PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between Sudoku = big entries and Number candidate = small entries in the corners of cells.)

Theme: Undivided

Author/Opus: This is the 313th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Tight Fit Sudoku rules. Remember, the smaller number goes above the larger number in all slashed cells. The range of this puzzle is 1-9.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:20, Master = 1:45, Expert = 3:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Tight Fit Sudoku puzzles on this website. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Tight Fit Sudoku to get started on. More Tight Fit Sudoku can be found in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli, in The Art of Sudoku 2, and in Masterpiece Sudoku Mix 5: Tight Fit Sudoku.

You can find all the puzzles (through Saturday’s Skyscrapers) from our 2021 debut week in this PDF and the solutions are all grouped in this PDF. The solution for the Sunday Stumper will be released next week.

With this being our first week with Penpa-Edit as a digital solving option, I used it for five of the puzzles (Monday-Friday) while making a paper solution video for the Saturday puzzle. We won’t be making videos for every single puzzle this year, but given the variety week and some more challenging than usual puzzles this seemed a good week to cover everything including showing some different ways Penpa-Edit can be used.

If you have any comments on these videos including our use of Penpa-Edit in them, please share them here.

Our second week of 2021 will feature Sudoku puzzles and variations.

This year, we are going to have some extra difficult Sunday Stumpers, about once a month. These will be quite tough puzzles, but with a logical path to be found (and solution videos to help). This first Sunday Stumper is a challenging Sudoku variation in the style of some of the unusual rule mash-ups and difficulty seen on the Cracking the Cryptic channel.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)

Theme: Have a Cracking New Year!

Author/Opus: This is the 371st puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules. Some arrow shapes are in the grid; the sum of the digits along the path of each arrow must equal the digit in the circled cell (digits can repeat on an arrow). Some thermometer shapes are in the grid; the digits along the thermometer must be strictly increasing from the round bulb to the flat end. Some rectangular cages are in the grid marked by dashed lines; the sum or product of the digits in these cages must be either 20 or 21. Finally, some arrows are given outside the grid; the sum or product of the digits along these marked diagonals must be either 20 or 21 (digits can repeat on a diagonal).

Difficulty: 5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 15:00, Master = 30:00, Expert = 60:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video from Cracking the Cryptic is here.

Note: Follow this link for other variations on Sudoku.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)

Theme: 2021

Author/Opus: This is the 187th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Variation of Skyscrapers; each clue represents the sum of the heights of the visible buildings in that direction.

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:00, Master = 11:00, Expert = 22:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for classic Skyscrapers puzzles and this link for variations on Skyscrapers puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Skyscrapers Puzzles to get started on. More Skyscrapers puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli, and in the e-book Skyscrapers by Ashish Kumar.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a composite mode for line/edge drawing and a shading mode.)

Theme: 2021

Author/Opus: This is the 312th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Araf rules.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:30, Master = 5:00, Expert = 10:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for more Araf puzzles on this website. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Araf Puzzles to get started on. More Araf puzzles can be found in the ebook Araf by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)

Theme: 2021

Author/Opus: This is the 370th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard TomTom rules, using the integers 1-7.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:00, Master = 4:15, Expert = 8:30

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for classic TomTom and this link for TomTom variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest TomTom to get started on. More TomTom puzzles can be found in the TomTom collection, in The Art of Puzzles, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between ship placement and shading modes. In ship placement mode, right click gives sea, left click gives circle/square, left click and drag for rounded ships.)

Theme: 2020 2021

Author/Opus: This is the 58th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Ashish Kumar.

Rules: Standard Battleships rules. Use the indicated fleet.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:15, Master = 3:15, Expert = 6:30

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for classic Battleships and this link for Battleships variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Battleships to get started on. More Battleships puzzles can be found in Battleships and Variations, in The Art of Puzzles, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use the tab key to alternate between shading and number entry modes)

Theme: Year of Outreach

Author/Opus: This is the 71st puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Standard Nanro rules.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:45, Master = 3:00, Expert = 6:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for Nanro puzzles on this website and this link for variations on Nanro puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Nanro Puzzles to get started on. More Nanro puzzles can be found in A Number o’ Nanro by Prasanna Seshadri.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)

Theme: 2020 2021

Author/Opus: This is the 195th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Yajilin rules.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:00, Master = 1:30, Expert = 3:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for classic Yajilin and this link for Yajilin variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Yajilin to get started on. More Yajilin puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles 2, in Yajilin by Murat Can Tonta and Prasanna Seshadri, and in our beginner-friendly book Logic Puzzles 101.

Dear solvers,

I hope you all enjoyed the “Best of 2020”. The collected PDFs are in all the web posts and also on our all weekly PDFs page.

Our “Best of …” selection process tried to be as consistent as possible with prior years, but some technical issues with the solving/fave widget meant we did add in web comments and tester feedback as additional signal for the best puzzles. If you think we missed a particularly awesome puzzle, please tell us (and in 2021 keep commenting on the posts when you like something as that is the most direct way for authors to see your feedback).

One small update on the solving widget: there are still users with login issues and the necessary fix requires a larger lift-over of the tool and database to our servers; we’ve contracted for this project so hope it returns to its old form in the next couple months.

One big update for 2021 is that we are going to include a digital solving option with automated solution checking for all puzzles.* We have set up Penpa-Edit on our site, and will be using it in a kind of “beta” mode as we find the best ways to present a variety of puzzles (with good documentation/instructions) including making some style changes over the coming months to integrate the current version more with the site. At the start, a lot of the help may be missing so if you aren’t already an experienced Penpa user, please look for some of our first solving videos to help a bit.

One last update for now is that in 2021 we will have a few “Sunday Stumpers” that are very, very hard puzzles. Seeing how difficult puzzles can seem fair to post if there are solving walkthroughs eventually connected to show the logical route, we will try to post a Sunday Stumper once a month including next Sunday at the end of our “Welcome to 2021” week. New puzzles, including the first with penpa-edit, will start tomorrow.

Best wishes for a great 2021,
Thomas (aka. Dr. Sudoku)

(*One impressive thing about Penpa-Edit as it has grown is that we can cover 99+% of the puzzles we’ve posted in the past — there is only one puzzle in our initial weeks of 2021 where a slight modification will be required to present the puzzle in a solvable form.)