PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use the tab key to alternate between shading and number entry modes)

Theme: Clueless

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Carl Worth.

Rules: Standard Nanro rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the segments labeled with numbers 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 = 1:30, Master = 2:00, Expert = 4:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Click here for other Nanro puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, please first try out the example on the Rules and Info page as well as this easy Nanro post.

All the puzzles from last week’s Letters and Numbers (Pentominous/Sudoku) collection can be found in this PDF.

This next week will feature a variety of styles from guest contributors. Specifically:
Monday: Nanro by Carl Worth
Tuesday: Round Trip by Hans van Stippent
Wednesday: Masyu by Murat Can Tonta
Thursday: Tapa by John Bulten
Friday: Cave by Murat Can Tonta
Saturday: Fractional Skyscrapers by Robert Vollmert

The bonus puzzle for our high-level supporters will also be a Pentominous by Grant Fikes.

PDF

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

Theme: Postage Stamps (Originally for 2014 Arlington Puzzle Festival — this was the playoff finals puzzle)

Author/Opus: This is the 210th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Answer String: Enter the 3rd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 9th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:15, Master = 5:00, Expert = 10:00

Solution: PDF

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; use tab to alternate between a composite mode for line/edge drawing and a letter entry mode.)

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 147th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Divide the grid into 20 pentominoes so that no two pentominoes of the same shape (including rotations/reflections) share an edge. Each number in this grid represents a clue for a different letter/pentomino as in a regular Pentominous puzzle; all instances of a number must represent the same letter. An inventory of possible pentominoes is given below the puzzle.

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

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 6:30, Master = 9:00, Expert = 18:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is 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.

PDF

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

Theme: Tulip (Originally for 2014 Arlington Puzzle Festival)

Author/Opus: This is the 209th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Answer String: Enter the 1st row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 9th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 6:30, Expert = 13:00

Solution: PDF

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; use tab to alternate between a composite mode for line/edge drawing and a letter entry mode.)

Theme: Have FUN

Author/Opus: This is the 146th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Divide the grid into 20 pentominoes so that no two pentominoes of the same shape (including rotations/reflections) share an edge. A cell with a letter in it must be part of the pentomino shape normally associated with that letter. An inventory of possible pentominoes is given below the puzzle.

Answer String: Enter the letter associated with the pentomino occupying each cell in the marked rows from left to right, separating the groups with a comma. Use CAPITAL LETTERS!

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

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)

Theme: X’s and O’s (Originally for 2014 Arlington Puzzle Festival)

Author/Opus: This is the 208th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Answer String: Enter the 1st row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 9th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:15, Master = 3:45, Expert = 7:30

Solution: PDF

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; use tab to alternate between a composite mode for line/edge drawing and a letter entry mode.)

Theme: Green with NV

Author/Opus: This is the 145th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Divide the grid into 20 pentominoes so that no two pentominoes of the same shape (including rotations/reflections) share an edge. A cell with a letter in it must be part of the pentomino shape normally associated with that letter. An inventory of possible pentominoes is given below the puzzle.

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

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

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)

Theme: Seeing Double (Originally for 2014 Arlington Puzzle Festival)

Author/Opus: This is the 207th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Answer String: Enter the 5th row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 9th column from top to bottom.

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

Solution: PDF

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.

All the puzzles from last week’s Castle Wall collection can be found in this PDF.

We had 57 solvers for Dr. Sudoku’s 200th puzzle contest. Two random numbers were selected from 1-57 using random.org marking solvers 30 and 52 as the winners of a free puzzle book. Those lucky solvers are (30.) Projectyl and (52.) phlebowitsh.

For anyone who was stumped by the lack of rules for the TomTomTom, and didn’t catch on to the hint provided by the title, here are complete rules. The six 6×6 grids make up a Latin Cube where no digit repeats in any row or column within a grid, or within any cell in the same position across the grids (i.e., stack the grids on top of each other and no digit repeats within a position in that stack). While none of the starting grids have a unique solution without the Latin Cube constraint, with this constraint all five regular looking TomToms can now be uniquely solved. Use the remaining digits in each location to fill in the last grid. Assign number values to those cases keeping in mind operations when present and convert 1=A, 2=B, …, to read out the solution in left-to-right, top-to-bottom order.”

This next week will feature both letters and numbers. Specifically, a set of Pentominous puzzles by Grant Fikes and Sudoku puzzles by Thomas Snyder. The bonus puzzle for our high-level supporters will also be a Pentominous by Grant Fikes.