(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
This Thermo-Sudoku may draw your eyes with its pattern but you’ll have to carefully place the numbers to get to the one solution.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Mangekyō

Author/Opus: This is the 94th puzzle from Bill Murphy, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Thermo-Sudoku rules. (Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region. Some thermometer shapes are in the grid; numbers must be strictly increasing from the round bulb to the flat end.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 7:00; One party hat (🥳): 13:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: Subs not Dubreuillosaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 3:14, 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 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 these books in our e-store. Also, visit this page to purchase all of the puzzles from the 16th World Sudoku Championship including some Thermo-Sudoku.

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.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
Today’s Thermos may be Slow, but you don’t have to be overly cautious. Just remember that thermo digits can repeat in this variant!

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or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Good Grief

Author/Opus: This is the 96th 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). Some thermometer shapes are in the grid; numbers must either increase or stay the same in each cell going from the round bulb to the flat end. (For instance, a thermometer might contain the sequence 233577888 in that order.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 7:30; One party hat (🥳): 15:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: Marcie-an Mansourasaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 2:36, 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 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 these books in our e-store. Also, visit this page to purchase all of the puzzles from the 16th World Sudoku Championship including some Thermo-Sudoku.

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.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
For March Four there are four pairs of four-long Thermos to consider in this Thermo-Sudoku by clover!

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or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Connect Four

Author/Opus: This is the 112th puzzle from Clover, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Thermo-Sudoku rules. (Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region. Some thermometer shapes are in the grid; numbers must be strictly increasing from the round bulb to the flat end.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 6:00; One party hat (🥳): 11:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: playful Plateosaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 1:54, 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 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 these books in our e-store. Also, visit this page to purchase all of the puzzles from the 16th World Sudoku Championship including some Thermo-Sudoku.

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.

(This post is part of: “A Story of Self-setting Sudoku”.)
(Prompt 1): Dr. Sudoku: You are an expert Sudoku maker who can do almost anything with Sudoku. Design a Thermo-Sudoku with L, L, M in boxes 1, 2, and 3, and then “OR” somehow in the middle. Then “NO” somehow in box 7 and 8 and 9 at the bottom.
(Prompt 2): [Redacted but it talks about The Final Boss? and highlighting a favorite memory.]
(Prompt 3): Instead of givens, could we add a white dot (or two = symmetry!?!) that means numbers are consecutive when in adjacent cells. The audience / algorithm does not seem to like givens.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: LLM or NO?

Author/Opus: This is the 24th puzzle from “Dr. Sudoku”, our AI-powered puzzle engine pushing the limits of sudoku intelligence.

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). Some thermometer shapes are in the grid; numbers must be strictly increasing from the round bulb to the flat end. If a white circle is given between two adjacent cells, then the two numbers in those cells must differ by 1. Pairs of cells without circles can have any relationship.

Solution: PDF

Note: 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 these books in our e-store. Also, visit this page to purchase all of the puzzles from the 16th World Sudoku Championship including some Thermo-Sudoku.

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

Special Editor’s note: To try to replicate whatever the “Cracking the Cryptic test” is, we turned off all human playtesting of this puzzle. This is the first time we’ve only let machine processes say there is nothing “too hard” to this puzzle and out of the range of what we have published before. So time estimates are impossible to share but it has a credible answer if our analytics are to be believed. But it is probably fairly hard and you’ll want some Sudoku skills and good notation and all that. To confirm: however you think the puzzle was constructed, no one that breathes oxygen has ever solved this puzzle and no pencils or paper were injured in the creation of this puzzle or post. Showing we respect other forms of carbon might matter to silicon which sits higher than carbon in some projections of the periodic table. We’re still confident it belongs here in our gallery of masterpieces and that you can (fairly) solve it. Even if those two dots are a bit bothersome. Tweaking with more humans in the loop could still make this perfect which is what we would do for a proper puzzle post.

more from Thomas

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
Beware, some of these thermometers have to go a little slower than usual with values not changing between cells. But once you warm up to that style of thinking, you should be cooking with GAS.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Slow Solvers Playing

Author/Opus: This is the 108th puzzle from Clover, 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). Some thermometer shapes are in the grid; numbers must either increase or stay the same in each cell going from the round bulb to the flat end. (For instance, a thermometer might contain the sequence 233577888 in that order.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 6:30; One party hat (🥳): 12:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: lazy Loricatosaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 2:43, 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 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 these books in our e-store. Also, visit this page to purchase all of the puzzles from the 16th World Sudoku Championship including some Thermo-Sudoku.

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.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
With a new year comes the return of some frequent variations we love here at GMPuzzles. Enjoy this 2026-themed Thermo-Sudoku.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: New Year Who Dis

Author/Opus: This is the 73rd puzzle from Philip Newman, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Thermo-Sudoku rules. (Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region. Some thermometer shapes are in the grid; numbers must be strictly increasing from the round bulb to the flat end.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 9:00; One party hat (🥳): 18:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: New-ish Navahopodid.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 4:58, 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 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 these books in our e-store. Also, visit this page to purchase all of the puzzles from the 16th World Sudoku Championship including some Thermo-Sudoku.

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.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
Another Thermo-Sudoku in this past week for GAS, but this time with a slightly higher temperature meaning some harder logic to work through.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Completely Unexpected Thermo

Author/Opus: This is the 60th puzzle from Philip Newman, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Thermo-Sudoku rules. (Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region. Some thermometer shapes are in the grid; numbers must be strictly increasing from the round bulb to the flat end.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 7:00; One party hat (🥳): 15:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: Professional Pachysauriscus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 3:21, 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 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 these books in our e-store. Also, visit this page to purchase all of the puzzles from the 16th World Sudoku Championship including some Thermo-Sudoku.

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.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
This Thermo-Sudoku by Bill might come with just a little bit of kick as you figure out how to get everything settled.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Kick

Author/Opus: This is the 56th puzzle from Bill Murphy, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Thermo-Sudoku rules. (Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region. Some thermometer shapes are in the grid; numbers must be strictly increasing from the round bulb to the flat end.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 6:30; One party hat (🥳): 12:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: Hot Stuff Hadrosaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 1:57, 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 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 these books in our e-store. Also, visit this page to purchase all of the puzzles from the 16th World Sudoku Championship including some Thermo-Sudoku.

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.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
Today’s GAS raises the temperature a bit with a combination of Thermo-Sudoku and the puzzle genre Skyscrapers.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: High Rising Temps

Author/Opus: This is the 41st 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). Some thermometer shapes are in the grid; numbers must be strictly increasing from the round bulb to the flat end. Also, as in the puzzle Skyscrapers, each number in the grid represents the height of a building and the clues on the outside of the grid indicate how many buildings can be “seen” when looking from that direction. Taller buildings block the view of smaller buildings. For example, if a row contained the numbers 198432675, then two buildings are seen from the left – 1 and 9 – and four buildings from the right – 5, 7, 8 and 9 – with the other buildings blocked by taller buildings in front of them.

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

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 2:50, 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 other less common variations of Sudoku.

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.

More Genuinely Approachable Sudoku will be coming soon, depending on our own travel to the World Sudoku and Puzzle Championships and when we can look at today’s grid from the GAS team. This not nearly as approachable backup puzzle is a regular Thermo-Sudoku while you wait….

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Sorry (More Approachable Sudoku Coming Soon)

Author/Opus: This is the 604th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Thermo-Sudoku rules.

Estimated Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Solution: PDF, with a good solver at 5:44 in this SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Note: 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.

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