Monday Mutant 47: Fencing Match (all 3's)

In this Fencing Match puzzle, a 3 has been placed in every cell which could legally contain one. The number of edges of an empty cell which are part of the loop must not be 3. The rules are otherwise unchanged.

With apologies to MellowMelon (AKA Palmer Mebane).

In unrelated news, Sudoku Xtra issue 11 is out! It contains five of my puzzles, including 3 Battleships puzzles and a mutant Seek and Spell! It also contains two enjoyable Heyawake puzzles created by Gareth Moore himself, so even if you absolutely hate my puzzles, maybe you'll still enjoy something in there.

Monday Mutant 46: Danny Boy's Pipes

Place a piece of pipe in each square of the grid. Each pipe piece consists of two or more pipe sections which connect that piece to some or all of the squares which share an edge with the piece. Thus, there are four different shapes for a pipe piece: two sections at an angle (an L-bend), two sections in a line (an I-straight), three sections in a T-junction, and four sections in an X-junction. All of the pipe pieces must form a single connected unit, and there may not be any loose ends (if one piece has a section connecting to an adjacent square, the piece in that square must also have a section connecting back). Letters in a square represent the shapes (L-bend, I-straight, T-junction, X-junction) of all of the pieces which are connected to the piece on that square. (See here for an illustrated example.)

Monday Mutant 45: Danny Boy's Pipes

Place a piece of pipe in each square of the grid. Each pipe piece consists of two or more pipe sections which connect that piece to some or all of the squares which share an edge with the piece. Thus, there are four different shapes for a pipe piece: two sections at an angle (an L-bend), two sections in a line (an I-straight), three sections in a T-junction, and four sections in an X-junction. All of the pipe pieces must form a single connected unit, and there may not be any loose ends (if one piece has a section connecting to an adjacent square, the piece in that square must also have a section connecting back). Letters in a square represent the shapes (L-bend, I-straight, T-junction, X-junction) of all of the pieces which are connected to the piece on that square. (See here for an illustrated example.)

This puzzle type, which first appeared on my old blog, is based on Knarly Works by Everett Kaser Software.

Monday Mutant 44: Right Way Robot

A robot is located on the cell with a red arrow, facing in the direction the arrow points. The robot is programmed to move forward until it reaches a wall (the perimeter of the puzzle or a black cell) or a cell it has already visited. At this point, the robot will attempt to turn 90 degrees to the right and continue moving forward again; if a wall or a cell that has already been visited it to its right, the robot will attempt to turn left instead. The robot will stop when it can no longer move to a cell it hasn't already visited. Shade in some of the cells black such that the robot will visit every white cell in the grid, and stop on a dot. Cells containing dots or arrows may not be black; additionally, the robot must exit a cell with an arrow (including the cell it starts on) in the direction the arrow indicates. (See here for an illustrated example.)

Monday Mutant 43: Right Way Robot

A robot is located on the cell with a red arrow, facing in the direction the arrow points. The robot is programmed to move forward until it reaches a wall (the perimeter of the puzzle or a black cell) or a cell it has already visited. At this point, the robot will attempt to turn 90 degrees to the right and continue moving forward again; if a wall or a cell that has already been visited it to its right, the robot will attempt to turn left instead. The robot will stop when it can no longer move to a cell it hasn't already visited. Shade in some of the cells black such that the robot will visit every white cell in the grid, and stop on a dot. Cells containing dots or arrows may not be black; additionally, the robot must exit a cell with an arrow (including the cell it starts on) in the direction the arrow indicates. (See here for an illustrated example.)

This concept was invented by MellowMelon. I feel very honored to have the privilege of working my monogram into a puzzle genre he created. :)

Puzzle 450: Room and Reason 35

I have yet again kept up the mentally exhausting tradition of posting a 31x45 puzzle every 25th puzzle. I feel very, very spent. I hope you're happy, readers!

I would like to thank the people, dogs, and God who have kept my blog and me alive. I can't think of much else to say, so here's a video I found while trying to find an interesting link related to the number 450.

Rules of Room and Reason 

(click to enlarge)

Monday Mutant 42: Battleships

Ten ships (as indicated below the grid: one four-cell ship, two three-cell ships, three two-cell ships, and four one-cell ships) are hidden in the grid. The ships may be rotated from the orientations shown, but may not overlap or occupy cells which share a corner or an edge. A number to the right of a row or below a column indicates how many cells in that row or column are occupied by ships. Additionally, some segments of the ships are shown within the grid, and cells with wavy lines are "water" cells which cannot contain ships. Find the ships.