(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
When a number is surrounded by two even numbers left/right or top/bottom, you’re given a clue to that “sandwich” in this puzzle.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Pattern? What Pattern?

Author/Opus: This is the 25th puzzle from Philip Newman, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region. Also, the clues outside the grid indicate all numbers in that row or column surrounded by even numbers on both sides (”sandwiched”). Clues can be given in any order, and all such numbers are given. If a clue is a ‘–’, then no values in that row or column are sandwiched between two even numbers.

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 7:30; One party hat (🥳): 16:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: August Amargatitanis.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 4:06, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of: “A Story of Self-setting Sudoku”.)
They say your vision changes as you age, but this may be hard to sense when the objects under view are changing too.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: United States Jigsaw Sudoku, 2025/08/10

Author/Opus: This is the 20th puzzle from “Dr. Sudoku”, our AI-powered puzzle engine pushing the limits of sudoku intelligence.

Rules: Insert a letter from AFKLNTVWY into each cell so that no letter repeats in any row, column, or outlined region. Note that the blue region, the original author’s birthplace, has one cell connected only by a corner to the rest.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 4 stars

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

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for 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.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Twelve Months of Sudoku? post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
Will the “Kingbreaker” be too much for you or can you control all the zones just fine in this sudoku variation by Bill Murphy?

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Kingbreaker

Author/Opus: This is the 22nd puzzle from Bill Murphy, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). Also, numbers given in the upper-left of a cage must appear in at least one of the cells of that cage.

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 6:30; One party hat (🥳): 12:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: Who will look after the Dollodon?.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 2:17, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of: “A Story of Self-setting Sudoku”.)
They say your vision changes as you age, but this may be hard to sense when the objects under view are changing too.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: United States Jigsaw Sudoku, 2006/06/09

Author/Opus: This is a repost of the first Sudoku (second puzzle) on Thomas’s original blog from nineteen years ago.

Rules: Insert a letter from AFKLNTVWY into each cell so that no letter repeats in any row, column, or outlined region. Note that the blue region, the author’s birthplace, has one cell connected only by a corner to the rest.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 4.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 8:00, Master = 20:00, Expert = 40:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for 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.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Twelve Months of Sudoku? post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
In this Figures Sudoku, can you first figure out what should go in all the cages, and then use those numbers to get all the way through to the one unique solution?

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Figure It Out

Author/Opus: This is the 24th puzzle from Philip Newman, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region. Also, within each identically shaped cage, the same set of numbers must appear in some order.

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 6:30; One party hat (🥳): 13:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: August Astrodonius.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 2:36, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
This cute German Whispers Sudoku by Bill Murphy looks a bit more like another kind of familiar variation. Can you sort out the new logic to solve this one?

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Hmmm

Author/Opus: This is the 21st puzzle from Bill Murphy, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 8 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). Adjacent numbers connected by a green line must differ by at least 5.

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 8:00; One party hat (🥳): 15:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: LibelingsfaCharonosaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 3:57, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
In this Sum Nine Sudoku, some pairs of cells that sum to nine are marked with diamonds. Can you find your way around the grid to the one solution?

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)
or solve online (using Penpa-Plus; originally posted as a backup)

Author/Opus: This is the 42nd puzzle from Clover, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region. Also, if a diamond is given between two adjacent cells, then the numbers in those cells must add to 9. (Note: not all diamonds are given; adjacent cells without a diamond may or may not add to another value than 9.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 6:00; One party hat (🥳): 11:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: nonogonal Nyasasaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 2:46, with Penpa Plus replay this time.

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
Following Philip’s last “Irregular” Sudoku, this puzzle requires having an even and odd number on opposite sides of each bold boundary, making a more challenging variation until you plan for the disparities.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Author/Opus: This is the 23rd puzzle from Philip Newman, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region. Across the bold region boundaries, the numbers must be of opposite parity (i.e., even on one side and odd on the other). For example in this puzzle: if R1C6 is odd, R1C7 must be even. If R1C6 is even, R1C7 must be odd.

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 8:30; One party hat (🥳): 18:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: August Aepysaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 5:08 on an earlier grid with four fewer givens, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

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 Sudoku including variations can be found in these books in our e-store. Also, visit this page to purchase all of the puzzles from the 16th World Sudoku Championship including classic Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
In Odd-Even-Big-Small Sudoku there are lots of category clues to the first two numbers inside the grid. Can you figure out how those make a unique solution?

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Author/Opus: This is the 20th puzzle from Bill Murphy, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules (insert a number from 1 to 8 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region). Clues outside the grid give the nature of the first two cells seen from the direction of the clue as follows:
O for Odd = (1,3,5,7};
E for Even = {2,4,6,8};
B for Big = {5,6,7,8};
S for Small = {1,2,3,4}.

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 6:00; One party hat (🥳): 11:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: Subtle Supersaurus.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 2:59, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.

(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
The cages here now tell you the relative size of the numbers that go into them with 1 being the smallest and then 2 being the next smallest. These ranks are key to getting to the one unique solution.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)
or solve online (using Penpa-Plus; originally posted as a backup)

Author/Opus: This is the 41st puzzle from Clover, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region. Also, in each cage, a numbered cell indicates the rank of that cell across all values in the cage (1 being the smallest value, 2 being the second smallest value, and so on). Numbers cannot repeat in a cage.

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 7:30; One party hat (🥳): 14:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: high-ranking Hexing.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 3:59, with Penpa Plus replay this time.

Solution: PDF and solving video with explanation from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.