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Theme: Nothing Unusual to See Here

Author/Opus: This is the 379th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Variation of Kakuro Rules. Exactly one digit must appear twice in each entry (i.e., group of cells connected horizontally or vertically without any black cells between). All other digits must not repeat within an entry.

Difficulty: 4.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 9:00, Master = 15:45, Expert = 31:30

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

Note: Follow this link for classic Kakuro and this link for Kakuro variations. More Kakuro puzzles can be found in Kakuro and Variations by Serkan Yürekli and in The Art of Puzzles 2.

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Theme: T Up

Author/Opus: This is the 6th puzzle from guest contributor Salih Alan.

Rules: Standard Kakuro Rules.

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:45, Master = 8:15, Expert = 16:30

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

Note: Follow this link for classic Kakuro and this link for Kakuro variations. More Kakuro puzzles can be found in Kakuro and Variations by Serkan Yürekli and in The Art of Puzzles 2.

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

Theme: Checkerboards

Author/Opus: This is the 194th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard Statue Park rules. This puzzle uses a standard pentomino set.

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:30, Master = 11:30, Expert = 23:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other classic Statue Park and this link for Statue Park variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Statue Parks to get started on. More Statue Park puzzles can be found in the ebook Statue Park by Murat Can Tonta.

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Theme: Pent-Up Rage

Author/Opus: This is the 77th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

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 traversed by a single, closed loop (connecting cells horizontally or vertically). The black circles indicate some cells that must be covered by pentominoes, white circles indicate spaces that may not be contained in pentominoes and must be part of the loop.

See also this example with five pentominoes:

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:30, Master = 10:00, Expert = 20:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other classic Statue Park and this link for Statue Park variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Statue Parks to get started on. More Statue Park puzzles can be found in the ebook Statue Park by Murat Can Tonta.

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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 letter entry mode.)

Theme: WXY

Author/Opus: This is the 21st puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster JinHoo Ahn.

Rules: Standard Pentominous rules.

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 8:30, Expert = 17:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other Pentominous puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Pentominous to get started on. More Pentominous puzzles can be found in the Plenty o’ Pentominous series by Grant Fikes and Murat Can Tonta and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

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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 letter entry mode.)

Theme: PENTOMINO

Author/Opus: This is the 6th puzzle from guest contributor Jonas Gleim.

Rules: Variation of Pentominous rules. Some borders between pentominoes are already drawn.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 5:30, Expert = 11:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other Pentominous puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Pentominous to get started on. More Pentominous puzzles can be found in the Plenty o’ Pentominous series by Grant Fikes and Murat Can Tonta and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

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Theme: Plus and Minuses

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Michael Rios.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules. Also, each row, column and bold region must contain two negative numbers. The sum of the positive and negative numbers in each cage must equal the value given in the upper-left corner of that cage. Numbers (ignoring sign) cannot repeat inside a cage.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 15:30, Master = 26:00, Expert = 52:00

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

Note: Follow this link for more Killer Sudoku and this link for classic Sudoku. More 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: Gridlocked

Author/Opus: This is the 378th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Difficulty: 4.5 stars

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

Solution: PDF; a solution video from the author is available here and a video from Cracking the Cryptic here.

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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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: Rising Up

Author/Opus: This is the 377th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules. Also, there may not be four consecutive black cells in any row or column.

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:15, Master = 11:45, Expert = 23:30

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

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

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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: Faraday Cage

Author/Opus: This is the 321st puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules. Additionally, shade two separate Tapa walls that do not overlap or cross each other. All digits in a clue cell refer to the shading of just one Tapa wall within the puzzle and provide no information on the shading of the other wall around that clue.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 5:45, Expert = 11:30

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

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