How to enter:
This contest consists of a four-part logic puzzle (below). To participate in the contest, solve the puzzle, obtain the final answer from part iv, and e-mail the answer to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Only one entry is allowed per person; however, if you believe your answer is wrong, you may change it at any time before the deadline. The deadline is two weeks from the time the contest started (that is, February 8, 2010).
How to win:
After the deadline has passed, the winner will be randomly selected from all of the entrants with the correct answer. Therefore, to win, you must both be skilled enough to solve the puzzles before the deadline, and lucky enough to be picked. (But even if you're not lucky, hopefully you'll have had fun solving the puzzles, right? :) )
Prize:
The winner will receive his or her choice of either 3 of Nikoli's Pencil Puzzle Books, or any 1 or 2 Nikoli books whose prices total at most 2100 yen (see this link for a list of all of the books Nikoli has available). Each Pencil Puzzle Book contains about 96 puzzles of one particular type, which is great if there's a certain puzzle type you particularly want to focus on; if you'd rather have a wider variety of puzzles available, books like the Penpas Mix series, the Puzzle Box series, and the Puzzle the Giants series will satisfy your needs perfectly. Either way, you win! :) When you win, provide me with your mailing address and which books you'd like; I'll pay Nikoli to have the books shipped directly to you.
Terms:
By entering the contest, you agree to the following terms:
a) You are prepared and willing to provide me with a mailing address in the event that you win. (In return, I agree not to use your mailing address for any malicious purposes, such as sending junk mail or other undesired things.)
b) You are prepared and willing to wait several weeks for the books to arrive from Japan (this contest is mostly for fun, anyhow -- and high-quality puzzles are worth the wait, right? :) ).
Now that you're done reading all that, here is the four-part contest puzzle. Good luck! :)
Part i. Room and Reason
Solve the Room and Reason puzzle below (rules of Room and Reason), and then answer Question i:
Question i: How many of the puzzle's ten rows contain exactly 2 black cells?
Part ii. Pearls of Wisdom
Solve the Pearls of Wisdom puzzle below (rules of Pearls of Wisdom), and then answer Question ii:
Question ii: What is the total number of cells in the four indicated columns which are NOT passed through by the loop?
Part iii. Straight and Arrow
Divide the numerical answer to Question i by 2, and replace i in the Straight and Arrow puzzle below with the remainder.
Divide the numerical answer to Question ii by 4, and replace ii in the Straight and Arrow puzzle below with an arrow facing up if the remainder is 0, an arrow facing right if the remainder is 1, an arrow facing down if the remainder is 2, or an arrow facing left if the remainder is 3.
Solve the Straight and Arrow puzzle below (rules of Straight and Arrow), and then answer Question iii:
Question iii: What is the total number of black cells in the two indicated rows?
Part iv. Polyominous
Solve the Polyominous puzzle below (rules of Polyominous), replacing iii with the numerical answer to Question iii.
The four numbers in the lettered cells, taken in reading order (a, b, c, d), form the final answer. Send this final answer to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com to enter the Attack of the Four Puzzles II! contest.
