This year, we started posting some extra difficult Sunday Stumpers, about once a month. These will be quite tough puzzles, but with a logical path to be found (and solution videos to help). This ninth Sunday Stumper is a new Star Battle variation from puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta; more of this variant will be in our upcoming Star Battle 2 e-book from JinHoo Ahn and Murat Can Tonta.

PDF

(view directly for a larger image)

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools where a single star in gray means two stars but the standard Star Battle interface is used; if you prefer seeing 1 versus 2 objects, here is an alternate formatting using mines that allows for that.)

Theme: Stars

Author/Opus: This is the 208th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.

Rules: Standard Star Battle rules with three stars per row, column, and region. Also, there are some shaded cells in the grid and those cells either contain two stars or none. (In a gray cell with two stars, none of the adjacent cells sharing an edge or corner can have any stars.)

See also this example:

Difficulty: 5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 10:30, Master = 23:30, Expert = 47:00

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.

PDF

(view directly for a larger image)

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

Theme: Square Dance

Author/Opus: This is the 34th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster JinHoo Ahn.

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

Difficulty: 4.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 9:45, Master = 13:30, Expert = 27:00

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.

PDF

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

Theme: Comet

Author/Opus: This is the 80th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Ashish Kumar.

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

Difficulty: 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 6:30, Expert = 13:00

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.

PDF

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

Theme: Catch-22

Author/Opus: This is the 14th puzzle from guest contributor Zoltán Horváth.

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

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:30, Master = 5:15, Expert = 10:30

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.

PDF

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

Theme: Meteor

Author/Opus: This is the 2nd puzzle from guest contributor Sam Cappleman-Lynes.

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

Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:30, Master = 4:00, Expert = 8:00

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.

PDF

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

Theme: Pyramid Scheme

Author/Opus: This is the 355th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

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

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:15, Master = 2:00, Expert = 4:00

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.

PDF

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

Theme: Lampshade

Author/Opus: This is the 85th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

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

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:45, Master = 1:15, Expert = 2:30

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.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between edgex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s and a star placement mode)

Author/Opus: This is the 332nd puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Slitherlink rules. Also, each row and column must contain exactly two stars (one in the example). Stars cannot touch each other, even diagonally, and all stars must be inside the loop. Stars cannot be placed in the numbered cells.

See also this example:

Difficulty: 4.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:00, Master = 14:15, Expert = 28:30

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

Note: Follow this link for classic Slitherlink and this link for Slitherlink variations. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Slitherlink puzzles to get started on. More Slitherlink puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles, Slitherlink and Variations, and our beginner-friendly book Logic Puzzles 101.

(view directly for a larger image)

PDF

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

Theme: HEX Week

Author/Opus: This is the 25th puzzle from guest contributor Joseph Howard.

Rules: Fill some cells with stars so that each row (in a horizontal or either of two diagonal directions) and bold region contains the indicated number of stars. Stars cannot be placed in adjacent cells that share an edge.

Difficulty: 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:15, Master = 9:45, Expert = 19:30

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.

PDF

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

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.