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.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a composite mode for line/edge drawing, a number entry mode, and shading for this variation.)

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 21st puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Fillomino rules. Also, it must be possible to shade some polyominoes black so that no bordering polyominoes are the same color (in other words, the grid must allow a two-color shading). Also, see this example:

Answer String: For each cell in the marked rows/columns, enter the area of the polyomino it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. Start with the 2nd row, followed by a comma, followed by the 7th column.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:30, Master = 8:00, Expert = 16:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

Note: Follow this link for other classic Fillomino and this link for more variations on Fillomino puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Fillomino puzzles 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 number entry mode.)

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 20th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Fillomino rules. Also, all “1” polyominoes should be treated like queens in chess; no two queens (“1s”) can see each other in any row, column, or diagonal as shown in this image.

Answer String: For each cell in the marked rows/columns, enter the area of the polyomino it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. Start with the 4th column, followed by a comma, followed by the 8th column.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:00, Master = 5:00, Expert = 10:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Fillomino and this link for more variations on Fillomino puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Fillomino puzzles 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 number entry mode.)

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 100th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes!

Rules: Standard Fillomino rules. Also, no polyominoes that differ by one in size can share an edge.

Answer String: For each cell in the marked rows/columns, enter the area of the polyomino it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. Start with the 3rd row, followed by a comma, followed by the 5th row.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:45, Master = 4:00, Expert = 8:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Fillomino and this link for more variations on Fillomino puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Fillomino puzzles 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 number entry mode.)

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 99th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Fillomino rules.

Answer String: For each cell in the marked rows/columns, enter the area of the polyomino it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. Start with the 4th column, followed by a comma, followed by the 7th column.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:30, Master = 3:30, Expert = 7:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Fillomino. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Fillomino puzzles 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 number entry mode.)

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 35th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Fillomino rules. Also, all polyominoes should have rotational symmetry as in this example:

Answer String: For each cell in the marked rows/columns, enter the area of the polyomino it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. Start with the 1st row, followed by a comma, followed by the 3rd column.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:15, Master = 3:15, Expert = 6:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Fillomino and this link for more variations on Fillomino puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Fillomino puzzles 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 number entry mode.)

Theme: Don’t Stop Solving Fillomino

Author/Opus: This is the 98th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Fillomino rules.

Answer String: For each cell in the marked rows/columns, enter the area of the polyomino it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. Start with the 1st row, followed by a comma, followed by the 10th row.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:15, Master = 1:45, Expert = 3:30

Solution: PDF

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

Editor’s Note: It seems a lot of people aren’t taking us seriously this week, as if our April 1st announcement of a puzzle app combining TomTom with 2048 and Threes! was just a joke. Today’s puzzle actually grew out of a past April 1st announcement that led to a real audiobook deal for our Grandmaster titles. This puzzle is a sample from Grant Fikes’ upcoming Cross the Streams audiobook. Listen carefully or you won’t be able to solve the puzzle.

or Click here to download the audio file.

The following grid may be helpful to keep in mind (or actually on paper in front of you):

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a shading mode and a number entry mode to track clues.)

Theme: Asterisk, Asterisk, Asterisk, _***

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules. Also, (as transcribed from the audio file): “You will hear the clues read to you, first the across clues (starting with the topmost row and moving towards the bottom) and then the down clues (starting with the leftmost column and moving towards the right). In this beautiful 10×10 puzzle, called “Asterisk, Asterisk, Asterisk”, grandmaster Grant Fikes has challenged the normal conventions of Cross the Streams, sometimes having two or more consecutive asterisks in a single row or column.”

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from top to bottom for the marked columns, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:00, Master = 12:00, Expert = 24:00

Solution: PDF 1 and PDF 2; a solution video is available here.

View image directly for a large format.

PDF

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

Theme: No Extra Numbers

Author/Opus: This is the 29th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Palmer Mebane.

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

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.

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: No Extra Numbers

Author/Opus: This is the 19th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

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 = 2:45, Master = 5:00, Expert = 10:00

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.