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: XOXOXO (+ Antisymmetry)

Author/Opus: This is the 4th puzzle from guest contributor Nikolai Beluhov.

Rules: Divide the grid along the boundary lines so that every cell belongs to a snake. A snake is a one-cell-wide path at least two cells long that does not touch itself, not even diagonally. Circled cells must be at one of the ends of a snake. A snake may contain one circled cell, two circled cells, or no circled cells at all. Numbered cells must be part of a snake with a length of exactly that number of cells. A snake may contain one number, multiple identical numbers, or no numbers at all. Two snakes of the same length cannot touch each other horizontally or vertically. Cells with an X cannot be an end of a snake.

Also see this example:

Answer String: For each cell in the marked columns, enter the length of the snake it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. This example has the key “33553,44664”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 11:30, Master = 17:30, Expert = 35:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Snake puzzles.

PDF

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

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Fidel Zapico.

Rules: Standard Skyscrapers Rules. Additionally, each outside clue is also an “Easy as A, B, C” puzzle type clue, showing which digit of 2, 3, and 4 appears first in that direction in the row or column.

Answer String: Enter the 7th row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 6th column from top to bottom.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 10:00, Master = 14:00, Expert = 28:00

Solution: PDF

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

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 + drag draws line segment and right click on cell edge adds an x.)

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 11th 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. Also, the shaded region must be able to be split into tetrahexes to form a valid SLICY solution (meaning all tetrahexes are connected but no two tetrahexes sharing an edge are the same shape, including rotations and reflections).

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from left to right for the marked rows, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:30, Master = 8:15, Expert = 16:30.

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for variations of Cross the Streams and this link for other classic 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: Book Code? (The row clues hide the theme word “LITS”, but how?)

Author/Opus: This is the 10th puzzle from guest contributor Bryce Herdt.

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).

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from top to bottom for the marked columns, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:00, Master = 10:30, Expert = 21:00.

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

Note: Follow this link for variations of Cross the Streams and this link for other classic 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)

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 2nd puzzle from guest contributor Joseph Howard.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules. Also, some sets of row/column clues have comparisons made to the left-most or upper-most ? clue. The value used for a ? clue must also be used for the remaining comparisons in that row/column (e.g., if ?, ?+2 the values could be 1, 3 or 2, 4 or 3, 5). ?= means a later clue has the same value as the first ?.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from top to bottom for the marked columns, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:30, Master = 12:00, Expert = 24:00.

Solution: PDF

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

(View image directly for larger form.)

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: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 249th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Variation of Pentominous rules. Divide this grid into 45 pentominoes each containing 5 cells. Pentominoes with the same shape (including rotations/reflections) cannot share an edge.
Some borders between pentominoes are already drawn.

Answer String: Enter the letter associated with the pentomino occupying each cell in the marked row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the marked column from top to bottom. Use CAPITAL LETTERS!

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 8:00, Master = 10:30, Expert = 21:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is 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.

PDF

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

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 247th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Same as LITS, except that each region must contain two shaded tetrominoes. These two tetrominoes within a region cannot touch each other, and can be the same or different shapes.

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

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 5:15, Expert = 10:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for more variations of LITS and this link for classic LITS. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest LITS to get started on. More LITS puzzles can be found in LOTS O’ LITS by Grant Fikes and Prasanna Seshadri and in The Art of Puzzles 2.

PDF

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

Theme: One, Two

Author/Opus: This is the 245th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Yajilin rules, except that instead of blackening single cells, blacken in dominoes (1×2 rectangles). Clues indicate the total number of dominoes (not the total number of cells) that are shaded in the given direction.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of the horizontal loop segments from left to right in the marked rows, starting at the top. If the loop only has vertical segments in the marked row, enter 0. Separate each row’s entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:00, Master = 1:30, Expert = 3:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other variations of Yajilin and this link for classic Yajilin. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Yajilin to get started on. More Yajilin puzzles can be found 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 with centralized digit entry is here.)

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 4th puzzle from guest contributor Dan Katz.

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.

Answer String: Enter the values in each white/gray cell in the marked row from left to right then the marked column from top to bottom, separating the groups with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 8:00, Master = 12:30, Expert = 25:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

Note: Follow this link for other Kakuro puzzles. More Kakuro puzzles can be found in Kakuro and Variations by Serkan Yürekli. Kakuro will also be featured in the upcoming 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 with centralized digit entry is here.)

Theme: Unicellular

Author/Opus: This is the 164th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster 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.

Answer String: Enter the values in each white/gray cell in the marked rows from left to right, separating the groups with a comma.

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Kakuro puzzles. More Kakuro puzzles can be found in Kakuro and Variations by Serkan Yürekli. Kakuro will also be featured in the upcoming The Art of Puzzles 2.