The Object Placement playoffs continued with this Battleships puzzle by Thomas Snyder with a symmetric pattern of sea clues.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between ship placement and shading modes. In ship placement mode, right click gives sea, left click gives circle/square, left click and drag for rounded ships.)

Author/Opus: This is the 459th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Battleships rules. Use the indicated fleet.

Estimated Difficulty: 2 stars

Solution: PDF for all Object Placement playoff puzzles.

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

The 30th World Puzzle Championship had five “mini-playoffs” to determine the top solvers in five different genres. Today we’ll be releasing the Object Placement puzzles starting with this “PLAYOFF” Star Battle puzzle by JinHoo Ahn.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; in composite Star Battle mode a left click places a star, right click in a cell marks off the cell, and a right click on an edge or corner marks in a dot as a placement note.)

Author/Opus: This is the 83rd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster JinHoo Ahn.

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

Estimated Difficulty: 2 stars

Solution: PDF for all Object Placement playoff puzzles.

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 these books in our e-store.

The 30th World Puzzle Championship had five “mini-playoffs” to determine the top solvers in five different genres. The puzzles were designed to be on the easier side, able to be solved in marker on an easel, and sometimes themed with “trophy” shapes or important championship numbers like 30 and 23. Today we’ll be releasing the Number Placement puzzles starting with this TomTom puzzle by Thomas Snyder.

PDF

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

Author/Opus: This is the 458th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard TomTom rules, using the integers 1-6.

Estimated Difficulty: 2-2.5 stars

Solution: PDF for all Number Placement playoff puzzles.

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 these books in our e-store.

The eighth playoff puzzle for the World Sudoku Championship playoffs, reflecting the unusual grids of the “Grid-Breaking” round, is this Isodoku by Thomas Snyder.

PDF

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

Author/Opus: This is the 456th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Isodoku rules, using numbers 1-8.

Estimated Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Solution: PDF for all playoff puzzles.

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

Our World Sudoku Championship playoffs puzzle series continues with this “16”-themed Outside Sudoku by Thomas Snyder.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between Sudoku entry modes and a shading mode to mark off clues.)

Theme: 16th WSC

Author/Opus: This is the 455th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Outside Sudoku rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region. Some numbers are given outside the grid. These numbers must appear in the first three cells in the corresponding direction.

Estimated Difficulty: 2.5-3 stars

Solution: PDF for all playoff puzzles.

Note: Follow this link for more Outside Sudoku puzzles. More Outside Sudoku puzzles can be found in Masterpiece Sudoku Mix 4.

The sixth puzzle for the World Sudoku Championship playoffs is another classic Sudoku with a diamond theme by Akash Doulani.

PDF

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

Theme: Diamond

Author/Opus: This is the 15th puzzle from guest contributor Akash Doulani.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Estimated Difficulty: 2.5 stars

Solution: PDF for all playoff puzzles.

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.

This week we are sharing the 10 puzzles that decided the World Sudoku Championship this year. There was an individual and a team round focusing on “Clone” puzzles, and the fifth playoff puzzle was such a Clone Sudoku with a Noughts and Crosses theme.

PDF

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

Theme: Noughts and Crosses

Author/Opus: This is the 413th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules. Also, all shaded regions of the same shape (“clones”) must include the same numbers in the same positions. Numbers may repeat within a clone.

Estimated Difficulty: 3 stars

Solution: PDF for all playoff puzzles.

Note: Follow this link for more variations of Sudoku.

The fourth World Sudoku Championship playoff puzzle was this Diagonal Sudoku from Thomas Snyder with a “16” theme. All the playoff puzzles represented different themed sudoku rounds and this one represented the Extra Toppings round with extra-region-type constraints.

PDF

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

Theme: 16th WSC

Author/Opus: This is the 454th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules. Also, numbers cannot repeat on the marked diagonals.

Estimated Difficulty: 2.5-3 stars

Solution: PDF for all playoff puzzles.

Note: Follow this link for more variations of Sudoku.

The third World Sudoku Championship playoff puzzle was this Arrow Sudoku from Zoltán Horváth with a visual “podium” theme. All the playoff puzzles represented different themed sudoku rounds and this one represented arithmetic sudoku.

PDF

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

Theme: WSC Podium

Author/Opus: This is the 19th puzzle from guest contributor Zoltán Horváth.

Rules: Standard Arrow Sudoku rules.

Estimated Difficulty: 2.5-3 stars

Solution: PDF for all playoff puzzles.

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 these books in our e-store.

The second World Sudoku Championship playoff puzzle was this fun Consecutive Pairs Sudoku by Ashish Kumar with two large boxes to work around.

PDF

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

Theme: Boxes

Author/Opus: This is the 116th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Ashish Kumar.

Rules: Standard Consecutive Pairs Sudoku rules. (If a gray circle is given between two adjacent cells, then the two numbers in those cells must be consecutive. Note not all gray circles are given; adjacent cells without a circle may contain either consecutive numbers or nonconsecutive numbers.)

Estimated Difficulty: 2.5-3 stars

Solution: PDF for all playoff puzzles.

Note: Follow this link for Consecutive Pairs Sudoku puzzles on this website. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Consecutive Pairs Sudoku to get started on. More Consecutive Pairs Sudoku puzzles can be found in these books in our e-store.