Theme: Mesh
Rules: Divide the grid along the gridlines into some regions, and fill each of the empty cells with a number. When two cells containing the same number touch along an edge, they must belong to the same region. Given numbers represent the area of the region they belong to. A region may contain none, or one or more of the givens.
Every number has to be able to reach the edge of the grid through other numbers of the same value.
About: This variant was first explored by Anurag Sahay.
Rules: Insert a number in each cell such that no two equal numbers are located in adjacent cells. Each row and column contains 3 distinct numbers with each number repeated as many times as necessary. Two different rows or columns are allowed to contain the same set of numbers.
About: Tuples was invented by Anurag Sahay (previously published as "Interlaced files").
Rules: Shade in some cells such that shaded cells in each outlined area form a polymino. 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 or reflection, cannot share an edge. Each shape must be adjacent with one or more shapes of the same size as it is.
About: Anymino was invented by Anurag Sahay.
Sixth edition of the Puzzlerium Optimization Championship is underway.
You can download the Puzzles along with an Excel workbook. Submissions will be accepted as pictures or through the Workbook. More details inside.
Credits: Thanks to Vladimir Burik for volunteering and preparing the Excel workbook.
Edit: There was a minor glitch in the spreadsheet that didn't compromise solving or scoring. The fixed version is available now.
Scoring for puzzle 2 has been altered. Details are available in the updated pdf.
.png)
Rules: Shade in some cells such that each outlined area contains 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 or reflection, cannot share an edge. Given numbers tell how many tetrominoes are adjacent with the tetromino contained in the corresponding region.
About: This variant of LITS was invented by Anurag Sahay.
.png)
Rules: Shade in some cells in each outlined room so that it is possible to navigate through all of the unshaded cells within each room in single orthogonal paths. Also, within each room, all shaded cells must be orthogonally connected in a single block. Shaded cells from different rooms cannot be adjacent to each other. No two rooms can have the same configuration of shaded cells.
About: "Minimalist Architecture" was invented by Anurag Sahay.
Rules: Shade in some cells such that each outlined area contains six shaded cells that form a Tetromino and a half of a tetromino, with the two shapes allowed to touch orthogonally as long as they are not identical. The other half of the tetromino must be found in an adjoining region - a half can only be adjacent to the half it is joining, not any other halves. Also, the two cells making a "half " need not necessarily be adjacent to each other. 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 or reflection, cannot share an edge.
See example below:
.png)
Rules: Shade in some cells so that every bold outlined region contains exactly 3 shaded cells. Every shaded cell should share an edge with exactly one other shaded cell.
.pnge.png)
Rules: Place the full set of pentominoes into the given 12x12 grid, with rotations and reflections allowed. Pentominoes cannot touch each other, not even diagonally. Each bold outlined region must include a full pentomino and a half of another pentomino - half meaning either 2 or 3 cells while the other 3 or 2 cells are contained in a neighboring region.
About: This variant was first explored by Anurag Sahay.
Theme: No given 1s or 2s.
Rules: Divide the grid along the gridlines into some regions, and fill each of the empty cells with a number. When two cells containing the same number touch along an edge, they must belong to the same region. Given numbers represent the area of the region they belong to. A region may contain none, or one or more of the givens.
For each region, there must be a region that is identical (both in size and shape).
About: This variant was first explored by Anurag Sahay.
Come September 24th, the Puzzlerium Optimization Championship returns with its sixth edition. Puzzle enthusiasts can put their skills to test in a competitive setup.
More details to be made available when the competition starts.
Rules: Shade in some cells so that all shaded cells are connected orthogonally in a single group and no 2×2 square is completely shaded. There can be no islands -enclosed areas of one or more unshaded cells - all unshaded cells should be accessible to the grid borders through other unshaded cells. Black circle indicates that cells on either side of the edge are both shaded and each of the two shaded cells has at least one shaded neighbor not counting the cell across the circle. White circles add no such constraint, but, exactly one of the two cells on its sides need be shaded. A grey circle is either black or white, and the colour needs to be determined.
About: "Spheres of Influence" was invented by Anurag Sahay.
Theme: Mirrors galore
Rules: Divide the grid along the gridlines and given outlined edges - ignoring shaded cells if any- 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. Some borders are already given.
Rules: Place some pentomino shapes, no more than once each, such that the shapes do not overlap and each shape is placed entirely in a single outlined region. Clue cells cannot be occupied. Pentominoes may be rotated and reflected. If a shape's dead-end cell shares a side with a clue cell, that clue cell receives 3 points, while other pentomino cells sharing an edge with it contribute 2 points each. Each given clue indicates the sum of all the points it accrues.
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
Theme: Antisymmetry
Rules: Shade in some cells such that shaded cells form some of the Pentomino shapes, twice each. You can rotate and reflect the shapes, but they cannot be edge-adjacent to one another. Black circles represent spaces contained in a shape, whilst white circles represent spaces that may not be contained in a shape. In the end, all unpainted cells must be connected in a single group through other unpainted cells (including those containing white circles).
Rules: Shade in some cells such that each outlined area contains 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 or reflection, cannot share an edge. Color coded bars on ome of the edges indicate that the two cells across the edge have the same combination of shading for all bars of the same color, and different for those of different colors. As an example, "L-I", "L-unshaded", "unshaded-unshaded" are some valid combinations.
Theme: 3 times 2
Rules: Paint some squares to create a continuous wall of connected cells. Number(s) in a cell indicate how many painted cells are contained in a continuous black cell block in its surrounding cells. If there is more than one number in the cell, there has to be at least one white cell separating the black cell blocks. Painted cells cannot form a 2x2 cell. Clue Cells cannot be painted.
Theme: Functions independently as a Masyu and a Statue Park
Statue Park Rules: Shade in some cells such that all shaded cells form all the Tetromino shapes twice each. You can rotate or reflect the shapes, but they cannot be edge-adjacent to one another. Black circles represent spaces contained in a shape, whilst white circles represent spaces that may not be contained in a shape. In the end, all unpainted cells must be connected in a single group through other unpainted cells (including those containing white circles).
Masyu Rules: Draw a single loop that consists of horizontal and vertical paths through the centres of cells, and does not intersect itself or enter the same cell more than once, and has to pass through all of the circles. The loop must pass 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.
Rules: Shade in some cells such that each outlined area contains 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 or reflection, cannot share an edge. Color coded bars on ome of the edges indicate that the two cells across the edge have the same combination of shading for all bars of the same color, and different for those of different colors. As an example, "L-I", "L-unshaded", "unshaded-unshaded" are some valid combinations.
Rules: Shade in some cells such that all of the unshaded cells form an orthogonally connected aea. Shaded cells from cannot be adjacent to each other. An unshaded cell with a given number indicates how many shaded cells are orthogonalyl adjacent to it. A shaded cell with a given number indicates how many shaded cells are diagonally adjacent to it.
