PDF

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

Theme: Timekeeping

Author/Opus: This is the 167th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard TomTom rules, using the integers 1-6.

Difficulty: 2 stars

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for classic TomTom and this link for TomTom variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest TomTom to get started on. More TomTom puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, 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: 20-20 Vision

Author/Opus: This is the 360th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard TomTom rules, using the integers 1-5.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:50, Master = 1:15, Expert = 2:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for classic TomTom and this link for TomTom variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest TomTom to get started on. More TomTom puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

Our most recent variety mix week can be found in this PDF and the solutions are all grouped in this PDF and have also been linked to the individual posts.

Next week will feature TomTom puzzles, and for one of our solving videos this Sunday we have Murat Can Tonta, constructor of the Saturday puzzle, talking through the solution path to his hard 24’s puzzle. (Link here: warning, thumbnail shows part of solution).

We also are releasing a classic Youtube video on some Star Battle puzzles, including the solution path to our July 4th puzzle from six years ago and a bonus puzzle which you can play online here (July 4, bonus).

Our Best of 2019 series will pick up again next week after all the TomTom puzzles with our best Number Placement puzzles.

PDF

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

Theme: 24’s

Author/Opus: This is the 166th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard TomTom rules, using the integers 1-6.

Difficulty: 4.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:30, Master = 10:30, Expert = 21:00

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

Note: Follow this link for classic TomTom and this link for TomTom variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest TomTom to get started on. More TomTom puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, 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: Gas Pipe

Author/Opus: This is the 2nd puzzle from guest contributor Gaurav Kumar Jain.

Rules: Standard Consecutive Pairs Sudoku rules. (If a gray circle is given between two adjacent cells, then the two numbers in those cells must be consecutive. Note not all gray circles are given; adjacent cells without a circle may contain either consecutive numbers or nonconsecutive numbers.)

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:30, Master = 6:30, Expert = 13:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for Consecutive Pairs Sudoku puzzles on this website. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Consecutive Pairs Sudoku to get started on. More Consecutive Pairs Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku 2 and in Masterpiece Sudoku Mix 6: Consecutive Pairs Sudoku.

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: Catch Your Z’s

Author/Opus: This is the 18th puzzle from guest contributor Joseph Howard.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:15, Master = 5:00, Expert = 10:00

Solution: PDF

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.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between shading mode and the linex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)

Theme: Balloons

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Jesper Post.

Rules: Standard Cave rules.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Caves and this link for Cave variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cave Puzzles to get started on. More Cave puzzles can be found in Roger Barkan’s Colossal Cave Collection, in The Art of Puzzles, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools in linex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)

Author/Opus: This is the 321st puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Masyu rules.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

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

Solution: PDF

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

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between ship placement and shading modes. In ship placement mode, right click gives sea, left click gives circle/square, left click and drag for rounded ships.)

Theme: 2020

Author/Opus: This is the 284th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Battleships rules. Use the indicated fleet.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:00, Master = 1:40, Expert = 3:20

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for classic Battleships and this link for Battleships variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Battleships to get started on. More Battleships puzzles can be found in Battleships and Variations, in The Art of Puzzles, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

Here are our best Region Division puzzles of 2019, selected from the 45 web posts in this category based on your FAVE votes:

We had two favorite Pentominous (Borders) puzzles. The first, from Murat Can Tonta, was an amazingly beautiful 12-clue puzzle with each pentomino letter appearing in “Alphabetical Order” in the grid. That this solves uniquely as a Pentominous puzzle is a true grandmaster’s touch.

The other Pentominous (Borders) that was a best of 2019 was from Grant Fikes, and had a more involved logical solve that went around the grid.

Guest contributor Michael Tang brought our favorite Cave puzzle of 2019 with another fun logical solving theme to discover.

We had a few surprises in store last year, including a hidden January connection to the 2019 MIT Mystery Hunt when some Fillomino (Cipher) puzzles by Tim Marsden (anagrams to Mastermind) were posted in January. These puzzles were actually by Dan Katz, and linked as a final step in another puzzle, Connect Four, from that Hunt. This hardest Cipher puzzle, with full top and bottom rows, was a favorite of 2019.

Overall, our best region division puzzle of 2019 went to John Bulten’s Fillomino with some trademark Bulten-Aha moments to go from a seemingly impossible puzzle to something with a logical path.

All of these best Region Division puzzles are collected in this PDF file.