PDF

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

Theme: Clue Symmetry & Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 4th puzzle from guest contributor Jamie Hargrove.

Rules: Variation of Nurikabe. Some of the given island clues are actually part of the ocean and must be shaded over. (All other Nurikabe rules still apply, including all islands contain exactly one clue number equal to the area of the island.)

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments (the unnumbered, connected “ocean”) from left to right for the marked rows. Enter both digits for any two-digit number. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:30, Master = 8:15, Expert = 16:30

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

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

PDF

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

Theme: 2×2 Clue Blocks

Author/Opus: This is the 3rd puzzle from guest contributor Jamie Hargrove.

Rules: Shade some cells black so that all unshaded number and arrow clues indicate the exact count of shaded cells in the given direction. Shaded cells cannot share an edge, and all white cells must remain connected as part of a single contiguous group. It is allowed to shade over some of the numbered cells; a shaded over clue may or may not be true.

Also, see this example:

Answer String: For each row from top to bottom, enter the number of shaded cells as a single string. For the example, the answer is “20212”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 5:15, Expert = 10:30

Solution: PDF

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

(view directly for a larger image)

PDF

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

Theme: Open Seas

Author/Opus: This is the 2nd puzzle from guest contributor Jamie Hargrove.

Rules: Standard Nurikabe rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments (the unnumbered, connected “ocean”) from left to right for the marked rows. Enter both digits for any two-digit number. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:15, Master = 11:30, Expert = 23:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for classic Nurikabe puzzles on this website and this link for other variations on Nurikabe puzzles. 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 collection.

PDF

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

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Jamie Hargrove.

Rules: Standard Nurikabe rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments (the unnumbered, connected “ocean”) from left to right for the marked rows. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Nurikabe. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Nurikabes to get started on. More Nurikabe puzzles can be in The Art of Puzzles collection.

(View image directly for larger form.)

PDF

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

Theme: Ladders

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor David Olmsted.

Rules: Standard Yajilin 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 = 7:30, Master = 13:45, Expert = 27:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Yajilin. 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.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools using a composite mode where left click inside cell shades square, left click + drag draws line segment, right click inside cell adds dot, and right click on cell edge adds an x.)

Theme: One Letter Clue

Author/Opus: This is the 3rd puzzle from guest contributor Nikolai Beluhov.

Rules: Draw a snake (a 1 cell-wide path) in the grid whose head and tail are given by circled cells. The snake can touch itself diagonally, but cannot touch itself orthogonally. All cells that are not part of the snake must be part of a pentomino (i.e., an orthogonally connected group of five cells). These unused pentominoes cannot touch orthogonally but can touch diagonally. A letter in a cell represents the pentomino shape that the cell belongs to. Pentomino shapes can be repeated in the grid, and can also be rotated and reflected. (Lettered cells cannot be used by the snake.)

Answer String: Enter the number of cells in each of the snake 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 = 4:45, Master = 7:15, Expert = 14:30

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

Note: Follow this link for other Snake 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 shading mode.)

Theme: Clue Symmetry & Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Joseph Howard.

Rules: Standard Araf rules.

Answer String: Enter the number of cells in each connected group (between bold lines) in the marked rows.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 6:15, Expert = 12:30

Solution: PDF

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.

PDF

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

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 9th puzzle from guest contributor Bryce Herdt.

Rules: [Variation of LITS]. Shade exactly four connected cells in each outlined region, to form an L, O, T, or S tetromino, so that the following conditions are true:
(1) All shaded cells are connected with each other;
(2) No 1×4 group of cells can be entirely shaded black;
(3) When two tetrominoes in adjacent regions share an edge, they must not be of the same type (L, O, T, or S), regardless of rotations or reflections.

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 = 3:30, Master = 5:15, Expert = 10:30

Solution: PDF

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

PDF

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

Theme: It ALL Adds Up (as shown below, the author intended all clues to be part of arithmetic groups)

Author/Opus: This is the 2nd puzzle from guest contributor Izak Bulten.

Rules: Standard Nurikabe rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments (the unnumbered, connected “ocean”) from left to right for the marked rows. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Nurikabe. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Nurikabes to get started on. More Nurikabe puzzles can be in The Art of Puzzles collection.

PDF

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Dan Adams.

Rules: Place digits into some cells and shade all remaining cells so that: each dodecagon contains the digits 1-9 exactly once; digits in cells sharing a vertex with a black triangle add up to the indicated clue number without repeats; and shaded cells cannot share an edge with another shaded cell.

Answer String: Enter the digits in the marked central rows (triangle, hexagon, triangle, …). Use a capital X for shaded cells. Separate each row with a comma. The example has the key “8178XX,243”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 16:00, Master = 32:00, Expert = 1:04:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other less common Number Placement puzzles.