hutt's puzzle dump

     I find it hard to believe that I first created this blog two summers ago. Due to this, I cannot quickly reference whether I've been more or less active this year with making paper puzzles. I used to think that I peaked in 2022, but I'm quite proud of many of the ideas I was able to explore this year, especially on the monthly projects. I've released a few huge puzzles and started work on a few large projects, two of which I plan to adapt into games someday and two of which will be ~200-unit collections that may release next year if I continue working on them.     As I get older, I expect to find less time to pursue this hobby, but I'm not quite there yet. Sometimes I wonder if there's a way to make a living off of constructing puzzles, but then I remind myself that I'm not doing it for the money, keeping in the back of my mind the opportunity to set up donations on my itch or to learn a formal programming language that allows making an executable. I also do...

I found this year's advent calendar to be both a good challenge and a neat learning experience for me. This puzzle is my second advent capstone. Since last year's had several nonunique elements within it, I really hope (but cannot guarantee at the moment) that my Christmas gift this year has only one solution. That would be a Christmas miracle! (Edit: It's 4/28/25 and while re-solving it I found a small nonuniqueness in the fifth section. It can be resolved by adding a double-? clue to r5c23.) Regardless, I had lots of fun making it, and I hope it's just as fun to solve! Laurel: https://tinyurl.com/2xod85us Solve the grid in its entirety as a Tapa, where each question mark stands for a single piece of a clue. Additionally, each 5x5 (or in one case 10x5) section contains variant rules that may change or override clues, add additional constraints to their local shading, or even add a second layer of input type: 1. Christmas Lights This section, being composed of shaded an...

 I like how naturally the length constraints lead to regions with interesting flow patterns. https://puzz.link/p?lohkous/6/4/a12b23b24s https://puzz.link/p?lohkous/12/12/b1a2d1a23c2a1l12l1w1f12m23e23a12k1a12k12l1a1l12c12a12c12b2c

 I like how Statue Park can have a nice guided flow to it through local and connectivity logic while also allowing for full-on dissection-like puzzles. The ability to choose a shape bank when setting allows for both small and huge grids and the exploration of both simple and complex shapes. https://puzz.link/p?statuepark/12/12/101o4006101c20508i2l00000000592f0i03592f60105a2f//d https://puzz.link/p?statuepark/12/22/q0i0e000000002i0q2i000000000000000000009003000000i000000600i0020000000000000003060000002/10/35b4n/35sv7/355lk/35sv7/35sv7/355lk/35sv7/35vvv/35sv7/35mu9 (Note: the second one is unfortunately nonunique)

 This might be the only puzzle type on the calendar that I was actually somewhat scared of setting. I like the solving logic, but the elegant simplicity of cluing makes creating a puzzle really hard. I expect to be busy for most of today, so I've only decided to make one puzzle. I found this grid on my seventh attempt at making a small themed board, and I think I managed to make it flow well through my usual style of setting despite a hunch that the easiest way to set might be to work backwards from a simple solution. https://pzprxs.vercel.app/p?longest/6/6/6600000e33g0s01hu (This post was previously retracted for maintenance on 4/27/26; replaced links with pzpr on 5/17/26)

 Hidato seems a lot more approachable and controlled than knight's tours, but it can still get difficult with puzzles that require holistically planning connections and finding crossings. I'm not too familiar with this genre, so both puzzles I managed to set today are small and relatively easy. Rules: Place integers between 1 and the puzzle area into grid cells such that every cell contains a different number. Consecutive numbers should be minesweeper-adjacent. In other words, the numbers in ascending order form a king's tour. penpa link penpa link The megapuzzle for Christmas Day is going well and I expect it to be ready on time. I'll probably release it automatically at 9:00 AM in my timezone. (This post was previously retracted for maintenance on 4/27/26 and reuploaded on 5/6/26)

