{"id":30869,"date":"2024-10-27T10:00:52","date_gmt":"2024-10-27T17:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/?p=30869"},"modified":"2024-11-24T06:53:06","modified_gmt":"2024-11-24T14:53:06","slug":"bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Bonus: Star Battle (also known as Queens) by Thomas Snyder"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year, Thomas helped provide puzzles for the launch of the LinkedIn game Queens<\/a>, a very accessible, one-star version of Star Battle puzzles. We will be posting some weekly Queens bonuses here through this season, including this surprisingly tough puzzle, despite its cheerful appearance.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"Star<\/p>\n

PDF<\/a><\/p>\n

or solve online<\/a> (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.)<\/p>\n

Theme:<\/b> Smiley Face<\/p>\n

Author\/Opus:<\/b> This is the 520th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.<\/p>\n

Rules:<\/b> Standard Star Battle<\/a> rules. One star per row, column, and region.<\/p>\n

Difficulty:<\/b> 2.5 stars<\/p>\n

Time Standards (highlight to view):<\/b> Grandmaster = 1:15, Master = 2:30, Expert = 5:00<\/span><\/p>\n

Solution:<\/b> PDF<\/a> and solving animation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Note:<\/b> Follow this link for other one-star Star Battle puzzles exactly like Queens<\/a>, and this link for our easiest Star Battles<\/a>, including many with two stars per region, which are a great way to get started on this version of the puzzle. More Star Battle puzzles can be found in these books<\/a> in our e-store including our Starter Pack 5: Star Battle<\/a> book.<\/p>\n

Note 2:<\/b>\u00a0Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our\u00a0Week 8 Discussion<\/a>\u00a0post\u00a0on the GMPuzzles Discord.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year, Thomas helped provide puzzles for the launch of the LinkedIn game Queens, a very accessible, one-star version of Star Battle puzzles. We will be posting some weekly Queens bonuses here through this season, including this surprisingly tough puzzle, despite its cheerful appearance. PDF or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,226,3],"tags":[15,26,82,227],"class_list":["post-30869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-star-battle","category-season-4","category-puzzle","tag-wednesdaythursday","tag-starbattle","tag-classic","tag-queens"],"yoast_head":"\nBonus: Star Battle (also known as Queens) by Thomas Snyder - The Art of Puzzles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Season 4 bonus Queens puzzle by Thomas Snyder with a smiley face hiding what might be a harder overall solution path.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bonus: Star Battle (also known as Queens) by Thomas Snyder - The Art of Puzzles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Season 4 bonus Queens puzzle by Thomas Snyder with a smiley face hiding what might be a harder overall solution path.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Art of Puzzles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-10-27T17:00:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-24T14:53:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/images\/puzzles2024\/241027-StarBattleQueens-SmileyFace.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"drsudoku\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drsudoku\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@drsudoku\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"drsudoku\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"drsudoku\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/16f28006b2b31c98ce6d8d1affd60275\"},\"headline\":\"Bonus: Star Battle (also known as Queens) by Thomas Snyder\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-27T17:00:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-24T14:53:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":232,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/images\\\/puzzles2024\\\/241027-StarBattleQueens-SmileyFace.png\",\"keywords\":[\"wed\\\/thurs\",\"starbattle\",\"classic\",\"queens\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Star Battle\",\"Season 4\",\"Puzzle\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\\\/\",\"name\":\"Bonus: Star Battle (also known as Queens) by Thomas Snyder - The Art of Puzzles\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/images\\\/puzzles2024\\\/241027-StarBattleQueens-SmileyFace.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-27T17:00:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-24T14:53:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/16f28006b2b31c98ce6d8d1affd60275\"},\"description\":\"Season 4 bonus Queens puzzle by Thomas Snyder with a smiley face hiding what might be a harder overall solution path.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/images\\\/puzzles2024\\\/241027-StarBattleQueens-SmileyFace.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/images\\\/puzzles2024\\\/241027-StarBattleQueens-SmileyFace.png\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bonus: Star Battle (also known as Queens) by Thomas Snyder\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Art of Puzzles\",\"description\":\"Grandmaster Puzzles\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/16f28006b2b31c98ce6d8d1affd60275\",\"name\":\"drsudoku\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/12\\\/drsudoku_avatar_1483074039-96x96.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/12\\\/drsudoku_avatar_1483074039-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/12\\\/drsudoku_avatar_1483074039-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"drsudoku\"},\"description\":\"3 time world sudoku champion, 6 time US puzzle champion, artisan puzzle designer with over a half dozen books and dozens of magazine articles on sudoku and other variations.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/drsudoku\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bonus: Star Battle (also known as Queens) by Thomas Snyder - The Art of Puzzles","description":"Season 4 bonus Queens puzzle by Thomas Snyder with a smiley face hiding what might be a harder overall solution path.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bonus: Star Battle (also known as Queens) by Thomas Snyder - The Art of Puzzles","og_description":"Season 4 bonus Queens puzzle by Thomas Snyder with a smiley face hiding what might be a harder overall solution path.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\/","og_site_name":"The Art of Puzzles","article_published_time":"2024-10-27T17:00:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-11-24T14:53:06+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/images\/puzzles2024\/241027-StarBattleQueens-SmileyFace.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"drsudoku","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drsudoku","twitter_site":"@drsudoku","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"drsudoku","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\/"},"author":{"name":"drsudoku","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/16f28006b2b31c98ce6d8d1affd60275"},"headline":"Bonus: Star Battle (also known as Queens) by Thomas Snyder","datePublished":"2024-10-27T17:00:52+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-24T14:53:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\/"},"wordCount":232,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/images\/puzzles2024\/241027-StarBattleQueens-SmileyFace.png","keywords":["wed\/thurs","starbattle","classic","queens"],"articleSection":["Star Battle","Season 4","Puzzle"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\/","name":"Bonus: Star Battle (also known as Queens) by Thomas Snyder - The Art of Puzzles","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/images\/puzzles2024\/241027-StarBattleQueens-SmileyFace.png","datePublished":"2024-10-27T17:00:52+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-24T14:53:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/16f28006b2b31c98ce6d8d1affd60275"},"description":"Season 4 bonus Queens puzzle by Thomas Snyder with a smiley face hiding what might be a harder overall solution path.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/images\/puzzles2024\/241027-StarBattleQueens-SmileyFace.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/images\/puzzles2024\/241027-StarBattleQueens-SmileyFace.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/bonus-star-battle-aka-queens-by-thomas-snyder-7\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bonus: Star Battle (also known as Queens) by Thomas Snyder"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/","name":"The Art of Puzzles","description":"Grandmaster Puzzles","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/16f28006b2b31c98ce6d8d1affd60275","name":"drsudoku","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/drsudoku_avatar_1483074039-96x96.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/drsudoku_avatar_1483074039-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/drsudoku_avatar_1483074039-96x96.jpg","caption":"drsudoku"},"description":"3 time world sudoku champion, 6 time US puzzle champion, artisan puzzle designer with over a half dozen books and dozens of magazine articles on sudoku and other variations.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/author\/drsudoku\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30869"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30895,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30869\/revisions\/30895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}