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: Winner is You

Author/Opus: This is the 226th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Shade some cells black so that all remaining white cells are connected as part of a single connected group; shaded cells cannot share an edge. No unbroken sequence of white cells in any row or column can cross two thick boundaries. A number in a region indicates the number of shaded cells in that region. Regions with no number may have any number of shaded cells. Cells with numbers can be shaded over.

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 7:30, Expert = 15:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for other shading puzzles. More Heyawake puzzles are in Shading Variety Collection by Prasanna Seshadri.

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: 135

Author/Opus: This is the 225th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Shade some empty cells black to create a single connected group. Cells with circles cannot be shaded, and the shaded cells cannot form a 2×2 square anywhere in the grid. Each numbered cell indicates the total count of shaded cells connected vertically and horizontally to that numbered cell.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:30, Master = 5:30, Expert = 11:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for other shading puzzles. More Canal View puzzles are in Shading Variety Collection by Prasanna Seshadri.

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: Diagonal Pairs

Author/Opus: This is the 224th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Fully shade some outlined regions in bold to create a maze with paths made out of the unshaded regions. The direct path of the maze from the start (S) to the goal (G) must pass through all of the circles but none of the triangles. All regions containing S, G, circles, and triangles must be unshaded and part of the maze. No 2×2 area can be fully shaded or fully unshaded. All unshaded regions must be connected by edges, but there can be no loops anywhere in the maze.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:00, Master = 3:15, Expert = 6:30

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for other shading puzzles. More Nurimeizu puzzles are in Shading Variety Collection by Prasanna Seshadri.

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: Shutters

Author/Opus: This is the 4th puzzle from guest contributor Eric Fox. Eric invented this style and more Aqre from Eric are on his blog here.

Rules: Standard Aqre rules: Shade some cells so that all shaded cells form one connected group. Regions with numbers must contain the indicated count of shaded cells, and it is allowed to shade over the numbered cells. There may not exist a run of four or more consecutive shaded or unshaded cells horizontally or vertically anywhere in the grid.

Difficulty: 2 stars

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

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for more Aqre puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Aqre to get started on. More Aqre puzzles are in Shading Variety Collection by Prasanna Seshadri.

As promised, I’ve now finished making a video describing all the steps that went on before, during, and after constructing my milestone 400th post. For those looking for something different on our YouTube channel, check out the video there.

PS: I make a “promise” in the video that if we get to 1,000 YouTube subscribers this year, I’ll make a new milestone puzzle around that idea. Do with this info what you will.

PPS: We are continuing to explore different kinds of YouTube content this year, so feel free to comment on more things you’d be interested in seeing besides daily solution videos.

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: Twins

Author/Opus: This is the 364th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Shade some empty cells black to create a single connected group. Cells with circles cannot be shaded, and the shaded cells cannot form a 2×2 square anywhere in the grid. Each numbered cell indicates the total count of shaded cells connected vertically and horizontally to that numbered cell.

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:35, Master = 1:00, Expert = 2:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for other shading puzzles. More Canal View puzzles are in Shading Variety Collection by Prasanna Seshadri and at this link on our site.

We’ve just published our next e-book, the Shading Variety Collection by Prasanna Seshadri. In this book, the five shading puzzle styles Canal View, Nurimeizu, Heyawake, Aqre, and Yajisan Kazusan receive the Grandmaster Puzzles treatment with elegant, hand-crafted puzzles by Prasanna. There are a total of 54 puzzles, with 10 or 11 in each of the styles; you’ll surely get a workout in shading cells as you learn how to advance from the easy beginning grids to the very hard and large concluding puzzles.

This upcoming week of puzzles will feature original puzzles (not from the book) across these five puzzle styles.

Our most recent week of TomTom is gathered together in this PDF and the solutions are in this PDF.

The daily solution videos are on the posts and linked below:

My constructor-side video for the 400th post TomTom is also coming up later this week now here.

The next week of puzzles will feature five shading puzzle styles we don’t regular post; these same styles will also be featured in a book released later today from Prasanna Seshadri. Many people have asked when we might be adding more puzzles to our “official” rotation, and one of the puzzles this week will be getting that status in Week 5 as we add a few puzzles in 2022 to the regular publication schedule.

PDF

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

Theme: 400 Posts

Author/Opus: This is the 400th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard TomTom rules, except the digit set is unknown. This puzzle uses 8 distinct non−negative integers.

Difficulty: 5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 10:30, Master = 20:30, Expert = 41:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here. A video telling the story of how this puzzle was constructed by Thomas is here.

Note: Follow this link for classic TomTom and this link for TomTom variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest TomTom to get started on. More TomTom puzzles can be found in the TomTom collection, in The Art of Puzzles, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

PDF

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

Theme: 1 vs. 3

Author/Opus: This is the 86th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Ashish Kumar.

Rules: Standard TomTom rules, using the integers 1-6.

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:00, Master = 11:00, Expert = 22:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for classic TomTom and this link for TomTom variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest TomTom to get started on. More TomTom puzzles can be found in the TomTom collection, in The Art of Puzzles, and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.