This is a free “warm-up” puzzle; Season 4 subscribers will see today’s main puzzle in the same style posted at 9:05 AM PT.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab key to alternate between shading and star placement modes.)

Author/Opus: This is the 485th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules. Also, each row and column must contain exactly one star. Stars cannot be placed in adjacent cells that share an edge or corner, and all stars must be on empty cells that are not shaded.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:00, Master = 1:45, Expert = 3:30

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for classic Cross the Streams and this link for Cross the Streams variations. Follow this link for other classic Star Battles and this link for Star Battle variations.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 1 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

PDF

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

Theme: Four Slices of Pi

Author/Opus: This is the 8th puzzle from guest contributor Mark Sweep.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

Difficulty: 4.5 stars

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

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for other Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on. More Cross the Streams can be found in these e-books in our store.

PDF

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

Theme: Any Questions?

Author/Opus: This is the 10th puzzle from guest contributor David Altizio.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules, except that the puzzle uses an early number system that only has the concepts of “one” and “many”. All number clues greater than 1 are represented by a + symbol.

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:30, Master = 10:30, Expert = 21:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for other Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on. More Cross the Streams can be found in these e-books in our store.

PDF

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

Author/Opus: This is the 392nd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules. Also, the grid is divided into 5×5 sections. It must be possible to pair sections up such that the shading of the section in each pair is identical. Sections may be rotated to be paired up, but not reflected.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:30, Master = 4:30, Expert = 9:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for other Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on. More Cross the Streams can be found in these e-books in our store.

PDF

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

Author/Opus: This is the 391st puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:45, Master = 3:00, Expert = 6:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for other Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on. More Cross the Streams can be found in these e-books in our store.

PDF

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

Theme: 2’s

Author/Opus: This is the 100th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Ashish Kumar.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

Difficulty: 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:40, Master = 2:30, Expert = 5:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for other Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on. More Cross the Streams can be found in these e-books in our store.

PDF

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

Theme: Asterisk

Author/Opus: This is the 382nd puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:05, Master = 1:45, Expert = 3:30

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for other Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on. More Cross the Streams can be found in these e-books in our store.

PDF

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

Theme: 3 4 All

Author/Opus: This is the 368th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:00, Master = 3:00, Expert = 6:00

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

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

PDF

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

Theme: Goldilocks and the Three Question Marks

Author/Opus: This is the 358th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 8:45, Master = 12:00, Expert = 24:00

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

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

PDF

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

Theme: 1 to 5

Author/Opus: This is the 14th puzzle from guest contributor Freddie Hand.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:30, Master = 8:15, Expert = 16:30

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

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