Puzzle 619: Fencing Match 53

I turn 30 tomorrow, so have this pair of 30th birthday cakes. This puzzle was originally posted over 11 years ago on my LiveJournal, where it was written for the 30th birthday of fellow puzzle writer (and my greatest inspiration at the time) Adam "Zotmeister" Wood, meaning I was almost 19 when I wrote it, yet upon re-solving it it feels like the kind of puzzle I'd write today, so I thought I'd remake it in my newer image style and share it here. Special thanks to patron Edderiofer He for asking me for images of the old LiveJournal puzzles (the images are no longer available on the LiveJournal itself) and finding this in the ZIP archive.

Rules of Fencing Match

Puzzle 618: Proof of Quilt 12

I wrote this puzzle last year for Grandmaster Puzzles, but Thomas Snyder doesn't really care for Shakashaka puzzles, so I've decided to finally post it here (just to prove my blog's title hasn't completely decayed). The last time I posted a large puzzle of this type, a reader helpfully provided a URL to play it online, and since I helpfully already had a plaintext version of the puzzle saved, I was able to generate such a URL myself. Play this puzzle on PUZ-PRE here!

A while back, I alluded to some changes in my life. I'm not quite sure what's going to happen; my computer hasn't been moved out yet, and it might end up staying here after all. This might mean more Wordy Wednesdays; I have a puzzle written that I don't think will be suitable for any other outlet (and will probably be Wordy Wednesday 51), and I really don't want to stop on a number like 51 if I can help it!

Rules of Proof of Quilt

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Puzzle 617: Totally Awesum 25

I was recently commissioned to write some logic puzzles, mostly Kakuro, for someone's project (not related to Kakuro Conquest, by the way). What is this project, and why do I have this puzzle left over from it? I hope my client gives me the go-ahead to say a little more than that. . . :)

Unrelated news: something big is coming to this blog on May 28. Stay tuned!

Rules of Totally Awesum

Puzzle 616: Seek and Spell 11

Can you determine who the dedicatee of this puzzle is?

Edit: Lon in Austin got it. The dedicatee is crossword constructor Brendan Emmett Quigley, whose three initials are contained in every word in this puzzle. He's not good at spelling my last name, but his puzzle skills are, from what I've sampled, top-notch.

Rules of Seek and Spell

Puzzle 615: Totally Awesum 24

I was recently commissioned to write some logic puzzles, mostly Kakuro, for someone's project (not related to Kakuro Conquest, by the way). What is this project, and why do I have this puzzle left over from it? Stay tuned. . . .
Rules of Totally Awesum

Puzzle 614: Process of Illumination 41

I'm trying to train my mother in the fine art of solving Process of Illumination puzzles; thus far, she's having some trouble with it, but desires more training to get stronger. I have a huge pool to pull from. . . .

Rules of Process of Illumination

Puzzle 613: Dominnocuous 8

My mother got a much-needed laugh out of my latest Grant's Review Corner, in which I recount our shared experience with a crossword edited by Timothy Parker for a "for Dummies" book. Also, with my gentle guidance, she solved her first Dominnocuous, which was also my blog's first Dominnocuous! Moms rock sometimes. :)

Rules of Dominnocuous

Puzzle 612: Totally Awesum 23

A while back, I was commissioned to write puzzles for Kakuro Conquest, thanks to my impressive haggling skills and talking the other person up from "hey, promote this site". I even promoted them in a volume of Grant's Review Corner, praising their solving interface for its simplicity. As much as I would love to see my puzzles playable in said interface, so far this hasn't happened. In a couple of weeks, if Kakuro Conquest shows no sign of life (including replying to the message I sent via their contact form), I will release the puzzles on this blog so they don't go to waste (and so this blog has something happening on it). The puzzle below is not one of those puzzles, but I do believe it's representative of the quality you can expect.

Edit: I have now reached out to Perfomant Design via Kakuro Conquest's contact form, the e-mail address on their site, and their Twitter account, in the best good faith effort which I can muster to give them a chance to stop me from using these puzzles without their permission. I also reached out to Kareem Ahmed, who contacted me on behalf on Performant in 2011 back when he worked closely with them, and paid me to write the puzzles in the first place. If I am getting myself into hot water, I have at the very least done everything I can think of to test the temperature safely.

Rules of Totally Awesum

Puzzle 611: Room and Reason 41

This puzzle was written for Joe Huber (huber) of BoardGameGeek, who recently won some of my possessions in an auction and paid enough to also have a custom puzzle written for him. Having bought a lot of four copies of my board game Battle of LITS and a lot of all four Game & Watch Gallery games, I can only assume Mr. Huber has an affinity for the number 4 (and who doesn't?). The centerpiece of this puzzle is a 4x4 room with a 4.

