The most recent week of puzzles featuring the “even rows/columns” constraint can be found in this PDF.

This week features a variety mix of mostly classical puzzle styles from six of our puzzlemasters.

Monday: Numberlink by Serkan Yürekli
Tuesday: TomTom by Grant Fikes
Wednesday: LITS by John Bulten
Thursday: Tapa by Prasanna Seshadri
Friday: Consecutive Pairs Sudoku by Thomas Snyder
Saturday: Statue Park by Murat Can Tonta

Our supporters will also be receiving a bonus Fillomino by Murat Can Tonta, access to puzzle solutions, and a video walkthrough of the Saturday puzzle. If you’d like to receive some of these special rewards, please click here for more info.

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: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 224th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Pentominous rules.

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 = 4:00, Expert = 8:00

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 left click to place mine, right click (in cell) to mark unused, right click (on edge/corner) to mark a note; hitting tab will also enable a shading mode. If you want more solving options, turn off Penpa-Lite option.)

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 139th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Place a mine into some of the empty cells so that each number represents the total count of mines in neighboring cells, including diagonally adjacent cells. Also, an even number of mines must be placed in each row and in each column.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each group of consecutive cells with mines 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 = 10:30, Master = 15:00, Expert = 30:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

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: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 137th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Nanro rules. Also, an even number of cells must be filled with a number in each row and in each column.

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 = 7:30, Master = 9:30, Expert = 19:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Nanro variations and this link for classic Nanro. If you are new to this puzzle type, please first try out our easiest Nanro to get started.

PDF

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

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 50th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard Yajilin rules. Also, an even number of cells must be blackened in each row and in each column.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of the horizontal loop segments from left to right in the marked rows, starting at the top. If the loop only has vertical segments in the marked row, enter 0. Separate each row’s entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:00, Master = 7:30, Expert = 15:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other variations of Yajilin and this link for classic Yajilin. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Yajilin to get started on.

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: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 49th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard Cave rules. Also, an even number of cells in each row and in each column must be inside the cave.

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

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:15, Master = 6:30, Expert = 13:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Cave variations and this link for other classic Caves. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cave Puzzles to get started on.

PDF

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

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 138th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Slitherlink rules. Also, an even number of cells in each row and in each column must be inside the loop.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the internal loop segments following the arrows for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:30, Master = 6:15, Expert = 12:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Slitherlink variations and this link for classic Slitherlink. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Slitherlink puzzles to get started on.

PDF

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

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 223rd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules. Also, an even number of cells must be shaded in each row and in each column.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from top to bottom for the marked columns, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for variations of Cross the Streams and this link for other classic Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on.

This next week contains a set of puzzles based on a simple variation suggested by Grant Fikes, author of the Monday puzzle, where each puzzle must have an even number of features like shaded cells in each row and in each column. We think you’ll enjoy this variation and the variety of ways our authors took advantage of the new logical possibilities.

Monday: Cross the Streams by Grant Fikes
Tuesday: Slitherlink by Serkan Yürekli
Wednesday: Cave by Murat Can Tonta
Thursday: Yajilin by Murat Can Tonta
Friday: Nanro by Prasanna Seshadri
Saturday: Minesweeper by Serkan Yürekli

Our supporters will also be receiving a bonus Pentominous by Grant Fikes, access to puzzle solutions, and a video walkthrough of the Saturday puzzle. If you’d like to receive some of these special rewards, please click here for more info.

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: Five (appeared in the 2016 Puzzle Grand Prix playoffs)

Author/Opus: This is the 255th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Variation of Nanro.

Label some cells with numbers to form a single connected group of labeled cells. No 2×2 group of cells may be fully labeled. Each number must be equal to the total count of labeled cells in that bold region, and all bold regions contain at least one labeled cell. The given numbers indicate how many cells are labeled in that region (but not necessarily which cells are labeled). When two numbers are orthogonally adjacent across a region boundary, the numbers must be different.

Also see this example:

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 = 4:00, Master = 6:15, Expert = 12:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for Nanro puzzles on this website and this link for variations on Nanro puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Nanro Puzzles to get started on. More Nanro puzzles can be found in A Number o’ Nanro by Prasanna Seshadri.