LITS by Palmer Mebane
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Theme: Tire Tracks
Author/Opus: This is the 28th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Palmer Mebane.
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 = 2:00, Master = 3:30, Expert = 7:00
Solution: PDF
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2-ish minutes. A very clever break-in.
I agree that the break-in to this one was nice. A little trickier getting the end wrapped up, but nothing too crazy.
02:22.
The ending was rough; what was the supposed solution? I ended up intuiting through the 3-4 remaining regions.
If R5C2 is black, it must form an L but can only connect to things that are also L’s, so it’s white. Then R7C3 is black to avoid linking S to S, and life gets a bit more straightforward.
2:37 Nice puzzle, thankfully I noticed the break-in quickly.