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Theme: Framed

Author/Opus: This is the 376th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard TomTom rules, using the integers 1-7.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:00, Master = 6:00, Expert = 12:00

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.

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Theme: Only 4 You

Author/Opus: This is the 317th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Balance Loop rules. Also, each row and column must contain exactly two stars. Stars cannot be placed in adjacent cells that share an edge or corner, and all stars must be on empty cells not used by the loop.

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:30, Master = 13:15, Expert = 26:30

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

Note: Follow this link for other Balance Loop puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Balance Loop Puzzles to get started on. More Balance Loops can be found in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli and in Balance Loop by Prasanna Seshadri and Murat Can Tonta.

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Theme: Cross

Author/Opus: This is the 5th puzzle from guest contributor Jonas Gleim.

Rules: (Standard Balance Loop rules.) Draw a single, non-intersecting loop that passes through all circled cells. All white circles must have equal segment lengths on both sides of the circle before turning. All black circles must have unequal segment lengths on both sides of the circle before turning. Numbers indicate the sum of the segment lengths on both sides of the circle.
Also, see this example:

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:00, Master = 6:00, Expert = 12:00

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

Note: Follow this link for other Balance Loop puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Balance Loop Puzzles to get started on. More Balance Loops can be found in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli and in Balance Loop by Prasanna Seshadri and Murat Can Tonta.

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Theme: Pinwheel

Author/Opus: This is the 19th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster JinHoo Ahn.

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

Difficulty: 4 stars

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

Solution: PDF; two solution videos are also available here (more complex path) and here (simpler path).

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 collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

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Theme: Broken Frame

Author/Opus: This is the 374th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Star Battle rules. Also, some region boundaries are missing, but all given borders must separate cells in different regions.

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:00, Master = 7:45, Expert = 15:30

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

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 collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

This is a bonus Sunday puzzle for Valentine’s Day, and one more puzzle to conclude a full week of puzzles from JinHoo Ahn.

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or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools in linex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)

Theme: Valentine

Author/Opus: This is the 18th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster JinHoo Ahn.

Rules: Standard Masyu rules. Also, some white circles may be shaded to become black circles. (Stylistically, here the white circles are white with red borders and the black circles are filled, red circles.)

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:30, Master = 8:00, Expert = 16:00

Solution: PDF

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

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Theme: Groups

Author/Opus: This is the 17th puzzle from our new contributing puzzlemaster JinHoo Ahn.

Rules: Variation of Cross the Streams rules. Instead of their usual meaning, clues refer to the distribution of the white cells. The shaded cells must still obey the regular rules (connectivity, no 2×2 squares).

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 6:30, Master = 10:30, Expert = 21:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video (with info on an Easter Egg for this puzzle) is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for other Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on.

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Theme: Open Middle

Author/Opus: This is the 16th puzzle from our new contributing puzzlemaster JinHoo Ahn.

Rules: Variation of Yajilin rules. Instead of their usual meaning, interior clues refer to the total sum of the lengths of loop segments in the given direction. (An equivalent way to understand these values is to count the number of cell borders crossed by the loop in that direction.)

See also this example:

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:15, Master = 6:00, Expert = 12:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video (with info on an Easter Egg for this puzzle) is also available here.

Note: Follow this link for classic Yajilin and this link for Yajilin variations. 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, in Yajilin by Murat Can Tonta and Prasanna Seshadri, and in our beginner-friendly book Logic Puzzles 101.

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Theme: Empty Columns

Author/Opus: This is the 197th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Kurotto rules.

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:30, Master = 8:45, Expert = 17:30

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

Note: Follow this link for classic Kurotto puzzles and this link for variations on Kurotto puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Kurotto to get started on. More Kurotto puzzles can be found in the ebook Kurotto by Prasanna Seshadri.

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Theme: Pairs

Author/Opus: This is the 11th puzzle from guest contributor Swaroop Guggilam.

Rules: Standard Kurotto rules.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:00, Master = 5:45, Expert = 11:30

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

Note: Follow this link for classic Kurotto puzzles and this link for variations on Kurotto puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Kurotto to get started on. More Kurotto puzzles can be found in the ebook Kurotto by Prasanna Seshadri.