 Of course this puzzle type was scheduled for a day that was a relatively large prime number! Multiplication Link reminds me of Balance Loop in that both puzzles require turning on the numbers and allow selecting from a range of possible segment length pairs, although, by merit of having more fine-tuned options, Multiplication Link feels like a better idea than the hypothetical Addition Link due to requiring a lot less clues to make interesting puzzles. Rules: Draw a loop passing through the centers of cells. The loop must turn at every number, and the product of the lengths of the two straight segments protruding from each clue equals its number. penpa link penpa link (This post was previously retracted for maintenance on 4/27/26 and reuploaded on 5/6/26)

 When I first learned about this puzzle type through the advent calendar, there were only three example puzzles, and rulesets didn't appear to be attached to them, leading me to deduce most of it. Therefore, at the time, I was missing a special rule that transforms this puzzle idea from ordinary to fascinating. The restrictions on boulders make it very fun to solve, though slightly harder to set when combined with all the restrictions I gave myself on the second puzzle. https://pzprxs.vercel.app/p?timebomb/6/6/1g2z0o1g8 https://pzprxs.vercel.app/p?timebomb/12/12/p8h0g102o0g0o108001l0i0i80h0k0j0k0h08i0i0l100102o0g0o108g0h8p

 I can see why Chained Block and Archipelago would be grouped together: the main difference is that Chained Block's shaded regions require a number and Archipelago requires the 1-to-n regions. In this way, I think Chained Block is easier to set/solve and makes a decent warmup for the latter. Aquapelago, on the other hand, appears to bear few similarities to either: shaded squares still count the number of shaded squares in a region, but it's gone diagonal. In this way, Aquapelago is actually closer to Chained Block than Archipelago. https://puzz.link/p?chainedb/7/6/1g2n6x1n2g4  (non-unique) https://puzz.link/p?chainedb/12/12/1g-10h1j1h2j2j2w-10x1j1j1h2j2j2zv1j1m2j2j8  (also non-unique) https://puzz.link/p?chainedb/12/16/lbj41r2g1r6g2k4l.g2r4i1r2h5g1r6u1r2g1l4k6g2r.g2r48j4l https://pzprxs.vercel.app/p?archipelago/6/6/i2g.g1h.i..h6g.h.g.h.g.h.g./ https://pzprxs.vercel.app/p?archipelago/4/3/.g.j.h.g https://pzprxs.vercel.app/p?archipelago/11/6/k2h.g.1k.k2m.m2k1k4k6l../ https...

 This type brings back old memories of a puzzle book from Mindware called "Code Breakers" which was essentially systems of equations with the variables playfully disguised as colored circles. The key differences between these two ideas are that Letter Weights only uses addition but finds additional logic in requiring the solution to be composed of a specific set of numbers, typically leading to logic vaguely reminiscent of Kakuro. 1. (1,2,3) ALLELE=10 2. (1,2,3,4,5) TEAMMATE=24, MATTER=17, MEET=9 3. (1,2,3,4,5,6) SIT=9, SLIT=12, SHEETS=26

 Nikoji is an old favorite of mine because of how easy it is to incorporate themes through words and phrases. The overall logic for solving a Nikoji tends to fall into one of two categories; both types of puzzles are included here. Both of these puzzles were created on graph paper, so the variant rule in the second was originally unintentional. I wouldn't be surprised if this first one has already been made before. It might be harder than the second. https://puzz.link/p?nikoji/7/2/eh9hbfhah9 Variant: The N region is a rotated version of the Z region, and thus will throw an error for having the same shape. https://puzz.link/p?nikoji/v:/12/14/bgfkem45r3j9ag-10j5rdr2h6h-10-15-1a-1ac5g5hfg-13-11-151-125h-12h-15r-12r-14jag-10gai5r5q9ej

