Melon’s Puzzle Zoo has ended

Around the time of this posting, LMI is no longer accepting score submissions for the contest. Below is a link to the puzzle booklet, the same as the one on LMI without the password. There is also a PDF that has all of the puzzles on the test together with their solutions (don’t open if you don’t want to see them yet!), as well as some brief comments from myself about the puzzles. Mostly I pointed out the tricky innovative logic the puzzle had, if any — and for the adults there almost always was some.

Puzzle PDF
Solution PDF

Puzzle 286 (Akari EX)

This is a Akari EX puzzle.

Puzzle 286

Part 5 of 12 in the Melon’s Puzzle Zoo preview series.

Answer Entry: Enter the digits corresponding to the total number of lightbulbs in each row from top to bottom.

Highlight to see answer: 1401011211

Puzzle 227 (Akari EX)

This is a Saturday Akari EX puzzle.

Puzzle 227

This isn’t quite 178, but it has some tricky steps in the same spirit as that one. Probably tougher than a usual Saturday.

Puzzle 208 (Akari EX)

This is a Monday Akari EX puzzle.

Puzzle 208

Puzzle 178 (Akari EX)

This is a Sunday Akari EX puzzle.

Puzzle 178

According to the about page, “sundays will be anything from hard to ridiculous; the only limit is that there is a logical solution with minimal thinking ahead.” Well, this one has a logical solution… but it takes the word ridiculous and goes to the sun with it, maybe to the point of being unreasonably hard. Puzzle 100, the 100 by 100 Akari, is a cakewalk in comparison.

Best of luck to anyone brave enough to tackle this one. And don’t worry, there won’t be another puzzle at this level for a long time, if ever.

1/31 4:11pm ET: Fix made to top right to eliminate a trivial ambiguity. Also, if you need a hint, feel free to check some of the comments.

Puzzle 154 (Akari EX)

This is a Thursday Akari EX puzzle.

Puzzle 154

Puzzle 116 (Akari EX)

This is a Tuesday Akari EX puzzle.

Puzzle 116

Puzzle 90 (Akari EX)

This is an Akari EX puzzle.

Puzzle 90

Your eyes are not playing tricks on you. There are no (normal) walls or numbers in this puzzle.

This puzzle is incredibly susceptible to trial and error. For the full solving experience, try to use direct logic with every step.

Puzzle 88 (Akari EX)

This is an Akari EX puzzle.

Puzzle 88

With some extra mirrors, this is almost like a 16 by 10 grid, just bent in very strange ways.

Puzzle 68 (Akari EX)

This is an Akari EX puzzle.

Puzzle 68

nikoli has some short descriptions of their puzzles here, sometimes in humorous Engrish. One thing they like to say is “Don’t get lost in [puzzle name here].” I’m going to give you the same warning, albeit for a different reason: don’t get lost in this puzzle.