Tapa (Borders) by Jonas Gleim

Tapa by Jonas Gleim

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.

Pentominous by JinHoo Ahn

Pentominous by JinHoo Ahn

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: Center X

Author/Opus: This is the 7th puzzle from guest contributor JinHoo Ahn.

Rules: Standard Pentominous rules.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

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

Solution: PDF

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. More Pentominous puzzles can be found in the Plenty o’ Pentominous series by Grant Fikes and Murat Can Tonta and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

Dotted Snake by Serkan Yürekli

Dotted Snake 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:

Dotted Snake by Serkan Yürekli

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.

Kurotto by Prasanna Seshadri

Kurotto by Prasanna Seshadri

PDF

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

Theme: Diagonal Pairs

Author/Opus: This is the 184th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Kurotto rules.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:00, Master = 3:30, Expert = 7:00

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.

Kurotto by Ashish Kumar

Kurotto by Ashish Kumar

PDF

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

Theme: Odd Couples

Author/Opus: This is the 52nd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Ashish Kumar.

Rules: Standard Kurotto rules.

Difficulty: 3 stars

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

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.

Skyscrapers (Anti-Knight) by Freddie Hand

Skyscrapers by Freddie Hand

PDF

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

Theme: Groups

Author/Opus: This is the 12th puzzle from guest contributor Freddie Hand.

Rules: Standard Skyscrapers rules. Also, digits cannot repeat in any cells separated by a chess knight’s move.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

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

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.

Skyscrapers by Serkan Yürekli

Skyscrapers by Serkan Yürekli

PDF

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

Theme: Three’s Company

Author/Opus: This is the 294th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Skyscrapers rules.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:30, Master = 2:15, Expert = 4:30

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.

Skyscrapers by Ashish Kumar

Skyscrapers by Ashish Kumar

PDF

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

Theme: Twos

Author/Opus: This is the 51st puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Ashish Kumar.

Rules: Standard Skyscrapers rules.

Difficulty: 2 stars

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

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

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.

Snake (Graffiti) by Prasanna Seshadri

Snake (Graffiti) by Prasanna Seshadri

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.)

Author/Opus: This is the 183rd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Blacken some cells to leave behind a snake (a 1-cell wide path) in white cells that doesn’t touch itself, not even diagonally. All white cells must be part of the snake with the head and tail 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: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:30, Master = 5:45, Expert = 11:30

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

Note: Follow this link for other Snake puzzles.

TomTom by Murat Can Tonta

TomTom by Murat Can Tonta

PDF

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

Theme: Cubism

Author/Opus: This is the 174th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard TomTom rules, using the integers 1-6.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for classic TomTom and this link for TomTom variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest TomTom to get started on. More TomTom puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.