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: Asterisks

Author/Opus: This is the 5th puzzle from guest contributor Chris Green.

Rules: (Style created by Chris Green as a combination of Cross the Streams and Tapa rules.)

Shade some empty cells black to create a single group of black cells that are all connected to each other through their edges. No 2×2 cell area within the grid contains all black cells.

Numbers and symbols to the left/top of the grid represent all unshaded cells in the grid in that row/column in order, either from left to right or from top to bottom. The numbers and symbols represent the value of Tapa-style clues inside the grid, specifically the length of consecutive shaded blocks in the neighboring cells. If there is more than one number in a cell, then there must be at least one white (unshaded) cell between shaded groups.

The three symbols indicate different kinds of missing information.
– A question mark (?) represents a single missing positive integer as part of a clue (either alone or in combination with other numbers/question marks).
– An octothorpe (#) represents a single white clue cell which may have any combination of values including a single number or multiple numbers.
– An asterisk (*) represents an unknown number of white clue cells, including one, multiple, or no clue cells at all. Any clue cells indicated by an asterisk can have any combination of values including a single number or multiple numbers.

Also see this example by Thomas Snyder:

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 = 3:00, Master = 4:00, Expert = 8:00.

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Cross the Streams and this link for other Tapa.

PDF

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

Theme: Question Marks

Author/Opus: This is the 172nd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

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 = 3:15, Master = 5:15, Expert = 10:30.

Solution: PDF

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

(view directly for a larger image)

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: Question Marks

Author/Opus: This is the 171st puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules. Each question mark must stand for some positive integer, and will combine with any other questions marks in that cell to form a typical Tapa clue.

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 = 3:15, Master = 5:00, Expert = 10:00

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. More Tapa puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles and in Tapa and Variations, both by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between ship placement and shading modes. In ship placement mode, right click gives sea, left click gives circle/square, left click and drag for rounded ships.)

Theme: Question Mark

Author/Opus: This is the 170th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Variation of Battleships. Locate an unknown fleet of 1-cell wide ships into the grid. Each segment of a ship occupies a single cell, and ships do not touch each other, even diagonally. Some sea cells, without any ship segments, are given in the grid. Numbers on the right and bottom edges of the grid reveal the number of ship segments in that row or column. Numbers on the top and left of the grid indicate the number of distinct ships in that row or column.

See also this example:

Answer String: For each row from top to bottom, enter the number of the first column from the left where a ship segment appears (enter just the last digit for any two-digit number). If the row is empty, enter 0. Enter these numbers as a single string with no separators.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:00, Master = 4:45, Expert = 9:30

Solution: PDF

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

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: Primes (for Daniel Cohen)

Author/Opus: This is the 26th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Carl Worth.

Rules: Standard Fillomino rules, except that the size of all regions must be a prime number (2, 3, 5, 7, …).

Answer String: For each cell in the marked columns, enter the area of the polyomino it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. Start with the 4th column, followed by a comma, followed by the 8th column.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:15, Master = 8:00, Expert = 16:00

Solution: PDF

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. More Fillomino puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles and in Fill o’ Fillomino by Grant Fikes.

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: Antisymmetric Borders (for Veep)

Author/Opus: This is the 38th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Palmer Mebane.

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. (Cells missing a border that appear as larger shapes are entirely shaded or entirely unshaded. The count of shaded cells is always based on 1×1 squares, meaning if a “large” cell with missing borders occupies multiple 1×1 squares around a clue it would contribute 2 or more cells if shaded for that clue.)

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 = 3:00, Master = 5:45, Expert = 11:30

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. More Tapa puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles and in Tapa and Variations, both by Serkan Yürekli.

This is a puzzle-hunt style puzzle, prepared for an evening event at the World Puzzle Championship. There are no instructions; finding out what to do is part of the puzzle. Some UK cultural knowledge may be required.

NL Y CN N CT PDF

Author/Opus: This is the 289th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Answer String: Enter the final answer of the puzzle in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.

Solution: PDF

This is a puzzle-hunt style puzzle, prepared for an evening event at the World Puzzle Championship. There are no instructions; finding out what to do is part of the puzzle. Some US cultural knowledge may be required.

Border Patrol PDF

Author/Opus: This is the 288th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Answer String: Enter the final answer of the puzzle, a single word, in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.

Solution: PDF

PDF

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

Theme: Diagonals (Playoff puzzle for the 2017 Arlington Puzzle Festival)

Author/Opus: This is the 287th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

No answer string (just click “solve”).

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:00, Master = 5:45, Expert = 11:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Sudoku. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Sudoku to get started on. More classic Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku, The Art of Sudoku 2 and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

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

Theme: Big X (Originally for the 2017 Arlington Puzzle Festival)

Author/Opus: This is the 286th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

No answer string (just click “solve”).

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:45, Master = 5:00, Expert = 10:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Sudoku. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Sudoku to get started on. More classic Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku, The Art of Sudoku 2 and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.