PDF

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

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 25th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Nurikabe rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments (the unnumbered, connected “ocean”) 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 = 0:45, Master = 1:15, Expert = 2:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Nurikabe. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Nurikabes to get started on.

All the puzzles from last week have been grouped in this PDF.

This coming week is another variety week (highlight to view):

Monday: Nurikabe by Prasanna Seshadri
Tuesday: Masyu by Grant Fikes
Wednesday: Tapa-Like Loop by Prasanna Seshadri
Thursday: LITS by Craig Kasper
Friday: Fillomino by Thomas Snyder
Saturday: Statue Park by Prasanna Seshadri

The bonus puzzle for our high-level supporters will be a Fillomino (Cipher) by Grant Fikes.

We’ll have a little more discussion in the comments here later after the dust settles about the puzzles, but we hope everyone enjoyed today’s US Puzzle Championship.

Our puzzlemasters contributed several puzzles to the competition including:

Crosslink by Grant Fikes
Double Minesweeper by Serkan Yürekli
Nurikabe Path by Thomas Snyder
Star Search by Thomas Snyder
Tapa by Serkan Yürekli
Tapa View by Prasanna Seshadri
Wind Shield by Serkan Yürekli
Wordmark by Serkan Yürekli

View image directly for a larger form.

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: Open Spaces

Author/Opus: This is the 2nd puzzle from guest contributor Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard Tapa 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 = 6:00, Master = 11:00, Expert = 22:00

Solution: PDF

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

PDF

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

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Ravi Kumar Macherla who also contributed several Masyu to the book “The Art of Puzzles”. You can find more of Ravi’s puzzles on his relatively new blog site.

Rules: Place each of the indicated shapes into the grid (rotations allowed, but not reflections) so that no two shapes touch even at a corner. Numbers outside the grid indicate the product of the lengths of all white cell groups in that row/column. Or see here:

Answer String: Enter the number of cells in each group (both black and white) in order in the marked rows/columns. In the example, this answer is “231,1221”

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:15, Master = 7:00, Expert = 14:00

Solution: PDF

PDF

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

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 106th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Yajilin rules.

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 = 1:30, Master = 2:15, Expert = 4:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other 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 alternate between a composite mode for line/edge drawing and a number entry mode.)

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Walker Anderson. You can find more of Walker’s puzzles on his relatively new blog site.

Rules: Standard Fillomino rules.

Answer String: For each cell in the marked rows/columns, enter the area of the polyomino it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. Start with the 2nd row, followed by a comma, followed by the 9th row.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:15, Master = 2:00, Expert = 4:00

Solution: PDF

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

PDF

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

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 105th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Skyscrapers rules.

Answer String: Enter the 5th row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 6th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:20, Master = 2:15, Expert = 4:30

Solution: PDF

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

PDF

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

Theme: May

Author/Opus: This is the 104th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Star Battle rules. Two stars per row, column, and region.

Answer String: For each row from top to bottom, enter the number of the first column from the left where a star appears. Enter these numbers as a single string with no separators.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:15, Master = 2:00, Expert = 4:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Star Battles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Star Battles to get started on.

All the puzzles from last week’s Araf collection have been grouped in this PDF. It seemed to have been well received as a genre so we may choose to feature it more regularly in our rotation. I personally enjoy it a bit more than other intuitive styles like Numberlink, but that could just be a result of it feeling “new” having only solved about twenty Araf puzzles.

This coming week has a mini-theme to it, perhaps “something old, something new”, as half the puzzles will be from guest contributors who have made some interesting puzzles. The rest are from Grant Fikes, who is not so much “old” as familiar. He’s been contributing about a puzzle a day since the start of the year; there will be a collection of the Foxger’s puzzles coming later this year as a book/e-book from GMPuzzles which will be a great book for solvers just learning how to solve some of these types.

The exact schedule for the week is this (highlight to view):

Monday: Star Battle by Grant Fikes
Tuesday: Skyscrapers by Grant Fikes
Wednesday: Fillomino by Walker Anderson
Thursday: Yajilin by Grant Fikes
Friday: Place by Product by Ravi Kumar Macherla
Saturday: Tapa by Murat Can Tonta

The bonus puzzle for our high-level supporters will be a Masyu by Prasanna Seshadri.