One of our favorite categories, which has a whole host of puzzle styles, is “Shading” puzzles. Today we’re announcing our best of 2022 puzzles in this category, from the 57 posts during the year; all the winners are in this PDF file.

Veteran puzzlemaker Grant Fikes gave us our first “Best Of Shading” puzzle last year with this Cross the Streams (Matching Sections) puzzle. The interlinking within the grid was a fresh idea that our solvers loved. Based off a YouTube comment the author has made another creative subsection puzzle to follow-up on this one.

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

2022 saw a couple new puzzle styles enter our standard rotation and Grandmaster Puzzles Quarterly books, and Aqre (originated by Eric Fox) was selected for two best of puzzle awards. One of the Aqre puzzles that got recognition was this Sunday Stumper by Murat Can Tonta with a “Squares” theme.

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.)

Our managing editor, Serkan Yürekli, wrote many incredible puzzles in this past year including this playful Pata puzzle with some very unusual forcing logic to reach the final solution.

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.)

Another Aqre puzzle that got lots of FAVEs from our solvers came from Eric Fox with this “sixes” puzzle from the first week we posted puzzles from this genre. A lot of different Aqre tricks are hidden within the region shapes here with just 6 clues.

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.)

Our overall best of 2022 Shading puzzle came from Sam Cappleman-Lynes who made a playful planetary theme in this Nurikabe (Cipher) puzzle. Working out how the sun and the few planets form “islands” in “space” was a clever visual and logical theme, emblematic of the best from Grandmaster Puzzles.

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