The date of publish has to be quite a coincidence.
Rules: Enter all of the given words to form a crossword. Words may not repeat and must read across or down. Each word spans (is contained in) only up to two bold outlined regions.
A week ago, I started the second POC. This is to remind you that you still have a week's time to deal with the challenge.
As an incentive, the winner will now receive two hand-crafted puzzles: a 22x22 Tapa, and a surprise puzzle with his/her name inscribed on it.
Pentopia X is a diagonal variant of Pentopia whose vision extends upto all of the eight directions.
My heart goes out to those children who have had to deal with dyslexia at some point of time in their lives.
Rules: Divide the grid into some of the given Pentomino shapes along the gridlines. The shapes may be used more than once, with rotations and reflections allowed. Identical shapes may not touch each other through the edges. Some borders are already given.
Rules: Insert a digit from the given range into each cell so that no digit repeats in any row or column. The clue in each outlined cage indicates the result of a mathematical operation applied successively to each of the digits in the cage, starting from the largest to the smallest for division and subtraction. The operation may or may not be given in the cage, but at least one of the four operations must apply. Digits can repeat within a cage.
About TomTom: Invented and pioneered by Thomas Snyder, TomTom was a natural and welcome adaptation of KenKen.
POC 2 has begun. Interested competitors may receive the competition file on writing an email to me. All necessary instructions and puzzles are available in the competition file. The championship runs till the 2nd of November.
For any interested readers: The POC will return tomorrow. More details have been published earlier.
This puzzle was originally titled "Covalency", before I reminded myself that I should be using more "appropriate" titles and themes to not give a chance to problem creators.
Memorizing the Pentomino (and tetromino) shapes helps a lot with these puzzles and today's puzzle is no exception. Paint by Neighbor is however different, in that, it goes a step further on this and requires one to also mind how many "neighbors" each of the shapes' unit squares have.
The endearing introductory puzzle uses Tetromino shapes (one set of five unique shapes). Second, to be published tomorrow, will use Pentomino shapes.
Rules: Shade in some cells such that all of the shaded cells form the given shapes, without repetition, and with rotation and reflection allowed. All shapes must be used. Shapes cannot be orthogonally adjacent to each other. In the end, all unshaded cells must be connected in a single group through other unshaded cells. Numbers outside the grid tell that the corresponding row or column contains at least 'n' shaded cells in the given order, each orthogonally adjacent to as many shaded cells as indicated by the number, where 'n' is the number of clues outside. There can be no other shaded cell in between the cells described by the clues. However, there could be more shaded cells before and after, not described by the clue.
About Paint by Neighbor: Paint by Neighbor was invented by Anurag Sahay.
The imaginary Puzzlerium team conspired to put together an idea that literally asks to construct a puzzle by erasing a few misleading givens.
Rules: The given grid contains an even number of outlined areas, each of which has to amalgamate with one adjoining area. When you have got all of the areas correct, the result is a standard Nanro puzzle that is uniquely solvable. Cells with an 'X' cannot contain numbers.
Nanro: Insert a number into some of the cells so that each outlined area contains at least one number which represents the number of cells containing a number in that area. Where two numbers connect across a boundary between areas, those numbers must be different. All numbers must form one, connected area with no 2x2 areas of numbered cells.
About Nanro Construction: Nanro construction is due to Anurag Sahay.
As the player from Puzzlerium recovers from an arduous trek, he is now handed another taxing task, that of erecting several skyscrapers in the neighborhood. Feeling for him, I assured him that it wasn't going to be so hard.
This is also the first number placement puzzle on the series.
Rules: Place a number from 1 to N into each cell of the square grid so that each number appears exactly once in each row and column, where N is the length of the square's side. Each number represents a skyscraper of its respective height. The clues outside the grid indicate how many skyscrapers can be seen in that direction; smaller skyscrapers are hidden behind higher ones.
It is believed that tolerance tests produce great results. This is a loop/path genre that combines a maze-like clue style with the usual loop. If the LITS variant was an aesthetic low, this puzzle makes me (and I hope the consumer too) only happier.
The lone and tested soul inhabiting Puzzlerium is now handed another tolerance test - the task of completing a dangerous trek - while abiding by a set of constraints. As he crosses each terrain, the terrains grow longer, and the trek murkier, so to speak. Is help in sight? Read on to know what the constraints are.
Rules: Draw a loop that visits all but one of the outlined regions (terrains). Which region will be left unvisited will have to be determined as a part of the solve. The loop cannot intersect itself or pass through a cell more than once. The loop also cannot pass through a region more than once. Along the path of the loop, the loop has to use consecutively increasing number of cells in each subsequent region visited, like 1, 2, 3, 4... and so on upto N-1 and then back to the first region, where N is the number of regions. Bold edges can't be crossed through when both cells on either side of the edge are in the same region.
About Tolerance Trek: Invented by Anurag Sahay in 2020, Tolerance trek debuts with this post.
Only now did I stumble upon a recently published LITS puzzle on GMPuzzles, and decided to write this puzzle to further annoy the commenter.
Rules: Solve this using Standard LITS rules. The letter 'D' indicates a shaded cell that is also a dead-end cell of the tetromino that occupies the cell.
Rules: Enter all the words from the given list, to form a crossword. Words may not repeat and must be read across or down. Words may bend, but not more than once. Words cannot bend in the cells where they intersect with other words.
About Bending Scrabble: Invented by Anurag Sahay, Bending Scrabble debuts with this post.
Rules: Draw a loop that visits all of the outlined regions and all of the given circles. The loop cannot intersect itself or pass through a cell more than once. If there is no given circle in a region, the loop must visit that region exactly once. If there are one or more circles in a region, the loop must enter and exit the region as many times as the number of circles given, and must pass through one circle in every visit. The number of cells within the region containing a circle, used by the loop before passing through the circle, must be equal to those used after passing through the circle (including none).
About Lossless Loop: Invented by Anurag Sahay in 2019, Lossless Loop debuts with this post.
I didn't really work on anything based on the Linesweeper style of givens in recent years - what I can recall best - so considering that I am the harbinger of Linesweeper-like puzzles, including "Linesweeper" which was apparently inspired, I thought it was best to finally try something again. Hitherto, I don't know of any Masyusweeper, not at least with the exact ruleset that today's puzzle brings. Therefore, I believe that I can claim originality. I started constructing trying not to create an obvious break-in, but nonetheless, this one has shaped up into one with a delicious logical path.
Rules: Draw a single loop that passes orthogonally through the centres of cells, and does not intersect itself or enter the same cell more than once. The loop may either go through the pearls or not. When it visits a pearl, the following rules apply: The loop must go straight through the cells with white circles, making a turn in at least one of the cells immediately before or after visiting each white circle. The loop must make a turn in all the black circles, but must go straight in both cells immediately before and after visiting each black circle.
When it does not, the following rules apply:
For pearls of each color, the number of neighboring cells used by the loop must be equal to the number given on top of the puzzle grid.
About Evasive Masyu: This is a variant of Masyu, a Nikoli puzzle. Evasive Masyu debuts today with this post.
I can't thank opt-pan enough, whose Penpa I have been using liberally to draw the graphics.
If you are looking for easy Sudokus that do not need you to employ any advanced techniques whatsoever, today's puzzle is for you. I have used the same theme that was used in the Hex Slitherlink a few days ago. Although I prefer symmetry in my constructions, including Sudokus, which I rarely write, I tried a rather random layout that is anything but symmetric.
Rules: Fill in the cells digits from 1 to 9 so that no digit repeats in any row, column or bold outlined region. In each of the thermometer shapes, digits must increase strictly from the rounded bulb to the flat end..