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: Clue Symmetry and Logic (for Veep)

Author/Opus: This is the 68th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Variation of Tapa rules. The wall can travel through clue cells. Each clue now describes the entire 3×3 area the clue cell is in the middle of.

See also this example:

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 = 3:30, Master = 6:15, Expert = 12:30

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.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between number entry and shading modes.)

Theme: All Clues are Different Clues (for Randy Rogers)

Author/Opus: This is the 162nd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Place the digits 1-7 (1-9 for the example) in some of the cells, so that no digit is repeated in any row or column. Numbers on the outside of the grid indicate the sums of adjacent digit groups in that row or column, in order. Each sum is separated by at least one unused cell. A ? can represent any sum 1 or larger.

Answer String: Enter the 2nd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 3rd row from left to right. Use a capital X for empty cells.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 5:30, Expert = 11:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Japanese Sums puzzles.

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 shading mode.)

Theme: When Will the Solution Be Clear?

Author/Opus: This is the 159th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Spiral Galaxies rules.

[Copying the rules here as this is the first week: Divide the grid along the indicated lines into connected regions – “galaxies” – with rotational symmetry. Each cell must belong to one galaxy, and each galaxy must have exactly one circle at its center of rotational symmetry.]

Answer String: Enter the number of cells in each connected group (between bold lines) in the marked rows. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma. The example has the answer “2131,331”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:00, Master = 6:30, Expert = 13:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

Note: Follow this link for classic Spiral Galaxies puzzles on this website and this link for variations on Spiral Galaxies puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Spiral Galaxies Puzzles to get started on. More Spiral Galaxies puzzles will soon be found in The Art of Puzzles 2.

PDF

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

Theme: Clue Symmetry & Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 4th puzzle from guest contributor Jamie Hargrove.

Rules: Variation of Nurikabe. Some of the given island clues are actually part of the ocean and must be shaded over. (All other Nurikabe rules still apply, including all islands contain exactly one clue number equal to the area of the island.)

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. Enter both digits for any two-digit number. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:30, Master = 8:15, Expert = 16:30

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

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

PDF

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

Theme: 2×2 Clue Blocks

Author/Opus: This is the 3rd puzzle from guest contributor Jamie Hargrove.

Rules: Shade some cells black so that all unshaded number and arrow clues indicate the exact count of shaded cells in the given direction. Shaded cells cannot share an edge, and all white cells must remain connected as part of a single contiguous group. It is allowed to shade over some of the numbered cells; a shaded over clue may or may not be true.

Also, see this example:

Answer String: For each row from top to bottom, enter the number of shaded cells as a single string. For the example, the answer is “20212”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 5:15, Expert = 10:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other less common Shading puzzles.

PDF

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

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Jamie Hargrove.

Rules: Standard Nurikabe rules.

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. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:30, Master = 4:15, Expert = 8:30

Solution: PDF

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

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: One Letter Clue

Author/Opus: This is the 3rd puzzle from guest contributor Nikolai Beluhov.

Rules: Draw a snake (a 1 cell-wide path) in the grid whose head and tail are given by circled cells. The snake can touch itself diagonally, but cannot touch itself orthogonally. All cells that are not part of the snake must be part of a pentomino (i.e., an orthogonally connected group of five cells). These unused pentominoes cannot touch orthogonally but can touch diagonally. A letter in a cell represents the pentomino shape that the cell belongs to. Pentomino shapes can be repeated in the grid, and can also be rotated and reflected. (Lettered cells cannot be used by the snake.)

Answer String: Enter the number of cells in each of the snake 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 = 4:45, Master = 7:15, Expert = 14:30

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

Note: Follow this link for other Snake puzzles.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools with a composite mode for line/edge drawing.)

Theme: Clue Symmetry & Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Joseph Howard.

Rules: Standard Araf rules.

Answer String: Enter the number of cells in each connected group (between bold lines) in the marked rows.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 6:15, Expert = 12:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for more Araf puzzles on this website. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Araf Puzzles to get started on.

PDF

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

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 9th puzzle from guest contributor Bryce Herdt.

Rules: [Variation of LITS]. Shade exactly four connected cells in each outlined region, to form an L, O, T, or S tetromino, so that the following conditions are true:
(1) All shaded cells are connected with each other;
(2) No 1×4 group of cells can be entirely shaded black;
(3) When two tetrominoes in adjacent regions share an edge, they must not be of the same type (L, O, T, or S), regardless of rotations or reflections.

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 = 3:30, 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.

(View image directly for larger form.)

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)

Theme: Clue Symmetry & Logic (prepared for the 2017 Puzzle Grand Prix)

Author/Opus: This is the 274th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Connect each pair of identical numbers with a path passing through edge-adjacent cells. No cell may be used on more than one path.

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

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:30, Master = 3:30, Expert = 7:00 (*Estimates from competition scoring, not our usual process)

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Loop/Path puzzles.