PDF

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

Theme: Digit Series and Clue Symmetry

Author/Opus: This is the 227th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules. Additionally, some numbered arrows outside the grid indicate the sum of the digits along that diagonal path. (Digits can repeat along a diagonal sum.)

Note: No answer strings or timing here (honor system for when you solve it). I’m simply posting some “examples” I wrote as the Sudoku Grand Prix coordinator. Apparently some common variants aren’t common enough….

Solution: PDF

PDF

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

Theme: Diagonals

Author/Opus: This is the 226th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules. Additionally, there are two overlapping classic sudoku grids, and both must have valid solutions.

Note: No answer strings or timing here (honor system for when you solve it). I’m simply posting some “examples” I wrote as the Sudoku Grand Prix coordinator. Apparently some common variants aren’t common enough….

Solution: PDF

PDF

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

Theme: Digit Series and Clue Symmetry

Author/Opus: This is the 225th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules. Additionally, some edges are marked with the sums of the digits in the adjacent cells.

Note: No answer strings or timing here (honor system for when you solve it). I’m simply posting some “examples” I wrote as the Sudoku Grand Prix coordinator. Apparently some common variants aren’t common enough….

Solution: PDF

PDF

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

Theme: H (patron puzzle created for Paul Hlebowitsh)

Author/Opus: This is the 80th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Arrow Sudoku rules. Also, standard Thermo-Sudoku rules.

Answer String: Enter the 4th row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 9th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:15, Master = 7:45, Expert = 15:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for more Arrow Sudoku. Follow this link for more Thermo-Sudoku puzzles. More Arrow and Thermo-Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku 2.

(View image directly for larger form.)

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: TYCG (Thank You, Chris Green) — this is a Patron Puzzle reward.

Author/Opus: This is the 79th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Find a path from one dot to the other by moving horizontally or vertically between adjacent squares. The path cannot touch itself, even diagonally. All highlighted regions must be visited by the path, and may be re-entered. If two or more highlighted regions have the same shape and orientation, then how the path passes through those shapes must be identical. Or see here.

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

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:15, Master = 6:00, Expert = 12:00

Solution: PDF

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between shading mode, a number entry mode for placing Tapa clues, 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: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 8th puzzle from guest contributor Carl Worth.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules, except that the digits have been encoded with a cipher into letters. Each letter represents a different positive integer, for the solver to determine.

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 = 2:30, Master = 4:00, Expert = 8:00

Solution: PDF

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

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between Sudoku number entry mode and two modes, Shape and Surface, to manage the domino inventory.)

Theme: Double Domino
(Hidden shapes include a complete double-eight domino set. Double dominoes have been “doubled over” to fit within one square. Hidden names include J.S. Bach, Gabriel Faure, John Cage, and various chordal progressions and crossword game vocabulary.)

Author/Opus: This is the 9th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules, using the letters A-H and a blank. Also, as in Shape Sudoku, there are some lettered shapes given beneath the grid that must be put in their proper places inside the grid; and, as in Battleship Sudoku, their proper places are indicated only partially. (Partial shape clues in the grid are not lettered but do not necessarily indicate the location of blanks.) The shapes can be rotated, but cannot be reflected; they can touch but cannot overlap.

Answer String: Enter the 3rd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 3rd column from top to bottom. (Use the capital letters A-H; use X for a blank.)

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 12:00, Master = 21:00, Expert = 42:00

Solution: PDF

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

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: White Whorl

Author/Opus: This is the 8th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules. Also, the Tapa wall in this puzzle is made using one of each pentomino given below the grid with no overlaps. Rotations and reflections are allowed. (Note: There is no P pentomino here because it would violate Tapa rules).

Answer String: Enter letters for all pentomino segments from left to right in the marked rows, with one letter for each cell it appears in. Separate each row’s entry with a comma, and use CAPITAL LETTERS.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 9:00, Master = 13:30, Expert = 27:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Tapa variations and this link for classic Tapa. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Tapa puzzles 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: Hungry Hearts

Author/Opus: This is the 7th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Standard Fillomino rules. For artistic reasons, clues have been replaced with letters using the standard code A=1, B=2, etc. Also, all polyominoes should have rotational symmetry as in this example:

Answer String: For each cell in the marked rows/columns, enter the area of the polyomino it belongs to. Use both digits for any two-digit number. Start with the 6th row, followed by a comma, followed by the 4th column.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 6:00, Master = 8:00, Expert = 16:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is 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.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between edgex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s, a mine placement mode, and number entry mode.)

Theme: Cirrus Clouds

Author/Opus: This is the 6th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Place either 0, 1, or 2 mines into each empty cell so that each number represents the total count of mines in all neighboring cells, including diagonally adjacent cells. See also this example:

Also, all cells other than Minesweeper clues are Slitherlink clues. After solving the Minesweeper, convert these cells’ contents to numbers (use corresponding cells in additional grid), then draw a single, non-intersecting loop in the additional grid that only consists of horizontal and vertical segments between the dots, where the number inside each of these cells indicates how many of the four edges of that cell are part of the loop.

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

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 8:00, Master = 9:30, Expert = 19:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Click here for other Double Minesweeper puzzles and here for other Slitherlink puzzles.