PDF

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

Theme: Symmetrical Corners

Author/Opus: This is the 8th puzzle from guest contributor Joseph Howard.

Rules: Standard Statue Park rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the shaded segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 9:00, Master = 12:00, Expert = 24:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other Statue Park Puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Statue Parks to get started on.

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: Square Numbers

Author/Opus: This is the 7th puzzle from guest contributor Joseph Howard.

Rules: Standard Pentominous rules. Additionally, there are some gray cells that do not contain any pentominoes. The numbers in these gray cells indicate how many pentomino regions are present in the 8 neighboring cells.

Answer String: Enter the letter associated with the pentomino occupying each cell in the marked columns from top to bottom, separating the two columns by a comma. Use CAPITAL LETTERS!

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 6:30, Master = 8:15, Expert = 16:30

Solution: PDF

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.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between letter entry and a composite mode for line/edge drawing.)

Theme: Snakes in a Bee Hive

Author/Opus: This is the 6th puzzle from guest contributor Joseph Howard.

Rules: Variation on Snake Pit (new rules in italics). Divide the grid along the boundary lines so that every cell belongs to a snake. A snake is a one-cell-wide path at least two cells long that does not touch itself, not even diagonally. Circled cells must be at one of the ends of a snake. A snake may contain one circled cell, two circled cells, or no circled cells at all. Each snake houses a word (given below the grid) with one letter in each cell. Some letters are given. Snakes of the same length cannot touch each other horizontally or vertically.

Also see this example:

Answer String: Enter the letter placed in each cell in the marked rows from left to right, separating the two rows by a comma. Use CAPITAL LETTERS!

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:15, Master = 6:15, Expert = 12:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Snake puzzles.

PDF

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

Theme: A Fairly Basic Puzzle

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

Rules: Standard Statue Park rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the shaded segments from top to bottom for the marked columns, starting at the left. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Statue Park Puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Statue Parks to get started on.

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: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 4th puzzle from guest contributor Joseph Howard.

Rules: Standard Pentominous rules. Additionally, there are some gray cells that do not contain any pentominoes. The numbers in these gray cells indicate how many pentomino regions are present in the 8 neighboring cells.

Answer String: Enter the letter associated with the pentomino occupying each cell in the marked row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the marked column from top to bottom. Use CAPITAL LETTERS!

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:00, Master = 4:45, Expert = 9:30

Solution: PDF

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.

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 shading mode.)

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 3rd puzzle from guest contributor Joseph Howard.

Rules: Standard Spiral Galaxies rules.

Answer String: Enter the number of cells in each connected group (between bold lines) in the marked rows. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:45, Master = 3:45, Expert = 7:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for classic Spiral Galaxies puzzles on this website and this link for variations on Spiral Galaxies puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Spiral Galaxies Puzzles to get started on. More Spiral Galaxies puzzles will soon be found in The Art of Puzzles 2.

Our master+ subscribers receive access to two bonus puzzles each week in addition to other rewards. We make these posts so those supporters have a space to comment on these puzzles, mark as FAVES, or log their solving. If you are interested in subscribing and seeing these bonus puzzles, click here for more info.

Theme: Antisymmetry

Author/Opus: This is the 77th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard Statue Park rules, using a full set of tetrominoes.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the shaded segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:30, Master = 0:45, Expert = 1:30

Note: Follow this link for other Statue Park Puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Statue Parks to get started on.

You can find our “Best of 2017” puzzles gathered in this packet.

This year we are going to be cycling between one variety week and then two focused weeks. We kick off our 2018 schedule tomorrow with a (hard) variety week of puzzles from guest author Joseph Howard. The puzzles start out around “Wednesday” level and go up from there.

Our next two weeks (starting 1/22 and 1/29) will feature a single Loop genre and then a single Object Placement genre and there will be a more complete range of very easy to hard puzzles.

This week, Master+ subscribers to the site are also getting two bonus puzzles: a Statue Park by Murat Can Tonta and a Roller Coaster by Joseph Howard, as well as puzzle solutions and a video talkthrough of the Saturday puzzle. If you want to become a subscriber and get access to bonus puzzles, solutions, e-books, and other rewards, check out this page.

Here are the two best Sudoku puzzles of 2017, as well as our best “Extra” puzzles. We only had 13 Sudoku posted this past year but will have many more in 2018.

One of our patrons requested this unique combination of Arrow, Shape, and Thermo-Sudoku by Prasanna Seshadri, and it was a fantastic puzzle.

The highest-rated Sudoku for 2017 was this challenging Killer Sudoku by Serkan Yürekli.

In addition to our usual puzzles, we sometimes had larger combinations, hidden puzzles, or puzzle hunt style puzzles. Both of the below “extras” got top marks from our fans.

Prasanna returned for his usual “Birthday Surprise” on March 2nd with this combination of Yajisan-Kazusan and Tapa.

Our other best Extra puzzle was “Border Patrol” by Thomas Snyder, a puzzle hunt puzzle without any instructions.

With that, we’re done with the Best of 2017, and you can find all of the puzzles in this PDF.

Here are our best Object Placement puzzles of 2017, selected from the 17 posts over the year. While this style did not feature as often as others in 2017, it includes our runaway vote winner for Puzzle of the Year.

One of the best object placement puzzles of this year was a gem that only our patrons got to see. Murat Can Tonta, practicing the art of Statue Park, made a memorable antisymmetric puzzle. If you want to see all our web puzzles, subscribe to GMPuzzles.

This Battleships by Thomas Snyder was not necessarily meant to have a long shelf life — it was constructed for one specific day — but our solvers enjoyed it and gave it several FAVEs to make the top list.

The best Object Placement puzzle of the year, and also the overall Best Puzzle of the year, goes to this Star Battle by Thomas Snyder, originally for the US Puzzle Grand Prix that Dr. Sudoku authored. The frame in the grid leads to a fun logical solving path in a medium-difficulty puzzle.