This is a Star Fillomino puzzle. Not all of the cells will be contained in polyominoes; the remaining cells will contain stars. Every row and every column must contain two stars, and no two stars may be in cells which share a corner or an edge.
Puzzle 325
(Click for larger size)
Part 4 of 4 in the Fillomino-fillia preview series. See mathgrant’s blog for the other half.
Answer Entry: Enter the units digits of each square in the marked rows and columns, from left to right for rows and from top to bottom for columns. For a cell with a star, write S.
Highlight to see answer: S4144332S3, 51255S1S32
Of all the puzzles in consideration for inclusion on the test or in this preview series, this is the only one without rotational symmetry (inequality signs in Greater-Than not included). I confess it was originally an accident, but even after I noticed it the idea of one of the stars being upside down didn’t seem to work aesthetically. It comes down to the fact that the star icons themselves don’t have 180 degree rotational symmetry.
Melon's Puzzles 
June 3, 2011 at 9:59 am |
Great hybrid. It seems finding the stars’ locations first is better, though progress can’t be done without switching focus often, just like most hybrid puzzles. The test’s tomorrow…let’s see. 🙂