DJ Ape .Net – The Home of Perfect Sudoku

Another kind of puzzles that I’ve started creating recently… Slitherlink!

These puzzles are also known under many different names. Slitherlink puzzles are not a Sudoku variant. They can be of any size and the rules are:
1. Connect the dots to form a single loop with no points of intersection.
2. The clues given tell you how many sides of each cell belong to the loop. In other words, how many lines there are around the number. If there is no number given, it is unknown (it doesn’t mean it’s zero).

Solving techniques are numerous. I will soon start posting a series of solving methods. But here are a few tips: start with the corners and think. Also, always remember the rule number one: no intersections! This effectively means that each dot has either 0 or 2 lines coming out of it! It can’t have 1 because the loop must be, well, a loop – it must be closed. It can’t have 3 or 4 because that would be an intersection. So it must be 0 or 2.

I’m still working on the difficulty. So your input on the difficulty of this puzzle is appreciated. I believe this one is relatively easy – I still haven’t implemented all solving methods.

Slitherlink 13×13 for Monday, February 8, 2010.

Enjoy and do comment, please!

Good news folks!

The Washington Post have decided to restart printing my Samurai Sudoku puzzles in their Comics section of the Sunday issue… thanks to YOU! Apparently the readers have been clamoring for the return of Samurais and the editors had no other choice but to change their minds only a month after they decided to stop.

This makes me really proud and I don’t know how to thank you folks.

I’m still uncertain when precisely will the first puzzle be printed, but I think it will be 10 days from now, on Sunday, February 14. Stay tuned for confirmation of this.

I don’t think I’ve ever posted a puzzle like this one. Yes it is essentially a Killer Sudoku puzzle. Yes, it’s also an overlapping sudoku puzzle, Gattai-2 (TwoDoku). But it also has some similarity with Calcudoku puzzles, because you must use all four operators (+, -, *, /).

Killer TwoDoku with all ops for Tuesday, February 2, 2010 – Difficulty: BRAIN.

It’s been a while since I last posted a Killer Sudoku variation. As far as I can remember, you folks liked the Butterfly layout of the puzzles, so here is an overlapping, 4-in-1 (Gattai-4), Butterfly Killer Sudoku puzzles.

You can also find these puzzles in my Killer Sudoku Compendium book.

Butterfly Killer Sudoku for Friday, January 29, 2010 – Difficulty: BRAIN.

Today’s puzzle on the Daily Sudoku page is somewhat ambiguous. This is why I’m duplicating it here on the main page.

Basically, it’s a Classic and Jigsaw Sudoku combination. In addition to 9 Jigsaw nonets, there are 9 classic Sudoku nonets too. You have to use them both in order to solve the puzzle. Since it’s first of its kind, it’s rather easy, but give it a go to see how you like them.

By the way, a few of these can be found in the Jigsaw Sudoku book volume 2.

Jigsaw+Classic Sudoku combination for Tuesday, January 26, 2010 – Difficulty: EASY.

It’s been a long while since my previous Kakuro puzzle. Here is a new one. It’s rather difficult.

Of course, just a reminder that there is a book full of my Kakuro puzzles.

Kakuro for Thursday, January 21, 2010 – Difficulty: HARD.

I announced this one when I posted my first Outside Sudoku puzzle: it’s a non-consecutive Outside Sudoku. Even though it looks like a regular Sudoku puzzle, you must follow one extra rule: two touching numbers must not be consecutive.

Outside Non/Consecutive Sudoku for Monday, January 18, 2010 – Difficulty: THINKER.

It’s been a while since I last posted a Samurai Sudoku variant puzzle. Here is a new one. As far as I remember, I never posted such puzzle before.

Remember: shaded cells MUST contain only ODD numbers!

OddEven Jigsaw Samurai Sudoku for Thursday, January 14, 2010 – Difficulty: COOL.

Another novelty in 2010 – Outside Jigsaw Sudoku. Read the rules of Outside Sudoku first. And then, twist it a little – it’s a Jigsaw (Irregular) Sudoku puzzle!

UPDATE: One clarification about the rules of Outside Jigsaw Sudokus: The clues tell you which numbers appear in the 3 closest cells in that row/column. They are not linked to (jigsaw) nonets. Oh, and I’ve posted the solution.

Outside Jigsaw Sudoku for Monday, January 11, 2010 – Difficulty: BRAIN.

Barnes & Noble have started selling my books, so if any of you prefer to purchase from them, go ahead! They are even giving some really good discounts (30%+) on some of the books and at least 10% on all of them, so it’s worth going for!

Just click on the Barnes&Noble image to the right: