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: Easy as Pi

Author/Opus: This is the 341st puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Pentominous rules.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

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

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

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. More Pentominous puzzles can be found in the Plenty o’ Pentominous series by Grant Fikes and Murat Can Tonta and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

We are excited to announce that The Art of Sudoku 2 is now released in our e-store. This collection of 180 hand-crafted sudoku and variations from sixteen authors was many years in the making, but certainly worth the wait. The entire collection is available for $10 in our e-store, and there are three $4 subsections available: A) = 60 Classic Sudoku; B) = 20 Tight Fit / 20 Consecutive Pairs / 20 Even-Odd Sudoku; C) = 20 Thermo-Sudoku / 20 Arrow Sudoku / 20 Other Variations.

We have been continuing to make some updates to the website. First, on the Penpa side, all of the “classic sudoku” in our archives now have an online solving option. This is the second puzzle, after Kurotto, to be fully digitized, and Star Battle is being worked on now. When we are through with digitizing more styles, we will be reintroducing them here including making some How To videos for using Penpa for these genres.

Also, our solve tracker on each puzzle post has been updated to now be hosted on our site. This update should fix the login problems people have reported over the last six+ months; please tell us if you run into any issues with it, including not seeing your past fave/solve history.

This past week’s set of Sudoku puzzles are collected in this PDF and the solutions are in this PDF.

The daily solution videos are on the posts and also linked below.

This upcoming week will feature Pentominous puzzles.

PDF

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.

PDF

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

Theme: Gridlocked

Author/Opus: This is the 378th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Difficulty: 4.5 stars

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

Solution: PDF; a solution video from the author is available here and a video from Cracking the Cryptic here.

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

PDF

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

Theme: Percentage

Author/Opus: This is the 12th puzzle from guest contributor Swaroop Guggilam.

Rules: Standard Even/Odd Sudoku rules (i.e., cells with a square contain an even digit; cells with a circle contain an odd digit).

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:30, Master = 5:15, Expert = 10:30

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

Note: Follow this link for more Even/Odd Sudoku puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Even/Odd Sudoku to get started on. More Even/Odd Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku 2 and Masterpiece Sudoku Mix 1.

PDF

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

Theme: Rhombuses

Author/Opus: This is the 6th puzzle from guest contributor Akash Doulani.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:45, Master = 4:15, Expert = 8:30

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

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

PDF

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

Theme: Tilt

Author/Opus: This is the 76th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Difficulty: 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:45, Master = 2:45, Expert = 5:30

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

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

PDF

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

Theme: 4-H

Author/Opus: This is the 341st puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:05, Master = 1:30, Expert = 3:00

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

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

Note that our solving widget/fave button is being fixed over this week and may temporarily be inaccessible; hopefully after the update is complete the issue that was keeping some people from logging in will be resolved. We will share more info when we know all functionality is working again.

This past week’s set of Tapa puzzles are collected in this PDF and the solutions are in this PDF.

The daily solution videos are on the posts and also linked below. We’ve been getting some helpful feedback on what you like about these videos as well as things we can be doing differently; please feel free to share your own comments as we continue to make these. We will eventually be making tutorial videos for how to use Penpa-Edit for each style, but as the interfaces are still being improved we have not done this for any genre yet.

This upcoming week will feature Sudoku puzzles and variations. We also expect to be releasing The Art of Sudoku 2 next Sunday. This long-awaited book features 180 hand-crafted sudoku puzzles, including 60 classic Sudoku, 20 Tight Fit Sudoku, 20 Consecutive Pairs Sudoku, 20 Even/Odd Sudoku, 20 Thermo-Sudoku, 20 Arrow Sudoku, and a variety section with 20 other Sudoku of different styles. We’ll be selling it as a complete collection or as three partial packs split out by sections (Classic only; Tight Fit + Consecutive + Even/Odd; Thermo- + Arrow + Other).

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: Rising Up

Author/Opus: This is the 377th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules. Also, there may not be four consecutive black cells in any row or column.

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:15, Master = 11:45, Expert = 23:30

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.