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Theme: Indian States (contributed by GMPuzzles to the Indian Puzzle Championship)

Author/Opus: This is the 180th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Variation of Nurikabe rules. Here, the islands are made up of words given in the list below the grid. The words must appear “snake-like” without forming 2×2 white squares or branching. Each given letter belongs to a separate word from the list. This example from the IPC instructions may be helpful:

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments (the unnumbered, connected “ocean”) 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 = 5:30, Expert = 11:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

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

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

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 3rd puzzle from guest contributor Bram de Laat.

Rules: Standard Slitherlink rules, except that the edges of the grid wrap around. The top row of dots is the same as the bottom row of dots; the left column of dots is the same as the right column of dots. The loop can now run across an outer edge and continue on the other side. This example image may help:

Answer String: Enter the size of each group of connected squares in the marked rows from left to right; in the example, the bottom row would be “112”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:20, Master = 6:00, Expert = 12:00

Solution: PDF

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

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

Theme: UK – site of WPC in 2014 (originally on Indian Puzzle Championship)

Author/Opus: This is the 34th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Variation of Star Battle rules. Place an equal number of stars into each region so that each row and column has two stars. No two stars can touch, even diagonally.

Answer String: For each row from top to bottom, enter the number of the first column from the left where a star appears. Enter these numbers as a single string with no separators.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:15, Master = 3:30, Expert = 7:00

Solution: PDF

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

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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: 13

Author/Opus: This is the 33rd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Variation of Tapa Rules. Here, the clue cells can also be blackened. This means every clue is valid for all surrounding cells (up to 9) including itself. Each clue must indicate the size of all contiguous shaded groups around it. This example image should help:

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 = 4:30, Master = 8:15, Expert = 16:30

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

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)

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 50th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Divide the grid into gray and white regions, each containing exactly one number and with an area equal to that number. Numbers in white cells are part of white regions; numbers in gray cells are part of gray regions. Same colored regions cannot share an edge.

This example image should help:

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each group (white and gray) in the marked rows. Separate the rows with a comma. For the Example, this is “13,121”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:15, Master = 6:30, Expert = 13:00

Solution: PDF

PDF

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

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 49th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Divide the grid into gray and white regions, each containing exactly one number and with an area equal to that number. Numbers in white cells are part of white regions; numbers in gray cells are part of gray regions. Same colored regions cannot share an edge.

This example image should help:

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each group (white and gray) in the marked rows. Separate the rows with a comma. For the Example, this is “13,121”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:45, Master = 4:15, Expert = 8:30

Solution: PDF

PDF

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

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 48th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Divide the grid into gray and white regions, each containing exactly one number and with an area equal to that number. Numbers in white cells are part of white regions; numbers in gray cells are part of gray regions. Same colored regions cannot share an edge.

This example image should help:

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each group (white and gray) in the marked rows. Separate the rows with a comma. For the Example, this is “13,121”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:15, Master = 4:00, Expert = 8:00

Solution: PDF

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 on edges)

Theme: It All Adds Up (to 8) – every valid clue that sums to 8 appears at least once.

Author/Opus: This is the 31st puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: In this variation of Tapa, the wall is in the form of a single non-intersecting loop. Clues inside the grid represent the number of neighboring cells visited by the loop; if there is more than one number in a cell, each number should be represented with a separate loop segment. There is no 2×2 rule of Tapa in this puzzle. This example image should help:

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of the horizontal loop segments from left to right in the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry with a comma. For the example, this would be “11,12”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:30, Master = 3:15, Expert = 6:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Tapa-Like Loop puzzles. 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 in linex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s on edges)

Theme: 1 to 8

Author/Opus: This is the 30th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: In this variation of Tapa, the wall is in the form of a single non-intersecting loop. Clues inside the grid represent the number of neighboring cells visited by the loop; if there is more than one number in a cell, each number should be represented with a separate loop segment. There is no 2×2 rule of Tapa in this puzzle. This example image should help:

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of the horizontal loop segments from left to right in the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry with a comma. For the example, this would be “11,12”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:45, Master = 2:30, Expert = 5:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Tapa-Like Loop puzzles. 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 in linex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s on edges)

Theme: Pairs

Author/Opus: This is the 29th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: In this variation of Tapa, the wall is in the form of a single non-intersecting loop. Clues inside the grid represent the number of neighboring cells visited by the loop; if there is more than one number in a cell, each number should be represented with a separate loop segment. There is no 2×2 rule of Tapa in this puzzle. This example image should help:

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of the horizontal loop segments from left to right in the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry with a comma. For the example, this would be “11,12”.

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

Solution: PDF

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