bakpao's puzzles

   We regularly host speedsetting sessions in the CTC discord. The concept is simple: a host sets a prompt - usually a (pool of) genre(s), a theme or other constraint - to work with, participants then set a puzzle around that prompt in the allotted time, usually one hour. Judges then solve all the puzzles and decide their top three favorites, which are declared the winners! These are always fun events. Not only do they encourage me to set genres or constraints I normally wouldn't, there's also a strategic element involved where you have to make rapid decisions on what genre to go with, grid dimensions, theming - all before and while setting a functional, interesting puzzle. An hour seems like quite some time, but more often than not I find myself battling against the clock. The puzzles that I write during speedsets tend to not be published anywhere other than in Discord, even though they can be quite nice. They're not as refined as my usual puzzles, but that's the charm...

    A classic Masyu puzzle on a hex grid. I created this puzzle on 2 June, 2021 , as a little bonus for the speed-setting event that also spawned my Masyu (Clone) - #10. The host was originally going to do a hex theme, but switched last minute to clone. I decided to take the challenge after the main course was done. Difficulty: 2/5 (Regular Masyu rules from GM Puzzles ) Draw a single, non-intersecting loop that passes through all circled cells. The loop must go straight through the cells with white circles, with a turn in at least one of the cells immediately before/after each white circle. The loop must make a turn in all the black circles, but must go straight in both cells immediately before/after each black circle. For turns, both obtuse and acute angles are allowed . Solve on penpa