Monday Mutant 39: Polyominous / Quad-Wrangle
In this Polyominous puzzle, every region must be shaped like a rectangle. (Thus, the puzzle is similar to a Quad-Wrangle puzzle, but without the restriction that every region must contain exactly one number, and with the restriction that regions with the same area may not share an edge.) The rules are otherwise unchanged.
Monday Mutant 38: Polyominous / Quad-Wrangle
In this Polyominous puzzle, every region must be shaped like a rectangle. (Thus, the puzzle is similar to a Quad-Wrangle puzzle, but without the restriction that every region must contain exactly one number, and with the restriction that regions with the same area may not share an edge.) The rules are otherwise unchanged.
Monday Mutant 37: Polyominous (Kropki)
In this Polyominous puzzle, a pair of horizontally or vertically adjacent cells with a white circle between them must contain two consecutive numbers, and a pair of horizontally or vertically adjacent cells with a black circle between them must contain one number which is two times the other number. If two adjacent cells do not have a circle between them, then neither of these conditions may be true. The rules are otherwise unchanged.
The inspiration for this one comes from a puzzle called Kropki (which is apparently the Polish word for "dot"), but I'd be remiss not to mention cyrebjr's puzzles, as well.
The inspiration for this one comes from a puzzle called Kropki (which is apparently the Polish word for "dot"), but I'd be remiss not to mention cyrebjr's puzzles, as well.
Grant's Review Corner: Volume 1
A certain Rex Parker has a blog devoted entirely to his experiences related to solving the New York Times crossword puzzle; Thomas Snyder parodied this in a post about KenKen. (He then went on from doing the NYT KenKen to outdoing it, because he's a grandmaster like that.) I don't know how often I'll be doing posts like this, especially given the fickle nature of "fair use", but I thought I'd try anyway.
Recently, the Acquisitions Editor of Brain Games, a publication in which I've been attempting to get published ever since the previous Acquisitions Editor contacted me a year ago, offered to send some free issues of Brain Games to help me get an idea of what kind of puzzles are offered. I graciously accepted the offer, and the issues arrived two days ago. The following are two puzzles called Digital Sudoku which appeared in issue 29. The instructions, as explained in Brain Games, are as follows: "Fill in the grid such that each row, each column, and each 2 by 3 box contains the numbers 1 through 6 exactly once. Numbers are in digital form. Some segments have been filled in." (These puzzles are © 2009 Publications International, Ltd.; I believe the use of just two puzzles from a past issue for review purposes qualifies as fair use, but will remove this post gladly otherwise.)
WHAT FOLLOWS ARE SOLUTIONS AND SPOILERS. YOU MAY WISH TO SOLVE THE PUZZLES YOURSELF BEFORE YOU CONTINUE READING.
Recently, the Acquisitions Editor of Brain Games, a publication in which I've been attempting to get published ever since the previous Acquisitions Editor contacted me a year ago, offered to send some free issues of Brain Games to help me get an idea of what kind of puzzles are offered. I graciously accepted the offer, and the issues arrived two days ago. The following are two puzzles called Digital Sudoku which appeared in issue 29. The instructions, as explained in Brain Games, are as follows: "Fill in the grid such that each row, each column, and each 2 by 3 box contains the numbers 1 through 6 exactly once. Numbers are in digital form. Some segments have been filled in." (These puzzles are © 2009 Publications International, Ltd.; I believe the use of just two puzzles from a past issue for review purposes qualifies as fair use, but will remove this post gladly otherwise.)
WHAT FOLLOWS ARE SOLUTIONS AND SPOILERS. YOU MAY WISH TO SOLVE THE PUZZLES YOURSELF BEFORE YOU CONTINUE READING.
Puzzle 430: Room and Reason 32
Yep, another 20x36 Room and Reason. This one's probably more difficult than the previous puzzle is, so brace yourself.
Monday Mutant 36: Room and Reason (regular minus domino)
The leftmost grid is a Room and Reason puzzle. The middle grid is a "mutant" Room and Reason puzzle in which, instead of no two black cells being allowed to share an edge, every black cell must share an edge with EXACTLY ONE other black cell (the rules are otherwise unchanged). The given numbers in the two puzzles are in the same locations (although some are shown as blank squares rather than numbers), and when the givens in the latter puzzle are subtracted from the correspondingly located givens in the former puzzle, the resulting differences are the numbers shown in the rightmost grid. Solve both puzzles.
