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.

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: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 47th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Araf rules. Also, no two regions with the same size can share an edge. (Note: this is the same rule as in Fillomino puzzles where no equal size polyominoes can touch.)

Answer String: Enter the number of cells in each connected group (between bold lines) in the marked rows.

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Araf is a relatively new puzzle for us on GMPuzzles. Follow this link for other Araf. An example image for a “classic” Araf puzzle is here.

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: Four Y Intersections

Author/Opus: This is the 24th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Divide the grid into some regions formed of edge-adjacent squares. Each cell is part of one region, and each region should contain exactly two given numbers. Each region must have an area that is strictly between those numbers (This means, for two number clues A and B with A < B, the area C fulfills A < C < B).

Answer String: Enter the number of cells in each connected group (between bold lines) in the marked rows. For the example above, this is “34,121111,4111”.

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

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

Note: Araf is a relatively new puzzle for us on GMPuzzles. Follow this link for other Araf.

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: Fource Field

Author/Opus: This is the 46th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Divide the grid into some regions formed of edge-adjacent squares. Each cell is part of one region, and each region should contain exactly two given numbers. Each region must have an area that is strictly between those numbers (This means, for two number clues A and B with A < B, the area C fulfills A < C < B).

Answer String: Enter the number of cells in each connected group (between bold lines) in the marked rows. For the example above, this is “34,121111,4111”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:45, Master = 5:00, Expert = 10:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

Note: Araf is a relatively new puzzle for us on GMPuzzles. Follow this link for other Araf.

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: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 23rd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Divide the grid into some regions formed of edge-adjacent squares. Each cell is part of one region, and each region should contain exactly two given numbers, one in a yellow circle (>) and one in a red circle (<). Each region must have an area that is strictly between those numbers. Answer String: Enter the number of cells in each connected group (between bold lines) in the marked rows. Separate the rows with a comma.

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Araf is a relatively new puzzle for us on GMPuzzles. Follow this link for other Araf. An example image for a “classic” Araf puzzle is here.

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: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Dan Katz.

Rules: Divide the grid into some regions formed of edge-adjacent squares. Each cell is part of one region, and each region should contain exactly two given numbers, one in a yellow circle (>) and one in a red circle (<). Each region must have an area that is strictly between those numbers. Note: This idea to "simplify" Araf puzzles comes from Prasanna Seshadri, whose example of this variation will appear tomorrow. Answer String: Enter the number of cells in each connected group (between bold lines) in the marked rows. Separate the rows with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:20, Master = 3:00, Expert = 6:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Araf is a relatively new puzzle for us on GMPuzzles. Follow this link for other Araf. An example image for a “classic” Araf puzzle is here.

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: Aisles

Author/Opus: This is the 177th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Divide the grid into some regions formed of edge-adjacent squares. Each cell is part of one region, and each region should contain exactly two given numbers. Each region must have an area that is strictly between those numbers (This means, for two number clues A and B with A < B, the area C fulfills A < C < B).

Answer String: Enter the number of cells in each connected group (between bold lines) in the marked rows. For the example above, this is “34,121111,4111”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:45, Master = 1:15, Expert = 2:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Araf is a relatively new puzzle for us on GMPuzzles. Follow this link for other Araf.