto by Prasanna Seshadri.

PDF

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

Theme: Couples

Author/Opus: This is the 185th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Kurotto rules. Also, numbers outside the grid show the number of separate shaded cells 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.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:30, Master = 9:30, Expert = 19:00

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

Note: Follow this link for classic Kurotto puzzles and this link for variations on Kurotto puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Kurotto to get started on. More Kurotto puzzles can be found in the ebook Kurotto by Prasanna Seshadri.

PDF

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

Theme: Tetrominoes

Author/Opus: This is the 295th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Skyscrapers rules. Also, as in Thermo-Sudoku, digits must be strictly increasing in all thermometer shapes from round bulb to flat end.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:00, Master = 4:15, Expert = 8:30

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.