PDF

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

Theme: Ones

Author/Opus: This is the 5th puzzle from guest contributor Mark Sweep.

Rules: Standard Nurikabe rules.

Difficulty: 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:15, Master = 2:00, Expert = 4:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for classic Nurikabe and this link for Nurikabe variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Nurikabe puzzles to get started on. More Nurikabe puzzles can be in The Art of Puzzles, in our beginner-friendly book Logic Puzzles 101, and in the e-book Nurikabe by Ashish Kumar.

PDF

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

Theme: Seeing Doubles

Author/Opus: This is the 2nd puzzle from guest contributor Teddy Tan.

Rules: Standard Nurikabe rules.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:00, Master = 1:45, Expert = 3:30

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for classic Nurikabe and this link for Nurikabe variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Nurikabe puzzles to get started on. More Nurikabe puzzles can be in The Art of Puzzles, in our beginner-friendly book Logic Puzzles 101, and in the e-book Nurikabe by Ashish Kumar.

Our recent variety mix week (at “Starter Pack” level difficulty) is gathered together in this PDF and the solutions are in this PDF. The Wednesday TomTom by me is indicative of the puzzles in our latest book, Starter Pack 3: TomTom, which was released this morning in our e-store.

The daily solution videos are on the posts and linked below:

This coming week will feature Nurikabe puzzles and variations.

We’re excited to announce the publication of the third volume of our “Starter Pack” series, Starter Pack 3: TomTom. Like the rest of our Starter Packs, this collection contains a set of easy to medium (Monday to Wednesday) puzzles perfect for solvers wanting to learn a new style or for experienced solvers who want familiar, but not impossible, challenges.

This is a particularly exciting collection for me as it is my first time coming back to make a TomTom collection in many years. While the cover art features my famous first calcudoku from 3/3/09, the book itself contains 36 original puzzles, 18 with operations and 18 without operations. There are also a set of links to Penpa-Edit versions for online solving with answer/error checking enabled.

The next Starter Packs will feature Slitherlink and Star Battle, and we welcome your continued feedback on this series.

PDF

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

Theme: 11X

Author/Opus: This is the 5th puzzle from guest contributor Elyot Grant.

Rules: Shade some cells so that the numbers outside the grid indicate the groups of consecutive black cells which are in that row/column in order, either from left to right or from top to bottom. There must be at least one white cell between any consecutive shaded groups. Rows and columns without outside clues can have any pattern of shaded and unshaded cells. Also, all the shaded cells must be able to be split into the eleven given pentomino shapes. Pentominoes may be flipped and/or rotated.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:15, Master = 4:15, Expert = 8:30

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for other less common Shading puzzles.

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 number entry mode.)

Theme: Odds vs. Evens

Author/Opus: This is the 13th puzzle from guest contributor Jonas Gleim.

Rules: Standard Fillomino rules.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:00, Master = 3:00, Expert = 6:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for classic Fillomino and this link for Fillomino variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Fillomino puzzles to get started on. More Fillomino puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in Fill o’ Fillomino and Fill o’ Fillomino 2 by Grant Fikes, and in our beginner-friendly books Logic Puzzles 101 and Starter Pack 1: Fillomino.

PDF

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

Theme: Big Loss

Author/Opus: This is the 11th puzzle from guest contributor Akash Doulani.

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: 2.5 stars

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

Solution: PDF and solving video.

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.

PDF

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

Theme: Even Steven

Author/Opus: This is the 416th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard TomTom rules, using the integers 1-6.

Difficulty: 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:30, Master = 2:00, Expert = 4:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

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 shift between shading mode and the composite Yajilin mode where left click marks cells, right click marks dots in cells or X’s on edges, left click+drag draws lines.)

Theme: S

Author/Opus: This is the 9th puzzle from guest contributor Eric Fox.

Rules: Standard Aqre rules: Shade some cells so that all shaded cells form one connected group. Regions with numbers must contain the indicated count of shaded cells, and it is allowed to shade over the numbered cells. There may not exist a run of four or more consecutive shaded or unshaded cells horizontally or vertically anywhere in the grid. (Note: with this puzzle, we have updated our default formatting for Aqre to use smaller digits to not interfere as much with solver notation that may be used in those squares. The fundamental rules of the puzzle are unchanged.)

See also this example:

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:00, Master = 1:45, Expert = 3:30

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for more Aqre puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Aqre to get started on. More Aqre puzzles are in Shading Variety Collection by Prasanna Seshadri.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools in linex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)

Author/Opus: This is the 49th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Tom Collyer.

Rules: Standard Masyu rules.

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:35, Master = 1:00, Expert = 2:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

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