Round Trip by Grant Fikes
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; in default linex mode: left-click+drag draws line, right click marks X on edge)
Theme: Logical
Author/Opus: This is the 151st puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.
Rules: Draw a single loop in the grid which may cross itself orthogonally, but otherwise does not touch or retrace itself. The clue numbers to the left/right of the rows indicate the number of squares visited by the nearest section of the loop that travels horizontally in the rows. The clue numbers to the top/bottom of the columns indicate the number of squares visited by the nearest section of the loop that travels vertically in the columns.
Also, see this example:
Answer String: Enter the number of empty squares for each row from top to bottom, followed by a comma, and then the number of turns for each row from top to bottom. This example has the key “100000,422224”.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:30, Master = 3:15, Expert = 6:30
Solution: PDF
Note: Follow this link for other Round Trip puzzles. Some more Round Trip puzzles can be found in the book Loop Variety Collection by Ashish Kumar and Murat Can Tonta.
Grr… I botched the ending of this puzzle and didn’t find the mistake until the website refused to accept my answer. In spite of that mistake, I do feel like I’m getting better at Round Trip at least. It’s taken me a while to get used to a path puzzle that allows for the path to cross itself.
3:36. So that’s about $24 so far this week. We’ll see what the harder puzzles bring!
If you feel like being more generous to charity, try solving with a handicap like using your non-dominant hand or your teeth to hold the pencil. 😛
I am being somewhat sneaky in my choice of medium. Loop and number puzzles on an iPad with a stylus, flood-fill puzzles on my laptop in Paintbrush. And I have to train myself out of my usual tendency of flooding the whitespace inside the 4s, 6s, 8s, 9s, and 0s.
I could switch to a literal paintbrush, but that might be too costly.
Hire someone else to tap the iPad screen randomly to distract you.
Hold your mouse backwards.
30:17.I don’t like this puzzle genre.Too confusing.Took me 4 broken tries to understand that pryyf E6P34 naq P6E34 ner rzcgl naq gur pyhrf’ pbeerfcbaqvat ybbc frtzragf npghnyyl bpphe va pryyf E6P56 naq P6E67 erfcrpgviryl.Arghhhh