[This puzzle comes from the 2022 US Sudoku Grand Prix round. This puzzle continues the “eight” theming by combining a visual theme (two clear eights in the grid) with an unusual parity-based split of the digits that sets up different kinds of deductions to get odds on the right side of the grid and evens on the left side.]

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Theme: Odd and Even

Author/Opus: This is the 432nd puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Estimated Difficulty: 2.5 stars

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 our e-store, including in The Art of Sudoku, The Art of Sudoku 2 and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

[This puzzle comes from the 2022 US Sudoku Grand Prix round written entirely by me. This puzzle demonstrates another visual approach to an “eight” theme. While there are no 8s in the grid, all the givens appear in clear two by four block groups which is a pattern that sets up some nice if easy geometric deductions.]

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Theme: Two by Fours

Author/Opus: This is the 431st puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Estimated Difficulty: 2 stars

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 our e-store, including in The Art of Sudoku, The Art of Sudoku 2 and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

[This puzzle comes from the 2022 Sudoku Grand Prix round written by me, which was the eighth round that ran in early August including 8/8. The round used a theme of “eight” across all the puzzles. This easy classic Sudoku has a strong visual theme with just three given digits, two eights in the corners and a big “eight” made out of other numbers only.]

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Theme: Three Eights

Author/Opus: This is the 430th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Estimated Difficulty: 2 stars

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 our e-store, including in The Art of Sudoku, The Art of Sudoku 2 and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

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Theme: Parity Lines

Author/Opus: This is the 7th puzzle from guest contributor R. Kumaresan.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:15, Master = 4:30, Expert = 9:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

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.

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Theme: Odd vs. Even

Author/Opus: This is the 103rd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Ashish Kumar.

Rules: Draw a single loop in the grid which may cross itself orthogonally, but otherwise does not touch or retrace itself. The clue numbers to the left/right of the rows indicate the number of squares visited by the nearest section of the loop that travels horizontally in the rows. The clue numbers to the top/bottom of the columns indicate the number of squares visited by the nearest section of the loop that travels vertically in the columns.

Also, see this example:

Difficulty: 2 stars

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

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for other Round Trip puzzles. Some more Round Trip puzzles can be found in the book Loop Variety Collection by Ashish Kumar and Murat Can Tonta.

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Theme: Empty Frame

Author/Opus: This is the 398th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Nanro rules.

Difficulty: 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:15, Master = 1:45, Expert = 3:30

Solution: PDF and solving video.

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.

Since 2021, we have posted some extra difficult Sunday Stumpers, about once a month. These will be quite tough puzzles, but with a logical path to be found (and solution videos to help). This thirteenth Sunday Stumper of 2022 is an unusual Castle Wall puzzle by Stefan Liew where all the clues are on the “Outside”.

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Theme: Outside

Author/Opus: This is the 3rd puzzle from guest contributor Stefan Liew.

Rules: Standard Castle Wall rules.

Difficulty: 5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 11:00, Master = 22:30, Expert = 45:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for more Castle Wall puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Castle Wall puzzles to get started on. More Castle Wall puzzles can be found in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles as well as the larger collection Castle Wall, both by Serkan Yürekli.

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Theme: Diagonal Borders

Author/Opus: This is the 65th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster JinHoo Ahn.

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

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:40, Master = 3:30, Expert = 7:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for other classic Star Battles and this link for Star Battle variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Star Battles to get started on. More Star Battle puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, in the books Star Battle by JinHoo Ahn and Star Battle 2 by JinHoo Ahn and Murat Can Tonta, and in our beginner-friendly collections Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli and Starter Pack 5: Star Battle by JinHoo Ahn.

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Theme: Similar Instances

Author/Opus: This is the 27th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Takeya Saikachi.

Rules: Standard Slitherlink rules.

Difficulty: 2 stars

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

Solution: PDF and solving video.

Note: Follow this link for classic Slitherlink and this link for Slitherlink variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Slitherlink puzzles to get started on. More Slitherlink puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, Slitherlink and Variations, and our beginner-friendly book Logic Puzzles 101.

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Theme: Square Dance

Author/Opus: This is the 428th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

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

Difficulty: 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:40, Master = 2:30, Expert = 5:00

Solution: PDF and solving video.

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.