Puzzle 36: Akari 4

Hope you enjoy.

Puzzle 35: Tatami 1

Sorry that I have been away for so long, avid readers. I have been preparing for the summer of programming contests (Google Code Jam, TopCoder Open and the Internet Puzzle Solving Contest).

Hopefully I should be back to my usual one-puzzle-per-weekday schedule. Let me know if there are any types of puzzle you would particularly like to see.

Puzzle 34: Bag 1

As requested, a corral puzzle.

Puzzle 33: Nurikabe 6

Thought I'd make a bit of an easier puzzle today. (Let me know if that didn't work out)

Puzzle 31: Masyu 6

Another anti-symmetric Masyu.

Puzzle 28: Mochikoro 2

Here is a Mochikoro. Note that there is one clue on each row, and one clue on each column, and the clues are the numbers 1 to 10, each occurring once. Note also, that there is 180 degree symmetry, and that the symmetrical pairs are 1-6, 2-7, 3-8, 4-9 and 5-10. Thought that was interesting. That's all.

Puzzle 27: Heyawake 4

Fiddlier end of medium, I'd say.

Puzzle 26: Heyawake 3

This one is quite hard, in my humble opinion. The key is to consider the four central squares.

Puzzle 24: Heyawake 2

I think I am done with this grid (cf. Country Road 1 and Shimaguni 1) for now.

Puzzle 23: Masyu 3

Hope you enjoy! Do you guys think it is beneficial to have difficulty ratings on these puzzles or not?

Puzzle 22: Tentai Show 1

Thanks to my long time collaborator Dave T for the picture.

Puzzle 21: Country Road 1

Decided to use the same grid I used for Shimaguni 1. May well use it for Heyawake 2 as well.

Puzzle 20: Mochikoro 1

My first attempt at constructing this style of puzzle. Let me know if there are any other styles of puzzle you would like to see.

Puzzle 18: Barns 2

This one is really quite hard. There is a hint available.

Puzzle 17: Barns 1

A new Nikoli type that I have not published before: Barns.

Instructions:
Draw a single loop through all of the cells of the grid, that does not cross itself outside of the shaded area, does not change direction inside the shaded area and does not cross any thick borders between cells.

Puzzle 16: Shimaguni 1

The grid is split up by thick borders into areas called 'rooms'. Shade some of the cells of the grid in such a way that:

• Each room has at least one shaded cell.
• Within each room, all shaded cells form one connected component.
• No wall between two rooms has shaded cells on both sides.
• Adjacent rooms have different numbers of shaded cells.

Puzzle 14: Nurikabe 3

I think this is my favourite of all of the puzzles I have made yet. Hope you enjoy!

Puzzle 13: Guards 1

I thought I would try my hand at making a new Puzzle Type. This puzzle type is called “Guards”, and it is sort of a blend of the Nikoli puzzle types Akari and Kurodoku.

Mark some of the empty squares as walls (black squares) and some as guards (empty circles) so that:

1) No two walls are adjacent

2) No two guards can see each other. (Guards can see horizontally and vertically up to the nearest wall or the edge of the grid)

3) Every empty cell is visible to a guard.

4) All the non-wall cells are connected orthogonally.

5) Each labelled wall cell indicates the number of adjacent guards.

6) Each labelled guard cell indicates the number of cells (including the one it inhabits) that it can see.

Puzzle 10: Slants 1

Decided to go with the English name of “Slants” for this rather than the Japanese “Gokigen Naname”.

Puzzle 9: Nurikabe 2

Getting a bit repetitive with all of these Nurikabes, I know, but here you go. This one is a bit harder than the previous one.