Since 2021, we have posted some extra difficult Sunday Stumpers, about once a month. These will be quite tough puzzles, but with a logical path to be found (and solution videos to help). This sixth Sunday Stumper of 2022 is a combination of Battleships and Sudoku by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between number placement, ship placement, and shading modes. The shading mode in gray, which numbers can be written on top of, may work better than default ship placement.)

Theme: Dominoes

Author/Opus: This is the 370th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Battleship Sudoku rules. This combines Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region) with Battleship rules: Locate the given fleet, as in a Battleships puzzle. Each ship segment is numbered and these numbers must fit into a valid sudoku solution as well. Ships can be rotated when positioned in the grid, but different ships cannot be placed in adjacent cells that share an edge or corner. The clues outside the grid indicate the number of ship segments in that row/column. Numbers inside the grid at the start should be treated like “seas” and cannot belong to ships in the fleet.

Difficulty: 5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 20:00, Master = 55:00, Expert = 1:50:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for classic Battleships and this link for Battleships variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Battleships to get started on. More Battleships puzzles can be found in Battleships and Variations, 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 alternate between a composite mode for line/edge drawing and a number entry mode.)

Theme: Even-steven

Author/Opus: This is the 369th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Fillomino rules (with a hexagonal grid).

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 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 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: Singularity at the Black Hole

Author/Opus: This is the 368th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Variation of Tapa rules. The clue numbers refer to the groups of unshaded segments around that cell. Cells with numbers count as unshaded cells for adjacent clues. All other rules for the shaded Tapa are the same as usual.

Or see here:

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:30, Master = 7:30, Expert = 15:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for classic Tapa and this link for Tapa variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Tapa puzzles to get started on. More Tapa puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in Tapa and Variations 1 and 2, and in our beginner-friendly books Intro to GMPuzzles and Starter Pack 2: Tapa, all by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

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

Theme: Even Surrounded

Author/Opus: This is the 367th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules, using the digits 1-6. Also, the sum of the digits in each cage must equal the value given in the upper-left corner of that cage. Digits cannot repeat inside a cage.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

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

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for more Killer Sudoku and this link for classic Sudoku. More Killer Sudoku puzzles can be found in Killer Sudoku 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: Consecutive Pairs

Author/Opus: This is the 366th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules.

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 Tapa and this link for Tapa variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Tapa puzzles to get started on. More Tapa puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in Tapa and Variations 1 and 2, and in our beginner-friendly books Intro to GMPuzzles and Starter Pack 2: Tapa, all by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

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

Theme: Big and Small

Author/Opus: This is the 365th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Kakuro rules.

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:50, Master = 1:05, Expert = 2:10

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

Note: Follow this link for classic Kakuro and this link for Kakuro variations. More Kakuro puzzles can be found in Kakuro and Variations by Serkan Yürekli and in The Art of Puzzles 2.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; note that solution checking requires the eleven ciphered clues and the twenty-five interior cells to all be marked)

Theme: Numbers

Author/Opus: This is the 364th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Skyscrapers rules, using the integers 1-5. Also, each letter represents a different positive integer, for the solver to determine.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:40, Master = 2:45, Expert = 5:30

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

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. More Skyscrapers puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli, and in the e-book Skyscrapers by Ashish Kumar.

Note from Thomas (2022-03-22 8:18 AM PT): I rarely post my own editorial comments anywhere, but I just solved this puzzle for the first time and have to say this is really elegant and fun! Thanks Serkan for sharing this great Cipher puzzle with the world. I’m (we’re) blessed to have you as managing editor AND puzzle constructor for Grandmaster Puzzles.

Our past Tapa-Like Loop week is gathered in this PDF and the solutions are in this PDF. More Tapa-Like Loop puzzles can be found here.

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

The next week of puzzles will be a variety mix in six different styles. All of these styles are part of the third issue of our Grandmaster Puzzles Quarterly series being completed soon.

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 on edges)

Theme: 3.14

Author/Opus: This is the 363rd puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Variation of Tapa: Form a single non-intersecting loop. Clues inside the grid represent the number of neighboring cells visited by the loop; if there is more than one number in a cell, each number should be represented with a separate loop segment. There is no 2×2 rule of Tapa in this puzzle.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:45, Master = 1:37, Expert = 3:14

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

Note: Follow this link for other Tapa-Like Loop puzzles. More Tapa-Like Loop puzzles can be found in the Tapa-Like Loop Collection by Prasanna Seshadri.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools with a composite mode for line/edge drawing and a composite mode for coloring.)

Theme: Loop

Author/Opus: This is the 362nd puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Araf rules. Also, there may not be four consecutive cells that are part of a region in any row or column.

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:30, Master = 9:00, Expert = 18:00

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

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. More Araf puzzles can be found in the ebook Araf by Serkan Yürekli.