PDF

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

Theme: VA is for Sudoku Lovers (Originally for the 2017 Arlington Puzzle Festival)

Author/Opus: This is the 285th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

No answer string (just click “solve”).

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

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.

PDF

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

Theme: 12th World Sudoku Championship (Originally for Diwali/WSC Sudoku Talk)

Author/Opus: This is the 283rd 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.

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: Eight 8s

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Shinichi Aoki.

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 rows/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 = 3:15, Master = 5:30, Expert = 11:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Snake puzzles.

PDF

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

Theme: Bridge Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Yuki Kawabe.

Rules: Shade some cells to make sunglasses. The sunglasses consist of a bridge (a given line, in red) and two lenses made out of orthogonally connected black cells that are symmetric with respect to the perpendicular bisector of the bridge. Two lenses may not share an edge, but can intersect at a point. Cells with the bridges are not shaded, except at the bridge ends. The numbers on the right and bottom edges of the grid indicate the number of shaded lens cells in that row or column.

Also see this example:

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black lens segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry with a comma. This example has the key “22,121,12”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:00, Master = 3:45, Expert = 7:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other shading puzzles.

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: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 246th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard LITS rules.

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 = 1:20, Master = 2:15, Expert = 4:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other 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.

(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: Four Squares

Author/Opus: This is the 72nd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules.

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 = 9:00, Expert = 18:00

Solution: PDF

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

Theme: Alternating Stripes (Originally on 2017 Brand’s Sudoku Open)

Author/Opus: This is the 166th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Even/Odd Sudoku rules (i.e., cells with a square contain an even digit; cells with a circle contain an odd digit).

Answer String: Enter the 5th row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 4th column from top to bottom.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 6:00, Expert = 12:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for more Even/Odd Sudoku puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Even/Odd Sudoku to get started on. More Even/Odd Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku 2.

PDF

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

Theme: Hidden

Author/Opus: This is the 165th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Kakuro Rules.

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

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:30, Master = 5:00, Expert = 10:00

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.

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.