(click to enlarge)
Monday Mutant 35: Room and Reason x Streaming Content
The leftmost grid is a Room and Reason puzzle. The middle grid is a Streaming Content puzzle. The given numbers in the two puzzles are in the same locations (although they are shown as blank squares rather than numbers), and when the givens in the former puzzle are multiplied by the correspondingly located givens in the latter puzzle, the resulting products are the numbers shown in the rightmost grid. Solve both puzzles.
(click to enlarge)
Monday Mutant 34: Room and Reason (wacky)
In this Room and Reason puzzle, not all of the rooms are rectangular. The white cells may not pass over two or more boundaries between consecutive rooms in an uninterrupted horizontal or vertical line (even if this entails exiting a room and then entering it again -- this is more specific than the usual rule which states that the white cells may not exceed two consecutive rooms in an uninterrupted horizontal or vertical line). The rules are otherwise unchanged.
Monday Mutant 33: Room and Reason (wacky)
In this Room and Reason puzzle, not all of the rooms are rectangular. The white cells may not pass over two or more boundaries between consecutive rooms in an uninterrupted horizontal or vertical line (even if this entails exiting a room and then entering it again -- this is more specific than the usual rule which states that the white cells may not exceed two consecutive rooms in an uninterrupted horizontal or vertical line). The rules are otherwise unchanged.
It's tough thinking of things to do with these rules which Thomas Snyder and MellowMelon haven't already done.
It's tough thinking of things to do with these rules which Thomas Snyder and MellowMelon haven't already done.
Monday Mutant 32: Cross the Streams
Shade in some cells black such that the black cells are all connected to each other through their edges, and no 2x2 cell area within the grid contains all black cells. Numbers to the left of a row or above a column represent the groups of consecutive black cells which are in that row or column. For example, a clue of "3" means the row or column has three consecutive black cells, and a clue of "3 1" means that the row or column has a group of three consecutive black cells followed by a single black cell, separated by at least one white cell. A question mark (?) represents a group of consecutive black cells whose size is unknown; an asterisk (*) represents any number of unknown groups of black cells, including none at all.
If you're a fan of today's Monday Mutants, I've created a 25x25 Cross the Streams puzzle which might appear in issue 9 of Sudoku Xtra. Can't be too sure, though, since Dr. Gareth Moore seems to be a little late publishing issue 9 this month. (Edit August 3, 2010: Sudoku Xtra 9 is now out, and does indeed contain my 25x25 Cross the Streams puzzle, in addition to two other puzzles exclusive to the magazine.)
If you're a fan of today's Monday Mutants, I've created a 25x25 Cross the Streams puzzle which might appear in issue 9 of Sudoku Xtra. Can't be too sure, though, since Dr. Gareth Moore seems to be a little late publishing issue 9 this month. (Edit August 3, 2010: Sudoku Xtra 9 is now out, and does indeed contain my 25x25 Cross the Streams puzzle, in addition to two other puzzles exclusive to the magazine.)
Monday Mutant 31: Cross the Streams
Shade in some cells black such that the black cells are all connected to each other through their edges, and no 2x2 cell area within the grid contains all black cells. Numbers to the left of a row or above a column represent the groups of consecutive black cells which are in that row or column. For example, a clue of "3" means the row or column has three consecutive black cells, and a clue of "3 1" means that the row or column has a group of three consecutive black cells followed by a single black cell, separated by at least one white cell. A question mark (?) represents a group of consecutive black cells whose size is unknown; an asterisk (*) represents any number of unknown groups of black cells, including none at all.
I'd always wondered how Griddlers/Hanjie/Nonograms/Paint by Numbers/Pic-a-Pix/Picross (that's a whole lot of freaking names -- and those are just the most well-known ones. . .) would work with wildcards. This was the result.
I'd always wondered how Griddlers/Hanjie/Nonograms/Paint by Numbers/Pic-a-Pix/Picross (that's a whole lot of freaking names -- and those are just the most well-known ones. . .) would work with wildcards. This was the result.
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