Puzzle 71: Polyominous 9

In a rather fortuitous moment, a local university professor accidentally sent this long-lost creation of mine instead of his creation for Logicsmith Exhibition 1: Polyominous. Hooray for fortuitousness!

Puzzle 70: Tetra Firma 6

I think this one's enjoyably wacky. :)

Puzzle 69: Polyominous 8

Argh, I feel utterly exhausted from test-solving and repeatedly finding and fixing flaws in this one. I repeatedly swore, thinking all my hard work was about to be for naught. x.x I think I managed to create a rather sexy puzzle in the end, though.

Puzzle 67: Fencing Match 9

No comment.

Logicsmith Exhibition 1: Polyominous

Would you like to try your hand at logicsmithing, and possibly be featured on my blog? Read on!

On its online puzzle site nikoli.com, the Japanese company Nikoli recently asked its authors to create different Slitherlink puzzles all using the same arrangement of givens. I've decided to try a similar experiment here, using the puzzle Polyominous (link to rules, Polyominous puzzles from my blog). Here is the layout:

Your challenge is to replace each of the question marks with an integer to create a uniquely solvable Polyominous puzzle. Send your puzzle (and optionally, its solution) to my e-mail address at glmathgrant@gmail.com. After two weeks (meaning the deadline is October 2), I will post the puzzle I have constructed for this layout, as well as some of my favorite submissions from other people.

I hope to try this kind of experiment again in the future if the response is good enough. Have fun! :)

Puzzle 65: Polyominous 7

I just felt like making a puzzle with the givens shaped like the letter N. I don't know why.

Puzzle 64: Numeral Crossing 3

No comment.

Puzzle 63: Numeral Crossing 2

This one's a bit more difficult.

Puzzle 62: Numeral Crossing 1

This one's fairly easy. :)

Rules -- Numeral Crossing

I do not know the origin of this type of puzzle. It's just been around for a long time. Nikoli calls it Nansuke.


1. Place a single digit in each white cell of the grid.
2. A horizontal or vertical group of two or more consecutive white cells, bounded on both sides by black cells or the edge of the grid, is called an entry. Every entry, reading from left to right or from top to bottom, must be one of the numbers listed below the grid. Every number listed below the grid must appear as exactly one entry.

Puzzle 61: Fencing Match 8

This puzzle came out a little easier than I wanted. Oh, well. But the aesthetic is good enough. :)

Puzzle 60: Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania 5

Can you tell that this puzzle was inspired by insomnia? :p

Rules of Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania

During a five-night period from Monday through Friday, Eliza Pseudonym had a series of unusual dreams. Every night, she had a dream set in a different unusual place (in one dream, Eliza found herself on trial in a courtroom). In each dream, a different one of her closest friends unexpectedly appeared and said something seemingly nonsensical. Eliza noted that she had eaten something different each night before going to bed; needless to say, she has sworn not to eat any of those foodstuffs so late at night ever again! From the clues below, determine the setting of the dream Eliza had each night, which of her friends made an appearance, what each friend said, and what food item Eliza had eaten each night.

1. Eliza had a dream about her friend Carla precisely two nights before or two nights after her dream in which she was a soldier on a war-torn battlefield.
2. The dream in which a friend said, "I like shorts! They're comfy and easy to wear!" occurred either the night before or the night after Eliza ate beef jerky.
3. Eliza ate some delicious chocolate chip cookies on the night her dream featured a friend saying, "I was raised by a cup of coffee!"
4. Barbra made an appearance in a dream precisely three nights before Eliza ate pickles.
5. The dream with Delilah in it occurred some time prior to the dream in which Eliza's friend said, "There is no nineteenth story, so there is no Miss Zarves."
6. Eliza dreamed that she was the host of a popular talk show either the night before or the night after her dream where a friend said, "Paleobotanical backwards licorice."
7. Anna was in Eliza's dream precisely one night after pretzels were eaten before going to bed.
8. A friend said, "Mr. Jock, TV quiz PhD, bags few lynx," in the dream where Eliza was a scientist performing studies at a laboratory.
9. Eliza ate an orange precisely two nights after she dreamed about dancing to funky music at a disco.
10. Fiona appeared in Eliza's dream on Tuesday night.

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