PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between Sudoku = big entries and Number candidate = small entries in the corners of cells.)

Theme: Antisymmetric Hole

Author/Opus: This is the 186th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Tight Fit Sudoku rules. Also, digits within a gray square must be even and digits within a gray circle must be odd. The range of this puzzle is 1-9.

Answer String: Enter the 2nd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 5th row from left to right. (Note: for the tight fit cells, enter the top before the bottom as would be normal for the read order.)

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:15, Master = 6:00, Expert = 12:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Tight Fit Sudoku puzzles on this website. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Tight Fit Sudoku to get started on. More Tight Fit Sudoku can be found in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli and in The Art of Sudoku 2.

PDF

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

Theme: Four by Four

Author/Opus: This is the 308th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

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.)

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 = 2:45, Master = 4:00, Expert = 8:00

Solution: PDF

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 The Art of Sudoku 2.

(Note: puzzles during this bonus week are harder than usual; the four puzzles from Monday-Thursday are all about Thursday or Friday level difficulty.)

PDF

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

Theme: Maze

Author/Opus: This is the 44th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Shade some white cells black so that exactly one of the grid’s clues appears in each contiguous white or black region and indicates the clued region’s area. Circled numbers indicate cells that must remain white.

Also see this example:

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from left to right for the marked rows. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:30, Master = 7:45, Expert = 15:30

Solution: Answers for this week in this PDF.

Note: Light is John Bulten’s variation of the shading puzzle Light and Shadow, created by Serkan Yürekli. Unlike Light and Shadow, where all numbered cells start white or black, in Light puzzles the numbered cells that are not shaded or circled may be either white or black in the solution.

(Note: puzzles during this bonus week are harder than usual; the four puzzles from Monday-Thursday are all about Thursday or Friday level difficulty.)

PDF

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

Theme: Hidden

Author/Opus: This is the 43rd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Shade some white cells black so that each contiguous white region is a valid Four Winds region (that is, the white region consists of at least two white cells, and has at most one “central” cell where both vertical and horizontal connections are made; if the white region contains a numeric clue, this clue must be the “central” cell and represent the count of all other cells in the region, which must be connected vertically or horizontally to this clue). An arrow clue must belong to a white region and point to its “central” cell (assignment of which cell is “central” is not necessary in one-cell-wide rectangular regions). The contiguous black regions can contain zero, one, or more clues. All clues inside a black region must indicate that region’s area.

Also see this example:

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from left to right for the marked rows. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:45, Master = 8:00, Expert = 16:00

Solution: Answers for this week in this PDF.

Note: Winddraughts is John Bulten’s variation on the puzzles Four Winds and Checkered Fillomino.

(Note: puzzles during this bonus week are harder than usual; the four puzzles from Monday-Thursday are all about Thursday or Friday level difficulty.)

PDF

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

Theme: Anchor

Author/Opus: This is the 42nd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Shade some white cells black so that one of the grid’s clues in each contiguous white or black region indicates the clued region’s area. (Each contiguous region must therefore have at least one clue.) Any other clue in the region must indicate how many of the clued cell’s immediate neighbors are white (up to 9, including itself).

Also see this example:

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from left to right for the marked rows. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 6:15, Expert = 12:30

Solution: Answers for this week in this PDF.

Note: Turf is a shading puzzle created by John Bulten. We will have several more Turf puzzles from John in a few months when we start a new “Puzzlemasters’ Workshop” book series.

(Note: puzzles during this bonus week are harder than usual; the four puzzles from Monday-Thursday are all about Thursday or Friday level difficulty.)

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between shading mode and the linex mode where left click+drag draws lines and right click marks X’s)

Theme: Pi

Author/Opus: This is the 41st puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Shade some white cells black so that the grid is divided into white and black regions. Cells with numbers cannot be shaded. Each white region must contain exactly one number and have the same area in cells as that number. Two white or two black regions may only touch diagonally. Each black region must be exactly specified by one shape graph given below the grid, where graph edges represent one-cell-wide straight paths with variable lengths, and graph nodes represent ends, turns, and branch points. Graphs can be rotated and reflected, and, if multiple graphs are given, not all need be used.

Also see this example:

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from left to right for the marked rows. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 6:00, Expert = 12:00

Solution: Answers for this week in this PDF.

Note: Surf is a shading/object placement puzzle created by Izak Bulten, which draws on elements from other shading puzzles like Nurikabe. We will have several more Surf puzzles from Izak and John Bulten in a few months when we start a new “Puzzlemasters’ Workshop” book series.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a composite mode for line/edge drawing and a letter entry mode.)

Theme: Puzzlin’ One

Author/Opus: This is the 39th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Standard Pentominous rules.

Answer String: Enter the letter associated with the pentomino occupying each cell in the marked rows from left to right and in the marked columns from top to bottom, separating the groups with a comma. Use CAPITAL LETTERS!

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:30, Master = 3:30, Expert = 7:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Pentominous puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Pentominous to get started on. More Pentominous puzzles can be found in Plenty o’ Pentominous by Grant Fikes and Murat Can Tonta.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a composite mode for line/edge drawing and a letter entry mode.)

Theme: U’s Full

Author/Opus: This is the 255th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Grant Fikes.

Rules: Standard Pentominous rules.

Answer String: Enter the letter associated with the pentomino occupying each cell in the marked rows from left to right and in the marked columns from top to bottom, separating the groups with a comma. Use CAPITAL LETTERS!

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:45, Master = 2:45, Expert = 5:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Pentominous puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Pentominous to get started on. More Pentominous puzzles can be found in Plenty o’ Pentominous by Grant Fikes and Murat Can Tonta.

PDF

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

Theme: Pi Circle in Order

Author/Opus: This is the 182nd puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Serkan Yürekli.

Rules: Standard Thermo-Sudoku rules.

Answer String: Enter the 2nd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 4th row from left to right.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 5:00, Expert = 10:00

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.

(view directly for a larger image)

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: 69 Slices of Pi

Author/Opus: This is the 37th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Rules: Standard Outside Sudoku rules. (Some digit clues are repeated but these behave no differently than single clues; 0’s can be ignored.)

Answer String: Enter the 3rd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 5th column from top to bottom.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:45, Master = 3:30, Expert = 7:00

Solution: PDF

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