This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.

How will you find your way through this Killer Sudoku by Philip Newman? A walk in the park, or a death by tuples?

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Theme: Death by Tuples

Author/Opus: This is the 11th puzzle from Philip Newman, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). Also, the sum of the numbers in each cage must equal the value given in the upper-left corner of that cage. Numbers cannot repeat inside a cage.

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 8:00; One party hat (🥳): 15:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: Pasture-raised Pakisaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 4:25, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF; solving video with explanation to be added later from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for more Killer Sudoku and this link for classic Sudoku. More Killer Sudoku puzzles can be found in Killer Sudoku by Serkan Yürekli.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

Today Clover continues sharing appropriately-themed puzzles to mark the fifth year of GAS. In this Killer Sudoku variant, all the cage sums must end in five.

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Author/Opus: This is the (5×5)th puzzle from Clover, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.*

Rules: Variation of Killer Sudoku. Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region. Within each cage, the sum of the numbers must end in five (i.e., 5, 15, 25, 35, 45). Numbers do not repeat within a cage.

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 7:00; One party hat (🥳): 13:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: still-alive Sinornithoides.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 2:22, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for more Genuinely Approachable Sudoku puzzles on this site. Follow this link for more Killer Sudoku and this link for classic Sudoku. More Killer Sudoku puzzles can be found in Killer Sudoku by Serkan Yürekli.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

*Special Editorial Note: With this published puzzle, Clover has set a new record (likely never to be broken?) for fastest time to 25 posts on Grandmaster Puzzles (just 26 days). This breaks the previous record by legendary male puzzlemaker Thomas Snyder set on January 28, 2013 (29 days). While some may say that puzzles like Just One Cell Sudoku shouldn’t count as much, we think every diverse idea matters in this world and every one of Clover’s 25 record-setting puzzles has been a stellar display of hand-crafted Sudoku.

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.

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Theme: Orderly Triplets

Author/Opus: This is the 136th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Ashish Kumar.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules. Also, the sum of the numbers in each cage must equal the value given in the upper-left corner of that cage. Numbers cannot repeat inside a cage.

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 more Killer Sudoku and this link for classic Sudoku. More Killer Sudoku puzzles can be found in Killer Sudoku by Serkan Yürekli.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 10 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

[This puzzle comes from the 2022 US Sudoku Grand Prix round. This Killer Sudoku was one of my favorite constructions even though I don’t write the style too often. I wanted to get a chain of “last-digit eight” clues into a loop in the grid, and managed to find cage sizes that made good use of 8, 18, 28, and 38 values in this grid. While a few given numbers were needed to seed the solving path, that did not diminish the unique “eight” theme visually or logically.]

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Theme: Eight Ouroboros

Author/Opus: This is the 442nd puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules. Also, the sum of the numbers in each cage must equal the value given in the upper-left corner of that cage. Numbers cannot repeat inside a cage.

Estimated Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for more Killer Sudoku and this link for classic Sudoku. More Killer Sudoku puzzles can be found in Killer Sudoku by Serkan Yürekli.

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

Theme: Sudoku Crew

Author/Opus: This is the 4th puzzle from guest contributor Michael Rios.

Rules: Standard Killer Sudoku rules and Thermo-Sudoku rules. Specifically, insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region. Also, the sum of the numbers in each cage must equal the value given in the upper-left corner of that cage. Numbers cannot repeat inside a cage. Some thermometer shapes are in the grid; numbers must be strictly increasing from the round bulb to the flat end.

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:30, Master = 11:15, Expert = 22:30

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for more Killer Sudoku and this link for classic Sudoku. More Killer Sudoku puzzles can be found in Killer Sudoku by Serkan Yürekli. Follow this link for more Thermo-Sudoku puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Thermo-Sudoku to get started on. More Thermo-Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku 2 and Masterpiece Sudoku Mix 2.

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Theme: Even Surrounded

Author/Opus: This is the 367th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules, using the numbers 1-6. Also, the sum of the numbers in each cage must equal the value given in the upper-left corner of that cage. Numbers cannot repeat inside a cage.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

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

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for more Killer Sudoku and this link for classic Sudoku. More Killer Sudoku puzzles can be found in Killer Sudoku by Serkan Yürekli.

This year, we started posting some extra difficult Sunday Stumpers, about once a month. These will be quite tough puzzles, but with a logical path to be found (and solution videos to help). This tenth Sunday Stumper is a challenging Killer Sudoku by Prasanna Seshadri.

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Theme: Y Go Extra?

Author/Opus: This is the 220th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules. Also, the sum of the numbers in each cage must equal the value given in the upper-left corner of that cage. Numbers cannot repeat inside a cage.

Difficulty: 5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 20:00, Master = 30:00, Expert = 1:00:00

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

Note: Follow this link for more Killer Sudoku and this link for classic Sudoku. More Killer Sudoku puzzles can be found in Killer Sudoku by Serkan Yürekli.

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

Theme: It’s T Time

Author/Opus: This is the 215th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules. Also, the sum of the numbers in each cage must equal the value given in the upper-left corner of that cage. Numbers cannot repeat inside a cage.

Difficulty: 4.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 11:15, Master = 19:00, Expert = 38:00

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

Note: Follow this link for more Killer Sudoku and this link for classic Sudoku. More Killer Sudoku puzzles can be found in Killer Sudoku by Serkan Yürekli.

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

Theme: Square Knots

Author/Opus: This is the 2nd puzzle from guest contributor Michael Rios.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules. Also, some arrow shapes are in the grid; the sum of the numbers along the path of each arrow must equal the number in the circled cell (numbers can repeat on an arrow). Some cages are in the grid marked by dashed lines; the sum of the numbers in these cages must equal the value given in the upper-left corner of that cage (numbers cannot repeat inside a cage). Some dots are given between two cells; a white dot shows that the numbers in those cells are consecutive and a black dot shows that the number in one of the cells has twice the value of the other (adjacent cells without dots may or may not follow these rules). Finally, some thermometer shapes are in the grid; the numbers along the thermometer must be strictly increasing from the round bulb to the flat end.

Difficulty: 4.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 10:45, Master = 18:45, Expert = 37:30

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

Note: Follow this link for more Arrow Sudoku. Follow this link for more Thermo-Sudoku puzzles. More Arrow and Thermo-Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku 2. More Killer Sudoku puzzles can be found in Killer Sudoku by Serkan Yürekli.

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

Theme: Plus and Minuses

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Michael Rios.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules. Also, each row, column and bold region must contain two negative numbers. The sum of the positive and negative numbers in each cage must equal the value given in the upper-left corner of that cage. Numbers (ignoring sign) cannot repeat inside a cage.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 15:30, Master = 26:00, Expert = 52:00

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

Note: Follow this link for more Killer Sudoku and this link for classic Sudoku. More 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.