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Theme: Clue Symmetry & Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 6th puzzle from guest contributor Jamie Hargrove.

Rules: Place each of the twelve pentominoes into the grid once, with rotations and reflections allowed. No two pentominoes can overlap or be orthogonally adjacent, and all cells not occupied by the pentominoes must be orthogonally connected. The black circles indicate some cells that must be covered by pentominoes. Some numbers and arrows are also given in the grid. For all numbers that are not covered by a pentomino, the clues give the exact count of shaded cells in the given direction. A shaded over clue may or may not be true.

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 = 10:30, Master = 17:15, Expert = 34:30

Note: Follow this link for other Statue Park Puzzles and this link for other less common Shading puzzles including Yajisan Kazusan puzzles.

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Theme: No 2×2 White Blocks

Author/Opus: This is the 5th puzzle from guest contributor Jamie Hargrove.

Rules: Shade some cells black so that all unshaded number and arrow clues indicate the exact count of shaded cells in the given direction. Shaded cells cannot share an edge, and all white cells must remain connected as part of a single contiguous group. It is allowed to shade over some of the numbered cells; a shaded over clue may or may not be true. Also, as an extra rule from standard Yajisan Kazusan, there cannot be any fully unshaded 2×2 cell blocks in the grid.

Answer String: For each row from top to bottom, enter the number of shaded cells as a single string.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:00, Master = 12:00, Expert = 24:00

Note: Follow this link for other less common Shading puzzles.

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Theme: Open Seas

Author/Opus: This is the 2nd puzzle from guest contributor Jamie Hargrove.

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. Enter both digits for any two-digit number. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:15, Master = 11:30, Expert = 23:00

Note: Follow this link for classic Nurikabe puzzles on this website and this link for other variations on Nurikabe puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Nurikabe puzzles to get started on. More Nurikabe puzzles can be in The Art of Puzzles collection.

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Theme: Ladders

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor David Olmsted.

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 = 7:30, Master = 13:45, Expert = 27:30

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. More Yajilin puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles 2.

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Theme: Clue Symmetry & Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Takeya Saikachi.

Rules: Divide the grid along the boundary lines so that every cell belongs to a snake. A snake is a one-cell-wide path at least two cells long that does not touch itself, not even diagonally. Circled cells must be at one of the ends of a snake. A snake may contain one circled cell, two circled cells, or no circled cells at all. Numbered cells must be part of a snake with a length of exactly that number of cells. A snake may contain one number, multiple identical numbers, or no numbers at all. Two snakes of the same length cannot touch each other horizontally or vertically. [+ new rule] Cells with an X cannot be an end of a snake.

Also see this example:

Answer String: For each cell in the marked rows/columns, enter the length of the snake it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. This example has the key “33553,44664”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:00, Master = 10:30, Expert = 21:00

Note: Follow these link for other Fillomino or Snake puzzles.

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Theme: Clue Symmetry & Logic (prepared for the 2017 Puzzle Grand Prix)

Author/Opus: This is the 279th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Cave rules.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the cave segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 6:00, Master = 18:00, Expert = 36:00 (*Estimates from competition scoring, not our usual process)

Note: Follow this link for other classic Caves. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cave Puzzles to get started on. More Cave puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles and in Roger Barkan’s Colossal Cave Collection.

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Theme: One Side or the Other (prepared for the 2017 Puzzle Grand Prix)

Author/Opus: This is the 278th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Skyscrapers rules.

Answer String: Enter the 5th row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 7th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:30, Master = 13:00, Expert = 26:00 (*Estimates from competition scoring, not our usual process)

Note: Follow this link for classic Skyscrapers puzzles and this link for variations on Skyscrapers puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Skyscrapers Puzzles to get started on. More Skyscrapers puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles.