Puzzlerium tour: Pentomino Channels

  

Rules:  Place all of the pentomino shapes represented in the clue cells - once each - leaving the clue cells unused. Pentominoes may be rotated and reflected but may not touch each other, not even diagonally. Draw a vertical or horizontal line between each pair of pentominoes - starting and ending in the shapes, only passing through empty cells in between and a clue cell - such that given number tells the length of the line connecting the shapes represented by the letters preceding the number. Lines do not cross other lines or other shapes. Given x-marked cells, if any, cannot be used.

About: “Pentomino Channels” was invented by Anurag Sahay.

Puzzlerium tour: Double puzzle (Star Battle/LITS)

 

Theme: The same grid solves as two different puzzles 

Rules:

Star Battle: Place two stars in ecah row, column and bold outlined region. Cells with stars cannot be adjacent to each other, not even diagonally.

LITS: Shade in some cells such that each outlined area contains exactly four shaded cells that form a tetromino. No 2×2 square can be shaded completely. All shapes must be connected to form a single contiguous group of shaded cells.  Identical figures, regardless of rotation and reflection, cannot share an edge. 

Puzzlerium tour: The Convoy

 

Rules:  Place the full set of pentomino shapes in the grid without repetition. Pentominoes may be rotated and reflected but may not touch each other, not even diagonally. Given numbers are all part of the shapes and they tell how many of the cells located 2 units away from the corresponding clue cell are used by one or more of the other shapes. Given x-marked cells, if any, cannot be used.

About: “The Convoy” was invented by Anurag Sahay.

Puzzlerium tour: Scrabble (Palindrome)

This week of palindrome dates, and an infection I had recently (not sure it was Omicron or Delta or both), together serve enough inspiration for a puzzle. 

Theme: A mysterious strain 

Rules: Enter some of the words from the list, reading across or down. Words can not be used more than once. Some letters are given. Words other than those found on the list are not allowed. The contents of the horizontal row coloured in grey - ignoring empty cells - must read like a palindrome. Cells marked dark grey cannot be written into. 

Puzzlerium tour: Pointing Pentomino

 

Rules: Divide the grid into pentominoes such that every cell in the grid is a part of exactly one pentomino. Pentominoes of the same shape (rotations and reflections count as the same shape) cannot touch each other along an edge, but may touch diagonally. Given arrows indicate that there is exactly one pentomino of the same shape as the arrow is contained in, in the direction the arrow points. It is possible that two or more clue cells belong to the same pentomino. Some borders may already be given in bold. 

About: “Pointing Pentomino” was invented by Anurag Sahay.

Puzzlerium tour: Dotcut

 

Range 2~5

Rules: Divide the grid into areas in the given range such that every cell is part of some area. There cannot be two identical shapes anywhere (rotations and reflections count as the same shape). Cells separated by given circles belong to different areas. Furthermore, if each cell is numbered on the number of adjacent cells belonging to the same shape that it belongs to, a given white circle separates two equal numbers and a given black circle separates two unequal numbers. Arrows always point to the larger area. 

About: Dotcut was invented by Anurag Sahay

Puzzlerium tour: Pentominous

Rules: Divide the grid into pentominoes such that every cell in the grid is a part of exactly one pentomino. Pentominoes of the same shape (rotations and reflections of a pentomino count as the same shape) cannot touch each other along an edge, but they may touch diagonally. Given letters, if any, must be part of a pentomino with that letter’s shape. It is permissible for a pentomino to contain more than one letter.

Puzzlerium tour: 2D Printing

Edit: This puzzle had no solution (bottom-right). Bottom-right slightly modified to allow a solution. 

Rules: Draw a single, non-intersecting loop, vertically or horizontally through the centres of the cells. The path of the loop has to pass each of the edges marked with a circle. Furthermore, the portions of the loop on either side of the given circle, extending as far as before leaving the region, should both be absolutely identical in shape and length (ignoring rotations and reflections). 

In the illustrative figure below, the parts of the loop around the white circles do not follow the rules, while the loop parts around the black circle are good. 

About: “2D Printing” was invented by Anurag Sahay.

Puzzlerium tour: Strike the right chord

Rules: Draw a single, non-intersecting loop, vertically or horizontally through the centres of the cells. Given numbers indicate how many of the four edges meeting there are crossed by the path of the loop.

About: “Strike the right chord” was invented by Anurag Sahay

Puzzlerium tour: Linear Automaton

Rules: Draw a single, non-intersecting loop, vertically or horizontally through the grid lines. A black circle has the loop turn in both the adjoining nodes, while a white circle has the loop turn in exactly one of the adjoining nodes and go straight through the other node.

About: Linear Automaton was invented by Anurag Sahay

Puzzlerium tour: Expansibility

Rules: Divide the grid into pentominoes such that every cell in the grid is a part of a pentomino. Pentominoes of the same shape (rotations and reflections of a pentomino count as the same shape) cannot touch each other along an edge, but they may touch diagonally. The cells separated by any given circle belong to different pentomino shapes. Furthermore, If each cell is numbered based on the number of adjacent cells belonging to the same shape that it belongs to, a given white circle separates two equal numbers and a given black circle separates two unequal numbers.

About: Expansibility was invented by Anurag Sahay