All the puzzles from last week have been grouped in this PDF.

Next week (including the bonus puzzle for our supporters) will feature just one puzzle style, made by the person we consider the world’s best author of that style: Skyscrapers by Roland Voigt

We will also have a few bonus puzzles throughout the week (and in the coming weeks), which are our favorite recent competition puzzles from Serkan Yürekli. These aren’t really organized by difficulty level, but are also definitely worth checking out.

PDF

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

Theme: Man Made Out of Stars

Author/Opus: This is the 175th puzzle from Thomas Snyder aka Dr. Sudoku.

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. If the number has two digits, just enter the unit’s digit (i.e. column “10” would be entered as 0). Enter these numbers as a single string with no separators.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:30, Master = 5:15, Expert = 10:30

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 in linex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)

Theme: Conway’s Game of Life (this 11×11 puzzle was first made for the 11th Gathering 4 Gardner, which focused on Conway. Many familiar shapes from the Game of Life appear. Also, check out this recently launched Martin Gardner Organization website.)

Author/Opus: This is the 174th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Masyu rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of the horizontal loop segments from left to right in the marked rows, starting at the top. If the loop only has vertical segments in the marked row, enter 0. Separate each row’s entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:45, Master = 2:30, Expert = 5:00

Solution: PDF

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

PDF

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

Theme: Desperately Seeking Seven (Note: the shading of the “7” shaped region is just for artistic purposes.)

Author/Opus: This is the 173rd puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (no repeats in any rows, columns, or bold regions). The digit range is 1-7.

Answer String: Enter the 2nd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 5th row from left to right.

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

Solution: PDF

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

All the puzzles from last week’s Fillomino focus have been grouped in this PDF.

Next week will be another variety week with these puzzles (highlight to view):
Monday: Sudoku by Thomas Snyder
Tuesday: Negative Tetromino by Serkan Yürekli
Wednesday: Masyu by Thomas Snyder
Thursday: Tapa by Serkan Yürekli
Friday: Star Battle by Thomas Snyder
Saturday: Ripple Effect by Grant Fikes

The bonus puzzle for our high-level supporters will be a 13×13 Nurikabe by Prasanna Seshadri.

All the puzzles from last week have been grouped in this PDF. While we don’t like breaking the rules too often, we hope you enjoyed last week’s “Oddities”. Even the bonus puzzle, the “Nothing Odd Going On Here” Slitherlink, was quite twisted in its execution.

Next week will focus on one of our favorite puzzle types: Fillomino and variations. Puzzles will be by Grant Fikes, Prasanna Seshadri, and Serkan Yürekli. The bonus puzzle will also be from that category, and if our high-level supporters haven’t had their Fillia of puzzles yet, there will be an extra large and rather incredible puzzle sent out by Grant Fikes as well.

While we tend to focus on “paper puzzles” here at Grandmaster Puzzles, this coming year we will make a dedicated push into the puzzle game app space.

Today we wanted to show you a promo image for our first game. It combines one of our strengths (TomTom) with the best of 2014’s puzzle apps (namely, Threes! and 2048).

Can you find the one solution?

PDF

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

Theme: 2048 and Threes!

Author/Opus: This is the 172nd puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard TomTom rules, using the integers 1-4.

Answer String: As this is just a promo image, no answer entry is required.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:30, Master = 0:50, Expert = 1:40

Solution: PDF

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

All the puzzles from last week have been grouped in this PDF.

Next week will be another variety week with these puzzles (highlight to view):
Monday: Cave by Tom Collyer
Tuesday: Kurotto by Prasanna Seshadri
Wednesday: Nurikabe by Tom Collyer
Thursday: Nanro by Prasanna Seshadri
Friday: Yajilin by Palmer Mebane
Saturday: Cross the Streams by Grant Fikes

The bonus puzzle for our high-level supporters will be a Slitherlink by Thomas Snyder.

PDF

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

Theme: Going Up?

Author/Opus: This is the 171st puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Variant of Skyscrapers rules. The numbers outside the grid represent the sum of the buildings seen in that row or column. For example, if a row is 12534, the clue from the left would be an 8 (1+2+5) and from the right would be a 9 (4+5).

Answer String: Enter the 3rd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 7th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:15, Master = 4:30, Expert = 9:00

Solution: PDF

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.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between shading mode and the linex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)

Theme: Tightly Packed

Author/Opus: This is the 170th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Cave rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the cave segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry with a comma.

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

Solution: PDF

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