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

Theme: Five Shurikens

Author/Opus: This is the 36th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster JinHoo Ahn.

Rules: Shade some cells black so that in each region there are exactly four unshaded cells that form an L, I, T, S, or O tetromino. When two unshaded tetrominoes share an edge across regions, they must not be the same shape regardless of rotations or reflections. All shaded cells must be connected into a single group, but no 2×2 group of cells can be entirely shaded black.

Example by Thomas Snyder:

Difficulty: 5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 12:00, Master = 25:00, Expert = 50:00

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

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. More LITS puzzles can be found in LOTS O’ LITS by Grant Fikes and Prasanna Seshadri, in The Art of Puzzles 2, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

(This is a bonus “second” puzzle that is not connected to the usual Monday-Saturday week difficulty.)

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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: 1234

Author/Opus: This is the 345th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules.

Difficulty: 2 stars

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

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

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, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles, all by Serkan Yürekli.

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

Theme: One Magic Square

Author/Opus: This is the 5th puzzle from guest contributor wormsofcan.

Rules: Standard Nurikabe rules.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:00, Master = 5:30, Expert = 11:00

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

Note: Follow this link for classic Nurikabe and this link for Nurikabe variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Nurikabe puzzles to get started on. More Nurikabe puzzles can be in The Art of Puzzles, in our beginner-friendly book Logic Puzzles 101, and in the e-book Nurikabe by Ashish Kumar.

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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.

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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.

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

Theme: Pairs

Author/Opus: This is the 12th puzzle from guest contributor Chris Green.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:15, Master = 6:15, Expert = 12:30

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.

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

Theme: 1 to 4

Author/Opus: This is the 9th puzzle from guest contributor Jonas Gleim.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 5:45, Expert = 11:30

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.

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

Theme: 123

Author/Opus: This is the 209th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:00, Master = 3:15, Expert = 6:30

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.

PDF

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

Theme: 23

Author/Opus: This is the 219th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules.

Difficulty: 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:30, Master = 2:15, Expert = 4:30

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.

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: 1-7

Author/Opus: This is the 9th puzzle from guest contributor Takeya Saikachi.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules. Also, similar to Nurikabe, each Tapa clue cell is part of an island of horizontally and vertically connected white cells and the area of the island must be one of the numbers in the clue (as an example, if a clue is 1 5, then the island containing that clue must be either 1 cell or 5 cells large). Islands are allowed to touch diagonally. No island can contain more than one number clue cell, but there may be islands without any number clues in the grid.

Difficulty: 2 stars

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

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

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, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles, all by Serkan Yürekli.