(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
This the second time we’ve posted this variant (this link will help detect its twin). Can you make all the sums work out as marked?

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Author/Opus: This is the 95th puzzle from Bill Murphy, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). Arrows in the grid indicate that there is a run of cells in the given direction that sums to the number in the cell containing the arrow, starting from the first cell seen by the arrow. Not all arrows are given. (E.g., because R3C7 has a left arrow, either R3C6, R3C6 + R3C5, or R3C6 + R3C5 + R3C4 must sum to the value in R3C7 = 8.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 7:00; One party hat (🥳): 13:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: Lengthened Liliensternus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 2:33, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
This Renban pattern evokes a “soundwave” with noise emanating from the center. Can you find the sound logic to reach the solution?

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Theme: Soundwave

Author/Opus: This is the 116th puzzle from Clover, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). Numbers along each line must form a non-repeating consecutive set, in any order. (For example, a 4-cell Renban line could be 4352, but not 5679 or 2312.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 6:00; One party hat (🥳): 11:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: loud Lophostropheus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 1:52, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
Today’s GAS is an XV Pairs Sudoku, focusing on sums of 10 and 5. So why is it in the shape of… a 2? [II, Captain.]

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Theme: A 2?

Author/Opus: This is the 97th puzzle from Philip Newman, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). Whenever an X or V, reflecting the Roman numerals for 10 or 5, is placed on the edge between cells, the numbers in the two adjacent cells must sum to exactly 10 or 5. (Pairs of cells without an X or V mark can have any sum value.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 8:02; One party hat (🥳): 18:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: Nifty Nebulasaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 4:15, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF; solving video with explanation to be added later from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

[Editor’s Note / context: For those looking for more puzzles here besides Sudoku, we still don’t have new plans for this year. We need more focus on the large efforts we have underway and in general that still means on Sudoku and staying healthy until we can grow the team. But as editors, we too miss the unexpected submissions that surprise and delight.]
[Now you can’t just commission a “museum series” of unforgettable grids, but we were delighted by what happened here. A few months ago Thomas shared a photo (far below) he takes every time he visits the Philadelphia Museum of Art, thinking this grid by Mondrian will always deserve a puzzle when he can get to it. Without expectation of anything appearing, Martin delivered a tremendous fit for the grid, that used its elements fully, that added its own theme with just three kinds of givens that left us a bit shocked. We’re pleased to share now as a bonus for all to enjoy.]

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or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use the tab key to alternate between shading and number entry modes)

Author/Opus: This is the 18th puzzle from guest contributor Martin Ender.

Rules: Label some cells with numbers to form a single connected group of labeled cells; no gridpoint is entirely surrounded by numbered cells. Each bold region must contain at least one labeled cell. Each number (including any given numbers) must equal the total count of labeled cells in that region. Two cells containing the same number may not share a thick border.

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 10:00, Master = 25:00, Expert = 50:00

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for Nanro puzzles on this website and this link for variations on Nanro puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Nanro Puzzles to get started on. More Nanro puzzles can be found in A Number o’ Nanro by Prasanna Seshadri.

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

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
With a mix of “crescendoes” and “decrescendoes” to handle here, can you think like Rossini and solve this Sudoku?

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Theme: The Pointy End

Author/Opus: This is the 115th puzzle from Clover, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). Whenever an arrow is given outside the grid, the first three numbers in that row or column must increase in the direction of the arrow. For example, the arrow at the left of row 4 means R4C1 > R4C2 > R4C3 and the arrow at the left of row 9 means R9C1 < R9C2 < R9C3. (The absence of an outside arrow clue has no meaning in this puzzle unlike “standard” Rossini Sudoku.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 7:00; One party hat (🥳): 13:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: composed Coronosaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 2:05, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
Today’s Thermos may be Slow, but you don’t have to be overly cautious. Just remember that thermo digits can repeat in this variant!

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Theme: Good Grief

Author/Opus: This is the 96th puzzle from Philip Newman, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). Some thermometer shapes are in the grid; numbers must either increase or stay the same in each cell going from the round bulb to the flat end. (For instance, a thermometer might contain the sequence 233577888 in that order.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 7:30; One party hat (🥳): 15:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: Marcie-an Mansourasaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 2:36, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for more Thermo-Sudoku puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Thermo-Sudoku to get started on. More Thermo-Sudoku puzzles can be found in these books in our e-store. Also, visit this page to purchase all of the puzzles from the 16th World Sudoku Championship including some Thermo-Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
Bill has one more Zipper Lines puzzle to add into the conversation; can you find your way to the one solution?

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Theme: Going Going Gone

Author/Opus: This is the 93rd puzzle from Bill Murphy, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). For each line, the numbers in each pair of cells an equal distance away from the center of the line must sum up to the value in the central cell of the line. (In this puzzle, the lines that cross go straight through those cells; this means, for example, R3C1 + R3C3 = R3C2 from the Zipper Lines rule.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 7:30; One party hat (🥳): 14:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: Running it Back Bonitasaura.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 2:15, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
Can you place the 1-9 chains in the gray regions to get today’s Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) in order?

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Theme: Nothing to Lose

Author/Opus: This is the 114th puzzle from Clover, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). Each gray region contains a chain of orthogonally adjacent numbers that goes from 1 to 9 in order.

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 6:00; One party hat (🥳): 11:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: chained Chindesaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 1:46, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
This W (or M) pattern reappears but now with a different rule zipping everything together with a key sum value tied to the center cell.

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Theme: W is for Wumbo

Author/Opus: This is the 92nd puzzle from Bill Murphy, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). For each line, the numbers in each pair of cells an equal distance away from the center of the line must sum up to the value in the central cell of the line. (For example, R2C4 + R3C3 = R2C3 = 5 from the Zipper Lines rule.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 7:00; One party hat (🥳): 13:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: Mermaidman’s Machairasaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 3:08, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
In this Ratio Pairs Sudoku, many “prime” products are shown in the grid. But will they all be as easy to resolve as you might think at first?

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Theme: Prime Time

Author/Opus: This is the 113th puzzle from Clover, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). If a black circle is given between two adjacent cells, then the two numbers must have a ratio of the given number. Pairs of cells without circles can have any relationship. (For instance, a black circle reading “3” indicates that the two numbers have a ratio of 1:3, such as 1 and 3 or 2 and 6.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 6:30; One party hat (🥳): 12:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: ratioed Rahiolisaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 1:47, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.