Puzzle 370 (Corral)

This is a Corral puzzle.

Puzzle 370

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Puzzle 300 (Loop of Death) [Unique]

This is a Loop of Death puzzle, a unique type. Almost all of your favorite (and unfavorite) loop puzzles have been combined into a single type. Detailed rules, along with an example, follow below the image and comments.

Puzzle 300

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3/20/2011 5:22 AM ET – Fixed a goof in the far bottom right corner that resulted in no solutions by a minor change to the regions. You probably found this contradiction if you made any progress at all in that area. My apologies.

As far as my marathons/unique puzzles go, my guess is this is probably tied for the easiest – size has something to do with that – but I could be completely off in either direction. Of course, this still means it is going to be really hard.

Grid size is 29 by 29 squares. This means 30 by 30 for the vertex clues, although I never used any of the edges. From that, I’m sure some of you are going to figure out what puzzle I paid homage to in constructing this one, but I’ll leave to you all to guess.

Puzzle 274 (Crate Corral)

This is a Crate Corral puzzle.

Puzzle 274

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I suppose this one is coming eight days too late, in a way.

Puzzle 265 (Corral/Slitherlink)

This is a Slitherlink and Corral hybrid puzzle. As usual for both types, draw a single loop along the grid lines that does not intersect itself. Each clue in the puzzle can function as a Slitherlink clue or a Corral clue (or both), and it is up to you to decide which one. If it is a Corral clue, it must appear inside the loop. (There is no such restriction for Slitherlink clues.)

Puzzle 265

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Puzzle 216 (Crate Corral)

This is a Tuesday Crate Corral puzzle.

Puzzle 216

Puzzle 214 (Corral)

This is a Sunday Corral puzzle.

Puzzle 214

Besides the larger size, this one probably has a different feel from my other Corral puzzles.

Puzzle 180 (Corral)

This is a Tuesday Corral puzzle.

Puzzle 180

Puzzle 168 (Crate Corral)

This is a Thursday Crate Corral puzzle.

Puzzle 168

Puzzle 153 (Corral) [Terraces]

This is a Wednesday Corral puzzle, with a twist. The solution is composed of two loops, one contained completely inside the other. The loops do not intersect, even at a point. A number contained in both loops tells how many squares it can see inside the inner loop. A number contained in only the outer loop tells how many squares it can see inside the outer loop, ignoring the inner loop entirely.

(Think of the loops as cliffs and the clues as people. People inside both loops are at the lowest elevation and can only see what’s down there. People inside one loop are at the middle elevation and can see anything except for what’s at the highest elevation, namely the squares outside both loops.)

Puzzle 153

All of the types and variations I’ve posted have either been developed by nikoli or myself until now. The idea for this variation was actually given to me awhile ago by reader Alan Curry, and I thought it was definitely worth trying. Probably mostly due to size, this one is solved in a rather peculiar fashion. When I post another of these it will probably be bigger.

Puzzle 133 (Corral) [Toroidal]

This is a Friday Corral puzzle, with a twist. The edges of the grid wrap around to each other. The solution is a single connected loop that may cross over the edges and that partitions the grid into “walls” and “empty spaces” (I would not say inside and outside). Note that all clues in this puzzle are finite, so there is no clue that can see a whole row or column (and thus see infinitely far).

Puzzle 133