hutt's puzzle dump

 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

 I found out about the USPC through the Thinky Puzzles Discord and decided to try solving it this year, just to see what puzzle competitions are like. I found it to be very fun, despite having both slight nervousness and overconfidence before starting. The puzzle types introduced some new concepts to me I was surprised I hadn't seen before, especially the integration of Scrabble-like crosses in lieu of shaded squares in logic puzzles. One concept that I felt like expanding on after the competition was inspired by the choice to have a set of four puzzles each reliant individually on either the sum, difference, product, or quotient of the lengths of perpendicular runs or lines. It occurred to me that while I was familiar with mystery operation puzzles through KenKen and Math Path, I had not seen a mystery operation that related to perpendicular lines. I started making this ruleset using only the four basic operations in a sort of variant Balance Loop, before realizing that the Balanc...

 When I first saw the name, I quarter-expected it to have something to do with Equation Paths. I ended up learning the rules through rule deduction on the original 4 puzzles' thumbnails. The ruleset has a nice balance to it, and I thoroughly respect the ability to have regions without marked operations, although a thermometer variant might help in small spaces. The rules have been adapted slightly for this set: Place a number between 1 and 16 into each cell so that consecutive numbers are connected through kings' moves. Numbered regions require the numbers in that region to either sum, multiply, subtract, or divide into that number, with numbers being processed in descending order for subtraction and division. This themed pair took a while to make and was themed off an unreleased binary Ken-Ken. The appearance of 1 2 9 was entirely accidental. I hope you'll forgive me for not wanting to construct a 12x9 puzzle in this genre.

 uploaded on 7/28/23 This puzzle is based off a type called Brain Chain which is seemingly impossible to look up the rules to due to a board game of the same name. The goal is to start with the number on the left and apply the operations in the row from left to right to reach the final number.  For example, in the diagram below, the first row as it appears would be (((((6÷1)-19)x5)-17)+5)= -77. However, to complicate the puzzle, the columns were torn apart and rearranged to make the nice pattern along the major diagonal. When the columns are put back together in the correct order, every row should end its calculation on a nice whole number, as is conventional for the puzzle books Brain Chain has appeared in. 

 Rules and credits can be found on the links. https://pedros.works/curve-sums.html?W=4&H=4&L=(3)r9(8)l6&G=curve-sums&A=hutthutthutt&D=06/07/2023&N=1&T=Curve_Sums https://pedros.works/curve-sums.html?W=6&H=5&L=(12)r3(7)d6(5)l8(8)l7(5)d8(6)u6&G=curve-sums&A=hutthutthutt&D=07/07/2023&N=2&T=Curve_Sums This one is a Yajilin / Curve Sums doppelganger. https://puzz.link/p?yajilin/5/10/d32d40k30d20a11j32d10e https://pedros.works/curve-sums.html?W=4&H=9&L=(0)d14(0)l1(1)u19(0)u7(2)l1(0)r6(2)l1&G=curve-sums&A=hutthutthutt&N=3&T=Yajilin_Doppelganger

 made on 5/26/23 Back in August 2022, Cray had introduced a few 4x4 Sudoku variants. 381. Square Sum Sudoku https://f-puzzles.com/?id=2pyegd67 382. Invisibulb Sudoku (very hard!) https://f-puzzles.com/?id=2e2jf6vr 383. Invisibulb and Square Sum https://f-puzzles.com/?id=2l869w9t 384. Invisibulb or Square Sum? https://f-puzzles.com/?id=2h4vucpr This also inspired me to do something silly: https://f-puzzles.com/?id=2zrnhym6

 made between 4/19/23 and 4/27/23, with a clarity update to the rules and the replacement of a nonunique puzzle on 1/10/25 Each zero starts a number path, which will be defined as a sequence of consecutively increasing whole numbers where each pair of consecutive numbers in the path is orthogonally adjacent in the grid. (In other words, the numbers count up like pedometers, stepping left, right, up, and down.) Paths cannot branch, cross, or overlap other numbers and symbols. Every non-number symbol must be part of at least one valid equation. Equations can read right or down and must start and stop at either an empty space or the grid edge. = cannot be part of any incorrect equation, but unfinished equations (which don't have a number immediately on one side of the =) are allowed. Every path must end within an equation.

 uploaded on 11/19/22 The following puzzle set has been excerpted from a puzzle book, but heavily obscured.

 made on 7/28/22 https://tinyurl.com/b6h4c75v This type is a mix of Masyulink by disestablishmentarianism and caged slitherlink by Toby Suren. Draw a loop across the corners, following masyu rules with the circles. Numbers are slitherlink. Cages are killer sudoku cages: the corner numbers reveal the sum of the slitherlink clues from each cell within the cage. Cages cannot include 0.

 made on 7/27/22 https://tinyurl.com/ymdubkyj The number in each circle is the sum of the numbers along its arrow (based on Arrow Sudoku). The third puzzle is not unique.

 made on 10/2/21; fixed link and added rules and picture on 1/10/25 Rules: Type the symbols from the symbol bank into the grid below so that each row and column is a valid equation. The asterisk should be used for multiplication. penpa link Somehow this only has one solution.