bakpao's puzzles

Unequal Lengths is a pretty common variant for loop genres, but I don't think I've ever seen or solved a Tapa-Like Loop with it. This is a first exploration - the combination has some limitations but overall seems to have quite a bit of potential and can result in interesting puzzles. Difficulty: 3/5 (base rules from Puzzle Rules ) Draw a non-intersecting loop through the centers of some empty cells. Clues represent the numbers of consecutive cells occupied by the loop each time it enters the (up to) eight cells surrounding the clue.  Variant: Consecutive segments along the loop cannot have the same length.  Play on penpa https://tinyurl.com/2p2as3uw

A puzzle in a genre that has recently been getting some attention. It's my first time writing one, and while I'm happy with how it came out, it is a somewhat atypical solve - a result of getting carried away with the theme a bit.  Difficulty: 2.5/5 (rules from GM Puzzles ) Draw a single, non-intersecting loop that passes through the center of all cells, including clue cells; the loop may either go straight through or turn at each clue. Each clue cell is divided into four sections; if a number is present in a section and the loop travels in that direction, then the number represents the length of the straight loop segment in that direction, measured from the clue cell to the cell where the loop turns. If the loop does not travel in that direction, then the number means nothing. Play on penpa https://tinyurl.com/2n3uy2ut

Now that pzprxs is merged into puzz.link, I suppose I should really be tweeting these instead of posting them here, but so much time and effort went into these two puzzles that I feel they deserve a space on here. Rail Pool is quickly becoming a favorite - the genre has so many different setups to explore and seemingly endless amounts of fun logic to discover. The first puzzle was a battle against uniqueness. Clueing only two columns was my self-imposed theme and I initially wanted only 4 regions, but I couldn't find a setup that worked well without introducing bypasses or making the puzzle too trivial. I opted for 6 regions in the end, which ended up being a good decision - I'm really happy with this puzzle in particular. This second puzzle was originally a 11x14 grid (a result of playing around with different dimensions to find a size that worked well with my starting setup) that looked a bit weird. I reworked it into a 12x12 the next day, which works nicely.   Difficulty: 3...

Another La Paz! I was quite surprised this puzzle was unique with just these clues - while setting it felt like it would've needed at least a couple more. It has a surprisingly smooth solve path too, apart from one or two trickier deductions. Difficulty: 3/5 (rules from Puzzle Rules ) Shade some cells so that no two shaded cells are orthogonally adjacent and divide the remaining unshaded cells into two-cell regions. Clued cells cannot be shaded. A clue indicates the number of shaded cells which lie entirely within the same row or column as the region containing the clue. Play on pzprxs https://pzprxs.vercel.app/p?lapaz/9/9/l2g1r2h3g2s0s1g2h1r3g4l

Forgetful is a great variant, not just for Rail Pool but for other genres as well. I've used it before on Rassi Silai  and, in a more global fashion, Sashigane . I'm quite happy with how this puzzle came out, but setting it caused some frustration - an earlier iteration had a full region used right after the break-in and I didn't notice until an hour later. Difficulty: 3.5/5 (rules from Puzzle Rules ) Draw a non-intersecting loop through the centers of all cells, except for exactly one in each region. Clues represent the different lengths of the straight line segments that are at least partially contained within the region. Each number within a region must be represented by at least one line segment. Play on penpa https://tinyurl.com/24wlfwr3

    Surprise surprise, it's another chained block! This one has some subtle logic and  overall   is on the tricky side, but should be manageable. Difficulty: 3.5/5 (rules from Puzzle Rules ) Shade some cells such that each connected group of shaded cells contains exactly one clue. Clues must be shaded, and indicate the size of their group of shaded cells. Each group of shaded cells must be connected by a corner to at least one other, forming networks. Two shaded groups belonging to the same network may not have the same shape and size, counting rotations and reflections as the same. Play on pzprxs https://pzprxs.vercel.app/p?chainedb/11/11/h2i5i2q8i9y6i3i3q1i1i3y5i6q2i1i4h

A Choco Banana I wrote a few days ago, trying to get a theme of consecutive blocks to work out. On the easier side. Difficulty: 2.5/5 (rules from Puzzle Rules ) Shade some cells so that all areas of orthogonally connected shaded cells are rectangular and all areas of orthogonally connected unshaded cells are not rectangular. A clue represents the size of its group of shaded/unshaded cells. Play on pzprxs https://pzprxs.vercel.app/p?cbanana/11/11/m35o64h24o53r4zk4r25o43h54o36m

The rail pools were some of my favorite puzzles in WPC, so I felt like writing another one for myself. I wasn't going to go for the empty middle initially but the original clue layout I chose made it almost resolve uniquely already, so I tweaked it a bit until it worked out. Difficulty: 3/5 (rules from Puzzle Rules ) Draw a non-intersecting loop through the centers of all cells. Clues represent the different lengths of the straight line segments that are at least partially contained within the region. Each number within a region must be represented by at least one line segment. Play on pzprxs https://pzprxs.vercel.app/p?railpool/10/10/m123n124w12t145s23zy34zk12p123qcd8l0k0o1g3050l2m6bqk5o3000000o3k5bq

I participated in WSPC for the first time last week!  Having entered the competitive solving scene somewhere late 2020/early 2021, this moment finally became a reality after almost 2 years of living up to it . I now look back at one of the most wonderful weeks I've had in a long time, where especially meeting people I'd been looking forward to meeting for so long and getting to make many new friends were  the most memorable parts for me. I got 56th in sudoku and 42nd in puzzles. Lower than expected in sudoku, much higher than expected in puzzles. I suppose it makes sense, as my preparation was very heavily focused on puzzles. I was on the B team for both events because of a poor performance in the Dutch championships earlier this year, but managed to get 3rd NL in sudoku (beating 2 A team members) and 2nd in puzzles (beating all members except Bram, who was miles ahead of all of us). A couple of really silly mistakes cost me a couple spots in the overall leaderboard, but looki...

  It feels challenging to construct a balanced puzzle in this genre. I wanted a break-in without using trivial clues and a solve that didn't fall apart right afterwards, while maintaining a double clues theme all the way around the edge. The puzzle went through a lot of iterations, but ultimately I think it came out quite nice. Fun fact - many different values work in the center to give the puzzle a unique solution. I also like how 9 resolves, but felt the 5 was more suitable. Difficulty: 3/5 (rules from Puzzle Rules ) Shade some cells so that all areas of orthogonally connected shaded cells are rectangular and all areas of orthogonally connected unshaded cells are not rectangular. A clue represents the size of its group of shaded/unshaded cells. Play on pzprxs https://pzprxs.vercel.app/p?cbanana/11/11/g33k44g4h33g66h44o4g4m6h4m6l5l6m4h6m4g5o65h44g44h6g55k44g