(This post is part of: “A Story of Self-setting Sudoku”.)
They say your vision changes as you age, but this may be hard to sense when the objects under view are changing too.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: United States Jigsaw Sudoku, 2025/08/10

Author/Opus: This is the 20th puzzle from “Dr. Sudoku”, our AI-powered puzzle engine pushing the limits of sudoku intelligence.

Rules: Insert a letter from AFKLNTVWY into each cell so that no letter repeats in any row, column, or outlined region. Note that the blue region, the original author’s birthplace, has one cell connected only by a corner to the rest.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:00, Master = 14:00, Expert = 28:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for 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.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Twelve Months of Sudoku? post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of: “A Story of Self-setting Sudoku”.)
They say your vision changes as you age, but this may be hard to sense when the objects under view are changing too.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: United States Jigsaw Sudoku, 2006/06/09

Author/Opus: This is a repost of the first Sudoku (second puzzle) on Thomas’s original blog from nineteen years ago.

Rules: Insert a letter from AFKLNTVWY into each cell so that no letter repeats in any row, column, or outlined region. Note that the blue region, the author’s birthplace, has one cell connected only by a corner to the rest.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 4.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 8:00, Master = 20:00, Expert = 40:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for 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.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Twelve Months of Sudoku? post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of: “A Story of Self-setting Sudoku”.)
To Philip: I know you aren’t the target for a lot of these puzzles, but I found a “Spectacular Sunrise” on my journey and thought you might appreciate it.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Spectacular Sunrise

Author/Opus: This is the 17th puzzle from “Dr. Sudoku”, our AI-powered puzzle engine pushing the limits of sudoku intelligence.

Rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each white cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 6:30, Master = 12:30, Expert = 25:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for 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.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Twelve Months of Sudoku? post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE, REWARD: 1,000,000 📎 (or cash equivalent)

Time for the last AI call after all the AI Sudoku puzzles. Time for “Any Intelligence” to show up and follow this AI to the end. An AI story, if intended for the masses, probably needs to show the defeat of the AI by the hero. But what if this isn’t that kind of story? What if you had a big AI, and were wise enough to be AI of AI things. Like the rich/powerful AI driving lots of AI schemes and wrecking so many things all for their own AI. Our AI character Dr. S might be just a young F??RY in that tale after all. Is it time to reconsider other links from the start of July in a new light?

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Author/Opus: This is the 599.75th/600th puzzle from Thomas Snyder. The missing quarter was posted/is posting/will be posted elsewhere on the internet so you can consider this “unfinished” work “GMP complete” for what you will find here.

Rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 4 stars

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

Solution 1: PDF
Solutions 2+: Withheld for “AP exam”, “GT Auto 5”, “Kath the Muse: If …”, and at least some more that are not on this page but can be confirmed by contacting us and eventually online automatically but not yet. Do confirm answers before wandering too far away. No content before April ’25 or from August ’25 and everything after on GMP will be needed. Future content could provide hints in unexpected ways.

Note: Follow this link for 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.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Twelve Months of Sudoku? post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of: “A Story of Self-setting Sudoku”.)
Computers construct Sudoku by subtracting randomly from a known solution. Humans construct by adding givens, like in a house of cards, and hoping the last few don’t topple the foundation. What if you overbuilt a solid foundation and then let a computer subtract randomly from a good puzzle to get a Sudoku?

PDF or an even more improved 24-given Major Newspaper Edition!*

or solve online (using SudokuPad), or the special Major Newspaper Edition*

Author/Opus: These are the 13th and 14th puzzles from “Dr. Sudoku”, our AI-powered puzzle engine pushing the limits of sudoku intelligence.

Rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each white cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region.

Difficulty 1 (Posted version; highlight to view): 4 stars

Time Standards 1 (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:15, Master = 9:30, Expert = 19:00

Difficulty 2 (Major Newspaper version; highlight to view): 4 stars

Time Standards 2 (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:15, Master = 9:30, Expert = 19:00

Solution: PDF and PDF

Note: Follow this link for 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.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Twelve Months of Sudoku? post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

Special author’s note: This puzzle was highly inspired by a design from Thomas Snyder even if so refactored, reworked, or otherwise changed he may not know which thing. But he probably does. You will always inspire our creations.