 As someone who likes to set puzzles a few clues at a time, Kropki Pairs feels more natural to set than classic Kropki because of the constraint it removes. However, this comes at the cost of making the logic a bit more straightforward, or the added benefit of being more streamlined, depending on how you look at it. Rules: Place a number between 1 and the grid width into every cell such that numbers never repeat in any row or column. Cells separated by a white dot contain numbers that differ by one. Cells separated by a black dot contain numbers that have a ratio of 2:1. penpa link penpa link (This post was previously retracted for maintenance on 4/27/26 and reuploaded on 5/7/26)

 Not counting rotations and reflections as different, there are exactly 12 pentominoes, which might be why this type was chosen for the twelfth day instead of FourCells. I prefer this type to Pentominous because it doesn't tend to lead itself into extensive bifurcations. I really like the technique this shares with Heteromino and FourCells, but I wasn't exactly able to include it in these puzzles. https://puzz.link/p?fivecells/10/6/b1d2m1a1a2a2d2a2a0a.a1g.b2g2 https://puzz.link/p?fivecells/12/12/7a12a12a12a7n12e12f12b12a2l12a1212a12m12a12b12a12n12121212n7j7

 The spice in the puzzle has heated up since yesterday! While ice tiles aren't necessarily an uncommon sight in paper puzzles, I believe the twist that separates Fire Walk from Ice Walk is currently unique to its puzzle type. Setting puzzles for this felt hard to control at first because it tends to have more room to breathe more often than Ice Walk, but I think I managed to carry over some lessons from the latter when making the reprisal. The rule about double-turns being inside the loop may have originally been intended as a convention to force uniqueness (as it would be difficult to do so on most multi-cross patterns without this rule), but the rule itself does lead nicely to puzzles exploring whether a potential double-crossing would be inside the loop, so it doesn't necessarily feel contrived. https://pzprxs.vercel.app/p?firewalk/6/6/0k1go2g03m1g6h1n2h6p https://pzprxs.vercel.app/p?firewalk/12/9/002ssh5499fub0io4n7000ci9i-18zs9zh9zpci9i-18i I wouldn't be surprised if t...

 I think this ruleset strikes a great balance between accommodating ice logic (compare to Icebarn and Icelom) and clues that count path lengths between the special tiles (compare to Fire Walk and Water Walk), resulting in a puzzle type that feels just controlled enough to often be comfortable to both set and solve while still leaving the door open for intriguing logic. https://puzz.link/p?icewalk/7/5/0r2a8r0u1g2g8u https://puzz.link/p?icewalk/12/8/002ssl549p4ea2its000ci8i-18zzzzm https://puzz.link/p?icewalk/12/12/003vshh4c932fvjvshh4c932fvg00zj3g1g1h2g2g3t1g1h2g2zo4i8g8j4g4m8h4i8g8g8u4n

 Both of today's genres were new to me until I browsed the advent calendar. I had seen Coffee Milk before on puzz.link's puzzle type list, but it's obscure enough that I never tried setting any and probably didn't solve many until recently. Despite similarities between their appearances and input method, the two rulesets tend to explore entirely different ideas. The premise of Coffee Milk interests me, but it seems difficult to set a logically hard puzzle because the ruleset is a bit loose: it's easy to miss a potential connection, divide groups differently, or completely ignore a gray circle that's expected to contribute. Thus, the puzzle I made for it today is meant to be easy. https://puzz.link/p?coffeemilk/12/7/b1b..b222a11a.b.c21a1d.c2b2c.c1c1b.d2c1a.d2d1a....a2b I also enjoyed learning about Milk Tea, although I'm actually not that good at it because it often asks for a method of scanning I'm not well-versed in. On occasion, it lends itself natural...

