PDF

Example puzzle as 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: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 14th puzzle from our newest contributing puzzlemaster Carl Worth.

Rules: (Hybrid of Fillomino and Snake Puzzles.) Divide the grid along the boundary lines so that every cell belongs to a snake. A snake is a one-cell-wide path at least two cells long that does not touch itself, not even diagonally. Circled cells must be at one of the ends of a snake. A snake may contain one circled cell, two circled cells, or no circled cells at all. Numbered cells must be part of a snake with a length of exactly that number of cells. A snake may contain one number, multiple identical numbers, or no numbers at all. Two snakes of the same length cannot touch each other horizontally or vertically.

Also see this example:

Answer String: For each cell in the marked rows/columns, enter the length of the snake it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. This example has the key “35522,44462”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:15, Master = 5:00, Expert = 10:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow these link for other Fillomino or Snake puzzles.

PDF

Example puzzle as 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 13th puzzle from our newest contributing puzzlemaster Carl Worth.

Rules: (Hybrid of Fillomino and Snake Puzzles.) Divide the grid along the boundary lines so that every cell belongs to a snake. A snake is a one-cell-wide path at least two cells long that does not touch itself, not even diagonally. Circled cells must be at one of the ends of a snake. A snake may contain one circled cell, two circled cells, or no circled cells at all. Numbered cells must be part of a snake with a length of exactly that number of cells. A snake may contain one number, multiple identical numbers, or no numbers at all. Two snakes of the same length cannot touch each other horizontally or vertically.

Also see this example:

Answer String: For each cell in the marked rows/columns, enter the length of the snake it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. This example has the key “35522,44462”.

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow these link for other Fillomino or Snake puzzles.

Our subscribers receive access to bonus puzzles each week. We make these posts so those supporters have a space to comment on these puzzles, mark as FAVES, or log their solving. If you are interested in subscribing, click here for more info.

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 145th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

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

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. More Cave puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles and in Roger Barkan’s Colossal Cave Collection.

(view directly for a larger image)

PDF

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

Theme: Game of Letters (for Daniel Cohen)

Author/Opus: This is the 142nd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Place the 18 names into the grid, one letter per cell, so they can be read from left to right or from top to bottom, without crossing or overlapping each other. Treat the first and last names as separate entries. A dot between two cells indicates that both cells must contain the same letter. All possible dots are given.

Answer String: For each row from top to bottom, enter the number of unused cells in that row.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 9:00, Master = 14:30, Expert = 29:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other word puzzles.

PDF

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

Theme: Octets (for Randy Rogers)

Author/Opus: This is the 226th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Kakuro rules. Also, digits do not repeat within the red bold regions. (The shading is used to help distinguish the regions as well.)

Answer String: Enter the values in each cell in the 2nd row from left to right and then in the 9th column from top to bottom, separating the two entries with a comma. Ignore black cells.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:15, Master = 11:00, Expert = 22:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Kakuro puzzles. More Kakuro puzzles can be found in Kakuro and Variations by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools in edgex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic (for Veep)

Author/Opus: This is the 141st puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Variation of Slitherlink rules. The loop may now intersect itself at a point (it still may not coincide anywhere). At any dot at which more than 2 segments meet, the segments must all travel straight through the dot. This example may help:

Answer String: For each marked row, enter the length in cells of each connected group inside the loop from left to right. Separate each row’s entry with a comma. Shading the loop so that each fence separates a shaded/unshaded cell can help identify what is inside. For the example, the answer would be “11,12”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 6:00, Expert = 12:00

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 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: Egocentric (for Chris Green)

Author/Opus: This is the 54th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules. Also, if two cells are separated by a thick border, this means that exactly one of those cells is shaded and the other is unshaded.

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 = 2:00, Master = 3:15, Expert = 6:30

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. More Tapa puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles and in Tapa and Variations, both by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

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

Theme: No Obvious Lies (for Jamie Hargrove)

Author/Opus: This is the 53rd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

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 = 2:00, Master = 3:15, Expert = 6:30

Solution: PDF

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

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: Nothing Special? (for TheSubro)

Author/Opus: This is the 261st puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Connect each pair of identical numbers with a path passing through edge-adjacent cells. No cell may be used on more than one path.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of the horizontal line segments from left to right in 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 Loop/Path puzzles.

Our subscribers receive access to bonus puzzles each week. We make these posts so those supporters have a space to comment on these puzzles, mark as FAVES, or log their solving. If you are interested in subscribing, click here for more info.

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 144th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Shade some cells in the grid to create a one cell-wide snake. The position of the head and tail of the snake are not known. The snake cannot touch itself, not even diagonally. The remaining unshaded numbers in the grid indicate how many of the surrounding cells are occupied by the snake.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of 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 = 2:45, Master = 4:15, Expert = 8:30

Note: Follow this link for other Snake puzzles.