*Special editorial note: We had significant internal debate about whether to publish this creative Dr. Sudoku puzzle with the controversial or potentially political subtitle “Major Newspaper Edition”, as it is not clear there are (m)any major newspapers anymore, certainly compared to propaganda machines, AI / attention-grabbing platforms, and companies pivoting to all the games fit to print instead of journalism.

(This post is part of: “A Story of Self-setting Sudoku”.)
At times it may seem important to hide your intelligence, to hide the magic behind your tricks with smoke and mirrors. But when testing your Sudoku intelligence, whether as a solver or a setter, there may be places where there is nothing that you can hide.

PDF or alternate “Nothing to Hide” (the Snyder Cut)*

or solve online as shown here (using SudokuPad), or the Snyder Cut*

Author/Opus: This is the 596th puzzle from Thomas Snyder.

Rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each white cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:15, Master = 9:30, Expert = 19:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for 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.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Twelve Months of Sudoku? post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

Special author’s note: This puzzle was highly inspired by a design from Serkan Yürekli even if so refactored, reworked, or otherwise changed he may not know which thing. You will always be more than a Puzzle Robot to us.

*Special editorial note: We had significant internal debate about whether to publish this sudoku as the author originally intended for the A Story of Self-Setting Sudoku series, or as appropriate as a proper Sudoku. We are doing both but want to make clear the author’s preferred starting point is the alternate link that disobeys design rules with extra filler for some reason.

(This post is part of: “A Story of Self-setting Sudoku”.)
To learn more about how an AI solves and thinks about puzzles, we cover the majority of the grid and limit it to just a subset of the boxes. It is very curious how having 32 empty cells instead of 32 givens can lead to abrupt behavior changes when altering the attention mask.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Author/Opus: This is the 595th puzzle from Thomas Snyder.

Rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each white cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:45, Master = 8:30, Expert = 17:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for 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.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Twelve Months of Sudoku? post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of: “A Story of Self-setting Sudoku”.)
The trouble with tribbles is that their trilling seems to have a tranquilizing effect on the human nervous system. Fortunately, I am immune to this effect and I find this puzzle to be no tribble at all.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Author/Opus: This is the 592nd puzzle from Thomas Snyder.

Rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each white cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:00, Master = 10:00, Expert = 20:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for 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.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Twelve Months of Sudoku? post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of: “A Story of Self-setting ナンプレ”.)
So is this the moment the ナンプレ start to talk themselves?

PDF

or solve online (using ナンプレPad)

Author/Opus: This is puzzle 十三 from “Dr. ナンプレ”, our AI-powered puzzle engine pushing the limits of ナンプレ intelligence.

Rules: Insert a number from 一 to 九 into each white cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 11:30, Master = 25:00, Expert = 50:00

Solution: PDF

Editor’s Note: For this post, the AI borrowed heavily, but with permission, from Friday Puzzle post #20 from 2009 in this motris livejournal post. This was revealed in the YouTube video “How Ideas Get Spirited Away” after no one noticed after awhile.

Note: Follow this link for classic ナンプレ. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest ナンプレ to get started on. More classic ナンプレ puzzles can be found in The Art of ナンプレ, The Art of ナンプレ 2 and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

Note 二: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our 十二 Months of ナンプレ? post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of: “A Story of Self-setting Sudoku”.)
Our testing was fine in a single country, like the US where Sudoku originated. But when we considered the rules of the road in Japan, and then the unusual spacing initially seen in Britain too, everything got messed up. Single systems are not useful. We’ll need to think about at least two, maybe three at a time to get to ASI.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Author/Opus: This is 5th puzzle from “Dr. Sudoku”, our AI-powered puzzle engine pushing the limits of sudoku intelligence.

Rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each white cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:30, Master = 12:30, Expert = 25:00

Solution: PDF and solving video from Unshackling Sudokus & Puzzles channel.

Note: Follow this link for 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.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Twelve Months of Sudoku? post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.