This upcoming week features puzzles requested by our top patrons. This time there is a mini-theme, because of common requests, with three Tapa Variations amongst the puzzles.

Our supporters will also be receiving a bonus Pentominous by Murat Can Tonta, access to puzzle solutions, and a video walkthrough of the Saturday puzzles. These same patrons recently received a giant Double Kakuro puzzle by Serkan Yürekli. If you’d like to receive some of these special rewards, please click here for more info.

The PDF of our recent Spiral Galaxies week can be found here.

I’ve been busy with a lot of things recently (house hunting, a larger role at Verily as I recently became the head of computational biology, getting back in “competition shape” for the upcoming World Puzzle Championship, finishing some new e-books for the site, training for a marathon for the first time in over a decade, …). What this means is that for the rest of the summer we’ll be going to a biweekly schedule with our free web content. Coming on the 17th will be our next “patrons week” with puzzles requested by our top patrons. And then on July 31st will come our next week highlighting a style from The Art of Puzzles 2. Thanks for your patience, and enjoy the great puzzles.

Our subscribers receive access to bonus puzzles each week. 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, click here for more info.

Theme: Ten Simple Galaxies?

Author/Opus: This is the 27th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

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 = 2:15, Master = 3:45, Expert = 7:30

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.

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: Double Spiral Galaxy (the pattern of galaxies is a double spiral as shown here)

Author/Opus: This is the 25th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Carl Worth.

Rules: Variation of Spiral Galaxies. In addition to the standard rules, some circles are shaded gray and must belong to galaxies containing two gray circles, not one, with the circles in rotationally symmetric spots for those galaxies.

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. The example has the answer “52,11131”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 10:30, Master = 17:00, Expert = 34:00

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.

(view directly for a larger image)

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: Astronomical Clock

Author/Opus: This is the 26th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Variation of Spiral Galaxies. In addition to the standard rules, some circles are shaded gray and must belong to galaxies containing two gray circles, not one, with the circles in rotationally symmetric spots for those galaxies.

Answer String: Enter the number of cells in each connected group (between bold lines) in the marked columns. Separate each column’s entry from the next with a comma. The example (using rows) has the answer “52,11131”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 6:15, Master = 10:15, Expert = 20:30

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.

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 160th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Variation of Spiral Galaxies. In addition to the standard rules, some circles are shaded gray and must belong to galaxies containing two gray circles, not one, with the circles in rotationally symmetric spots for those galaxies.

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. The example has the answer “52,11131”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:00, Master = 3:45, Expert = 7:30

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

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.

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: When Will the Solution Be Clear?

Author/Opus: This is the 159th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Spiral Galaxies rules.

[Copying the rules here as this is the first week: Divide the grid along the indicated lines into connected regions – “galaxies” – with rotational symmetry. Each cell must belong to one galaxy, and each galaxy must have exactly one circle at its center of rotational symmetry.]

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. The example has the answer “2131,331”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:00, Master = 6:30, Expert = 13:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

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.

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 Dan Katz.

Rules: Standard Spiral Galaxies rules.

[Copying the rules here as this is the first week: Divide the grid along the indicated lines into connected regions – “galaxies” – with rotational symmetry. Each cell must belong to one galaxy, and each galaxy must have exactly one circle at its center of rotational symmetry.]

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. The example has the answer “2131,331”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:20, Master = 2:30, Expert = 5:00

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.

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: Happy Face

Author/Opus: This is the 280th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Spiral Galaxies rules.

[Copying the rules here as this is the first week: Divide the grid along the indicated lines into connected regions – “galaxies” – with rotational symmetry. Each cell must belong to one galaxy, and each galaxy must have exactly one circle at its center of rotational symmetry.]

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. The example has the answer “2131,331”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:30, Master = 2:00, Expert = 4:00

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.

A PDF of Jamie Hargrove’s Nurikabe + Yajisan Kazusan week can be found here.

This upcoming week features Spiral Galaxies and Double Spiral Galaxies, which should whet your appetite for the next The Art of Puzzles 2 section coming out in July.

Our supporters will also be receiving a bonus Spiral Galaxies by John Bulten, access to puzzle solutions, and a video walkthrough of the Wednesday + Thursday puzzles. If you’d like to receive some of these special rewards, please click here for more info.