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Theme: Clown Face

Author/Opus: This is the 12th puzzle from guest contributor Hans van Stippent.

Rules: Standard Thermo-Sudoku rules. Also, the bulbs are missing from three of the thermometer shapes. These bulbs were positioned at one of the open ends of those thermometers.

Answer String: Enter the 2nd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 5th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:00, Master = 9:00, Expert = 18:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for more Thermo-Sudoku puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Thermo-Sudoku to get started on. More Thermo-Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku 2.

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or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between the linex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s and a shading mode that may help mark the empty cells for the towers rule)

Theme: 25 years from 1991/03/02 to 2016/03/02

Author/Opus: This is the 115th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: This puzzle is a variation of Castle Wall.

Standard Castle Wall rules:
Draw a single closed loop (without intersections or crossings) passing through some empty cells in the grid. The grid contains some bordered or colored cells that cannot be part of the loop. Black cells must be outside the loop; white cells (with heavy borders) must be inside the loop. Numbers and arrows 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.)

+ Towers Variation:
Also, the numbers outside the grid show the number of empty cell segments visible in that direction (ignore all clue cells and all cells used by the loop). A segment of length N in a given direction is taken as a building of height N. Buildings of height N block the view of all buildings behind them of equal or lesser height.

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. This example has the key “2,21”.

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

Solution: PDF

Note: You can find other Castle Walls here.

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Theme: Question Marks

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Rajesh Kumar.

Rules: Standard Arrow Sudoku rules.

Answer String: Enter the 2nd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 8th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:00, Master = 13:30, Expert = 27:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

Note: Follow this link for more Arrow Sudoku. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Arrow Sudoku to get started on. More Arrow Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku 2.

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

Theme: Half Full

Author/Opus: This is the 6th puzzle from guest contributor Swaroop Guggilam.

Rules: Standard Even/Odd Sudoku rules (i.e., cells with a square contain an even digit; cells with a circle contain an odd digit).

Answer String: Enter the 2nd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 8th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:45, Master = 10:30, Expert = 21:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for more Even/Odd Sudoku puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Even/Odd Sudoku to get started on. More Even/Odd Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku 2.

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

Theme: ZZZ

Author/Opus: This is the 114th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Thermo-Sudoku rules.

Answer String: Enter the 2nd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 8th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:15, Master = 8:00, Expert = 16:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for more Thermo-Sudoku puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Thermo-Sudoku to get started on. More Thermo-Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku 2.

PDF

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: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 113th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Tapa rules. Also there are two pairs of windows. One pair is the upper left (blue, solid) and lower right (red, solid). The other is the upper right (blue, dashed) and lower left (red, dashed). The cells in the same position in each window pair must have the exact opposite shading.

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 = 3:00, Master = 5:30, Expert = 11:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Tapa variations and this link for classic Tapa. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Tapa puzzles to get started on.

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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: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 112th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Standard Masyu rules. Also there are two windows in the upper left (blue) and lower right (red) of the grid. If the loop passes through a cell in one window by going straight, it must go through the same cell in the other window by turning; the converse is also true. (It is possible for the cells to be unused by the loop in both windows.)

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 = 3:30, Master = 5:15, Expert = 10:30

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.

(view directly for a larger image)

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or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; note that the dotted circles are just for answer entry and are where the number should be placed in the 2×2 cell. An alternate option with centralized digit entry is here.)

Theme: Heart

Author/Opus: This is the 97th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Variation of Kakuro: Enter a single digit from 1 to 9 into each cell so that the sum of digits in each Across entry equals the value given to the left of the entry, and the sum of digits in each Down entry equals the value given above the entry. The gray (2×2) cells are to be filled by a single digit which sits in multiple rows and columns. No digit may be repeated within a single entry, regardless of if it is in a small or large cell.

Answer String: Enter the values in each cell in the marked rows from left to right, separating the rows with a comma. Ignore black cells.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 13:00, Master = 22:30, Expert = 45:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

Note: Follow this link for other Kakuro puzzles.

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Theme: Antisymmetry

Author/Opus: This is the 188th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Statue Park rules. Use all 12 pentominoes once.

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 = 3:45, Master = 5:00, Expert = 10:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Statue Park Puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Statue Parks to get started on.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use the tab key to alternate between shading and number entry modes)

Theme: Spiral (Note: The regions grow from one cell in size to eleven and back down to one.)

Author/Opus: This is the 105th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Prasanna Seshadri.

Rules: Variation of Nanro. The small clue numbers indicate how many cells in that region are used (but do not necessarily indicate which cells are filled as standard Nanro clues do).

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the segments labeled with numbers 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 = 5:45, Master = 9:00, Expert = 18:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Nanro variations and this link for classic Nanro. If you are new to this puzzle type, please first try out our easiest Nanro to get started.