PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between edgex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s and a number entry mode.)

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic (inspired by an earlier contest submission from Scott Handelman)

Author/Opus: This is the 9th puzzle from guest contributor Carl Worth.

Rules: Standard Slitherlink rules. Also, enter a number from 0 to 3 into each gray cell as additional Slitherlink clues. Numbers in the gray cells cannot repeat in any row, column, or 2×2 group of gray cells.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the internal loop segments following the arrows for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 6:30, Expert = 13:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Slitherlink variations and this link for classic Slitherlink. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Slitherlink puzzles to get started on.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between shading mode, a number entry mode for placing Tapa clues, 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: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 8th puzzle from guest contributor Carl Worth.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules, except that the digits have been encoded with a cipher into letters. Each letter represents a different positive integer, for the solver to determine.

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 = 2:30, Master = 4:00, Expert = 8:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Tapa variations and this link for classic Tapa. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Tapa puzzles to get started on.

PDF

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

Theme: Double Vision

Author/Opus: This is the 7th puzzle from guest contributor Carl Worth. The theme was inspired by Grant’s “Single Vision” Pentopia.

Rules: Standard Pentopia rules: Place some of the given pentominoes in the grid so that no pentominoes are in adjacent cells that share an edge or corner. Pentominoes cannot repeat in the grid; rotations and reflections of a pentomino are considered the same shape. The arrow clues indicate all the directions (up, down, left, and right) where the nearest pentominoes are located when looking from that square. (Arrow clues cannot contain pentomino shapes.) Also, see this example:

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the shaded pentomino segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma. The example has the solution “21,23”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:45, Master = 7:00, Expert = 14:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other puzzles involving Pentominoes.

PDF

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

Theme: Triple Trouble

Author/Opus: This is the 6th puzzle from guest contributor Carl Worth. The theme was inspired by Grant’s “Single Vision” Pentopia.

Rules: Standard Pentopia rules: Place some of the given pentominoes in the grid so that no pentominoes are in adjacent cells that share an edge or corner. Pentominoes cannot repeat in the grid; rotations and reflections of a pentomino are considered the same shape. The arrow clues indicate all the directions (up, down, left, and right) where the nearest pentominoes are located when looking from that square. (Arrow clues cannot contain pentomino shapes.) Also, see this example:

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the shaded pentomino segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma. The example has the solution “21,23”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:15, Master = 5:45, Expert = 11:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for more Pentopia puzzles and this link for other puzzles involving Pentominoes.

PDF

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

Theme: Twelve Pentominoes

Author/Opus: This is the 5th puzzle from guest contributor Carl Worth. The theme was inspired by a challenge given in the comment thread to this Best of 2014 Object Placement Puzzles post.

Rules: Standard Star Battle rules. Two stars per row, column, and region.

Answer String: For each row from top to bottom, enter the number of the first column from the left where a star appears. Enter these numbers as a single string with no separators.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:30, Master = 3:45, Expert = 7:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Star Battles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Star Battles to get started on.

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 letter entry mode.)

Theme: F is for Fiendish

Author/Opus: This is the 4th puzzle from guest contributor Carl Worth.

Rules: Divide the grid into 20 pentominoes so that no two pentominoes of the same shape (including rotations/reflections) share an edge. A cell with a letter in it must be part of the pentomino shape normally associated with that letter. An inventory of possible pentominoes is given below the puzzle.

Answer String: Enter the letter associated with the pentomino occupying each cell in the marked rows from left to right and in the marked columns from top to bottom, separating the groups with a comma. Use CAPITAL LETTERS!

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:30, Master = 10:00, Expert = 20:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Pentominous puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Pentominous to get started on.

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 letter entry mode.)

Theme: A Strategy for Victory? (Intuit, Nix, Fix)

Author/Opus: This is the 3rd puzzle from guest contributor Carl Worth.

Rules: Divide the grid into 20 pentominoes so that no two pentominoes of the same shape (including rotations/reflections) share an edge. A cell with a letter in it must be part of the pentomino shape normally associated with that letter. An inventory of possible pentominoes is given below the puzzle.

Answer String: Enter the letter associated with the pentomino occupying each cell in the marked rows from left to right and in the marked columns from top to bottom, separating the groups with a comma. Use CAPITAL LETTERS!

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Pentominous puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Pentominous to get started on.

(view directly for a larger image)

PDF

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

Theme: A Star Battle

Author/Opus: This is the 2nd puzzle from guest contributor Carl Worth.

Rules: Standard Star Battle rules with three stars per region. Also, both grids will have the same position of stars. The shading is for aesthetic purposes only.

Answer String: For one of the grids, for each row from top to bottom, enter the number of the column where the middle star appears. Enter just the last digit of any two-digit numbers, and enter all these numbers as a single string with no separators.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 9:30, Master = 18:30, Expert = 37:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other variations on Star Battle and this link for classic Star Battles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Star Battles to get started on.

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: Clueless

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Carl Worth.

Rules: Standard Nanro rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the segments labeled with numbers 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 = 1:30, Master = 2:00, Expert = 4:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Click here for other Nanro puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, please first try out the example on the Rules and Info page as well as this easy Nanro post.