PDF

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

Theme: Latin Square

Author/Opus: This is the 4th puzzle from guest contributor and site patron Chris Green.

Rules: Standard LITS rules. Also, as in “Easy as LITS”, the letters outside the grid indicate the first tetromino encountered in the corresponding direction. Also, as in “Signpost LITS”, some cells or groups of cells are outlined and labeled with a letter. If any of these cells is shaded, then the tetromino shape must match the clued letter.

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 = 8:45, Master = 11:00, Expert = 22:00

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: Daniel Cohen (alphanumeric conversion of top/bottom rows; i.e., 4=D, 1=A, 14=N, …)

Author/Opus: This is the 117th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

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, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 6:15, Master = 11:30, Expert = 23:00

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.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between edgex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s, a number placement mode, and a shading mode.)

Theme: Easy as 1, 2, 3 (made for our patron Veep)

Author/Opus: This is the 116th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Variation of standard Slitherlink rules. Exactly one clue in each row and column is lying and must represent a different number.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the internal loop 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 = 6:00, Master = 8:30, Expert = 17:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other 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: Bottle (made for Chris Green)

Author/Opus: This is the 99th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

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 = 2:45, Master = 5:30, Expert = 11:00

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.

PDF

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

Theme: Phleb (for patron Paul Hlebowitsh)

Author/Opus: This is the 237th 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. Enter these numbers as a single string with no separators. Enter both digits of any two-digit column number.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:45, Master = 4:45, Expert = 9:30

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; use tab to alternate between a composite mode for line/edge drawing and a letter entry mode.)

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 194th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Pentominous rules.

Answer String: Enter the letter associated with the pentomino occupying each cell in the marked rows from left to right, separating the groups with a comma. Use CAPITAL LETTERS!

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:15, Master = 6:00, Expert = 12:00

Solution: PDF

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

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 193rd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Pentominous rules.

Answer String: Enter the letter associated with the pentomino occupying each cell in the marked rows from left to right or from top to bottom, separating the groups with a comma. Use CAPITAL LETTERS!

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

Solution: PDF

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

PDF

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

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 192nd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Place a number into each cell so that each region contains the numbers 1 to N, where N is the size of the region. A cell with the number M must have at least M cells between it and any other instance of the same number M in that row or column.

Answer String: Enter the numbers in the 6th row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 8th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 5:45, Expert = 11:30

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

PDF

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

Theme: Clueless

Author/Opus: This is the 191st puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Place a number into each cell so that each region contains the numbers 1 to N, where N is the size of the region. A cell with the number M must have at least M cells between it and any other instance of the same number M in that row or column.

Answer String: Enter the numbers in the 1st row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 3rd row from left to right.

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

Solution: PDF

PDF

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

Theme: Dozen Dominoes

Author/Opus: This is the 190th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard TomTom rules, using the integers 1-6.

Answer String: Enter the 3rd row from left to right followed by the 4th row from left to right. Separate the entries with a comma.

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

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.