 As the name may suggest, this puzzle type is the complete antithesis to Slitherlink. In doing so, it breaks a lot of new ground in its potentially cursed structure while inviting parallel logic that tends to dive deeper into deductions involving sets. The first puzzle here is a normal Slitherlink to compensate for having so few yesterday (and also to make the second puzzle feel a tad disorienting). https://puzz.link/p?slither/8/8/121212171cg17121cg121c1c121cg12121ch1712121ch https://puzz.link/p?lither/8/8/121212171cg17121cg121c1c121cg12121ch171cj1c https://puzz.link/p?lither/12/6/8811bi8811b8dm83111311182221113111811122cj11b

 Slitherlink might be one of the first paper puzzle types I encountered formally (after nonograms). Earlier this year, I cracked open a puzzle book I remembered liking that has some of these and noticed that I had left several of the puzzles incomplete despite previously having a decent understanding of common patterns; upon looking back, it occurred to me that several of the deductions I was missing involved a cool idea of set theory applied to gridpoints along a diagonal. In this way, I think Slitherlink can be versatile and have a bit of a learning curve (which doesn't shoot off into the clouds via penalty theory).  Unfortunately, I've been quite busy and didn't manage to set very many puzzles for it today. That being said, I think the variant puzzle I devoted most of my time to today is one of my favorite puzzles I've ever constructed. Maybe it's for a similar reason that I think a lot of my variant puzzles from 2022 were great? Nevertheless, I feel like I uncov...

 Nurimaze is one of the few shading genres that sets classic puzzles using regions that are either entirely full or entirely empty, which was definitely a good design choice when considering the rest of the rules. I think the rules that have to do with shading tend to carry most of the logic, but there are interesting ways to use the symbols that synergize with the rest of the ruleset.  https://puzz.link/p?nurimaze/6/6/dvmdvmr6vvcr464p1627464 https://puzz.link/p?nurimaze/12/4/jnrvuvifed4ivkdb081z92a https://puzz.link/p?nurimaze/12/12/fnvvqtduvvvdmnrvvtemvfvvmr8mb3hpvvr5hsuvvtiosefvupcf7g1c2z84n464s4zj47 https://puzz.link/p?nurimaze/12/12/vcrvvv7tv7pvvvvsvvvvvpvvpnoar2mpnrlcprevvrms9ibuljc4r0y4z46173c2z73v46 https://puzz.link/p?nurimaze/12/12/dmvvtmpmrvvmr6rfvurcrdvvrdgrdjdnvvtmpmrvvurcrdvvvdmdmo4t49363x46464u36363k162d46493

I think Masyu might be the only puzzle type for which I've seen a warning to new solvers that it's easy to accidentally make a mistake in the logic. It does eventually become easy to recall generally how the clues work and there are some common patterns that can be identified. For me, Masyu is one of a few puzzle types that hold the special distinction of either being very straightforward or nearly impossible to approach. I imagine the latter category involves some logic regarding high densities of straight lines that I'm unfamiliar with. https://puzz.link/p?mashu/12/3/030003300030 https://puzz.link/p?mashu/15/6/i620i1093110931i620i4009c00000 https://puzz.link/p?mashu/15/9/000003g07i620093g17i6i0093g07i000001060000090 (The following puzzle appears to have broken at some point, but I've decided to keep it on this page legacy purposes.) Variant: Every question mark follows the rules of a pearl. https://puzz.link/p?mashu/v:/12/12/i02k13003990110036070i0910000000i020i20i030...

 Sudoku is probably the most well-known paper puzzle. The base rules are very easy to understand. The grid size is often constrained to a square with less than a hundred cells, yet countless volumes have been filled with classic puzzles and brought to bookstores. I find it nice to solve a classic one every once in a while, but what really appeals to me about this type is its ability to act as a canvas for a ton of fantastic variant puzzles. Whereas classic sudoku might start to feel stale while solving tens in a row, variant sudoku always stays fresh and continues to deliver brand new logical ideas. I'm reminded of my #A25 collection. I intend to make a megapuzzle for #A50. 4x4 Classic (f-puzzles) 12x2 Samurai (penpa) 6x6 Arrow and Thermo (f-puzzles) 6x6 "Missing Products" (penpa)