Rules of Room and Reason

Puzzle 610: Polyominous 55

This puzzle was written for P. Kellach Waddle (GustavMahler) of BoardGameGeek, who recently won some of my possessions in an auction and paid enough to also have a custom puzzle written for him. Given the eclectic range of his interests (including a major presence in the Austin classical music scene, whose existence I am only now aware of), a single puzzle can't really do him justice; nonetheless, I hope that seeing his initials in this puzzle somehow makes his participation in my auction a little more worthwhile. :)

Rules of Polyominous

Puzzle 609: Tetra Tirma 43

A shout-out to Cy Reb, Jr., who was observant enough to notice that this puzzle was contained in puzzle 608.

There are still a few days left in these auctions I'm holding on BoardGameGeek. You can support my father's medical bills by bidding, and get stuff from it. Of course, if you want less of your money to be eaten by shipping costs and more of it to be eaten by my father's hip replacement, donations are happily accepted.

Rules of Tetra Firma

Puzzle 608: Dominnocuous 7

Yesterday, I received Norinori 1 and a handful of other Nikoli books as a belated birthday present. As expected, the puzzles in Norinori 1 range from 10x10 through 20x36, and a few of them are very pretty to look at.

Rules of Dominnocuous

Puzzle 607: Tetra Firma 42

At 11:59 PM (Central) on May 26, I will hold a drawing to see who wins a copy of Battle of LITS! If you have a BoardGameGeek account, tip some GeekGold to earn some raffle entries and potentially win! The tips have reached 400 GeekGold, so here's a puzzle! Can I get 276 more in less than 11 hours? Probably not, but one can always hope.

Also check out today's Sunday Surprise on Grandmaster Puzzles for another opportunity to win Battle of LITS!

Rules of Tetra Firma

Puzzle 606: Quad-Wrangle 27

In just a few days, on May 26, I will hold a drawing to see who wins a copy of Battle of LITS! If you have a BoardGameGeek account, tip some GeekGold to earn some raffle entries and potentially win! The tips have reached 300 GeekGold, so here's a puzzle! Will they reach 400, 500, 600, or even 676 in such a short period of time? I doubt it, but you could always surprise me.

Rules of Quad-Wrangle

Puzzle 605: Straight and Arrow 43

In just a few days, on May 26, I will hold a drawing to see who wins a copy of Battle of LITS! If you have a BoardGameGeek account, tip some GeekGold to earn some raffle entries and potentially win!

My family's finances haven taken a sharp downturn due to my father needing surgery. For more details, see this Geeklist (the header and the comments), where you can also bid on board games and video games I am selling to raise money. I am also grateful to the individuals so far who have donated funds without expecting anything in return (including a few readers of this blog). You are amazing.

Rules of Straight and Arrow

Puzzle 604: Streaming Content 39

On May 26, I will turn 26. To celebrate, I'm giving away a copy of my board game Battle of LITS! Got a BoardGameGeek account and some Geekgold? Tip this Games for Geekgold entry, and on May 26, you will have a chance at winning! Oh, and if the tips reach 676 Geekgold, my readers will be treated to the biggest LITS challenge I've ever created!
(Edit: Send me your solution to this puzzle via e-mail or Geekmail; for every correct solution received before May 26, I'll roll a 4-sided die and knock off that many Geekgold from the 676 Geekgold threshold, up to a maximum of 100 Geekgold!)

Rules of Streaming Content

Puzzle 603: Tetra Firma 41

I failed to raise 603 GeekGold on GeekStarter. Here's a consolation prize for all five of the individuals who supported me: Barliman, n_r_a, Pawndawan, WrongWrongWrong, and zefquaavius.

Rules of Tetra Firma

Puzzle 602: Dominnocuous 6

Remember that contest where you raised enough money for some charities that I was able to make puzzle 602 giant? Your giant has arrived! Fans of dominoes, rejoice!

Just as an advance warning, tomorrow will have no Monday Mutant. I figured these big things need some time to shine. :)

Rules of Dominnocuous

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Puzzle 601: Proof of Quilt 11

Remember that contest where you raised enough money for some charities that I was able to make puzzle 601 giant? Your giant has arrived! Fans of right isosceles triangles and rectangles, rejoice!

Rules of Proof of Quilt

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Puzzle 600: Tetra Firma 40

Remember that contest where a guy named Jeff won a book of LITS puzzles? Well, he already had that book, so here is his substitute prize! Thank you, Jeff (or Jangler, as you prefer to be called), for being an awesome reader.

Rules of Tetra Firma

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