This is a Nurikabe / Tapa Mastermind puzzle. Solve the left grid as a Nurikabe and the right grid as a Tapa. The gray numbers between corresponding rows represent Mastermind clues. If one were to superimpose the two solutions (without rotation or reflection), the gray number in a row tells exactly how many squares are shaded in both grids.
Puzzle 381
This is a Numberlink puzzle.
Puzzle 377
The symmetry and lack of edge clues was as hard to pull off as it looks like, both in constructing and proving uniqueness. I don’t think the puzzle itself is that difficult though.
This is a Statue Park puzzle.
Puzzle 375
This is a friendly notice that the full set of pentominoes is not used in this puzzle.
This is a Masyu puzzle, with a twist. The loop is not required to pass through black circles. But if a black circle is passed through, it still functions like it would in ordinary Masyu.
Puzzle 373
The gimmick in this puzzle means that trial and error strategies are likely to get you the solution in short order. So I did my best to make the logical path as clean as possible, and I mostly succeeded. For maximum enjoyment and challenge, avoid any if-then sequences of significant depth.
This is a Sudoku puzzle, with a twist. Only the numbers 1 to 7 are used in this puzzle, and two spaces in each row, column, and box will not have numbers. Those spaces contain stars instead. Two cells containing stars may not be adjacent, not even diagonally.
Puzzle 372
If I ever do this variation again I’ll probably do irregular regions and maybe add an extra row or column. A 9 by 9 star battle with those regions just doesn’t have enough solutions for these to stay interesting.
