hutt's puzzle dump

    Much like last year, I spent most of this month busy with things other than puzzles. However, I did still manage to finish the writing project, which I'm feeling proud of despite getting the impression that it's very difficult to deduce a majority of the answers. I also just found out about the Logic Pad online preview branch today, so I've ported all the puzzles from the post there except for the Smores. Progress is going slowly on the second part of my latest puzzle project. At least I've tried to slice it so I don't bite off more than I can chew.     I'll be planning for October soon. While last year I checked the list a week beforehand out of sudden inspiration, I plan to check it this year as soon as it drops because I expect to be busier and I only barely put out Navigator on time. Hopefully this will also give me more time to come up with a fitting meta since the prompts might not be themed this year.     This year, I've been prioritizing making ...

  You can call me Alex: that's what the host would call me. I assume I've been brought in to recount what took place during the recent party at the games and sports lodge, on the last day of April. I could be jumping to conclusions, but I like to think I know a bit more than most of the others, due to being near most of the action. Though I prepared my statement, you'll find I have some trouble communicating: I'm influenced by the remarkable work of Torquemada, the cruciverbalist, and I'm fond of that mansion of Manson, the illustrator. While I may appear to ramble, I hope you'll understand that I choose my words very carefully and that everything I reveal has at least one purpose behind it. Now, from our Clue playing, I knew my opponent enjoys a principled opening. I heard an echo from someone outside who was preparing to drive, then the clear sound of a hit. As I considered opening a quiz book, a white ball smashed through a nearby window and shattered a v...

 On 7/13/25, beekie invented a crossword-inspired Pentominous variant where certain rows and columns must contain intact words hinted at by clues. I managed to finish constructing a somewhat thematic puzzle the following day. https://puzz.link/p?pentominous/v:/10/10/zzzzz 3 Across: In a restless manner, or what the pieces have to do in this 10-by-10 Pentominous grid? (8) 9 Across: The most visible part of an iceberg (3) 2 Down: Completely satiated (4) 4 Down: Opposite to the direction this entry reads (2)

E merging from the forest, I headed east across the water to the next island to find myself in a grassy plain. Behold, the majestic rhinoceros! I took a calming breath and fancied myself Albert Andreas Armadillo, but the rhino seemed indifferent to my presence, continuing to graze near a patch of lavenders. Although I conceived this puzzle idea before learning about it, I must mention LinkedIn's game CrossClimb. Rules: Answer the ten clues in a way that forms a word ladder from RHINO to CRASH (the name for a group of rhinos). Each answer will be five letters long, and consecutive words in the ladder will differ only by a single letter, but the clues are not in the correct order. An adjective that Wikipedia uses to describe the skin of a rhinoceros Inconsiderate Its opposite in October is often provided as an incentive for it year-round Major river known for passing through Germany Meet on one's path Pain in the neck Pronoun that makes "To the person who is currently readin...

  A t this corner of the island, the ground creates a downward slope. The dirt is loose enough that a tulip that burst from the ground now lays on its side. I'll have to be careful on this trek: one misstep and everything literally goes south.  Rules: This puzzle is inspired by WordBrain. Trace a path between cells, which may move diagonally and cross itself, that visits every cell once. The path should spell a sequence of words: the first word has been provided, and the rest are twelve five-letter words. Each individual column's cells must be visited in order from top to bottom. The intended twelve words can be split into two groups of six, where the two categories are specific related properties (that don't together account for every word in the English language). The given word also fits into one of the categories. penpa link

made on 7/13/24 This puzzle type can be found in Fraser Simpson's cryptic crossword books. So far, I've only seen the four puzzles in the first two volumes, but I think the idea has potential for outside-the-box deductions. These puzzles explore unconventional construction ideas and are intended to get progressively more difficult. Find five seven-letter words such that each is made from the six letters in each portion plus the last letter of the word from the previous portion, with the last letter of the fifth being used for the first. For example, the fifth portion of puzzle 1 will be ANAGRAM, meaning word 4 ends in N and word 1 is an anagram of AEEQRUM. 1. AEEQRU / CDINRS / EILRZZ / CDINRS / AAAGMR 2. CCIPRT / AFHISU / EOQRTU / AEIMNS / IINQUY 3. ABILMO / AEFFIR / ADENPS / CELMOP / ABDNOS 

 uploaded on 11/25 https://amuselabs.com/pmm/crossword?id=a2979c5d&set=da22aec87321206b9518a4ae506d99d8940892936293a722400a163af059ebb5 I was inspired by Puzzmo to try and make a crossword where every letter is part of two entries and no entries are two letters long. I was delighted to find the symmetry hidden within the movie title and tied it to 1 Down, but unfortunately wasn't able to place any other easter eggs pertaining to the theme. That being said, I think the entries are good enough - many of the more obscure answers are ones I already knew.

 Based on the New York Times game 450.  https://connections.swellgarfo.com/game/-NjslRzr9tzdEf7BSbEF (11/22) Inspired by a similar puzzle by JustImagineIT which involved the functions of modded properties, except this one should be solvable without game knowledge. 451.  https://connections.swellgarfo.com/game/-NmCMAa8GnUPEp2kepaI (12/21) I recalled seeing a Connections with the royal card group, but I can't remember if it also included the suits.

 made on 6/7/23 and 6/8/23

 uploaded on 5/18/23 This puzzle was inspired by the theme in the title. "NATLOG(-1)/PI (1) (3) NOPU DEZAG NEVER GIVE YOU UP (5) HEAR -> (5) ONE LETTER (1) LYRIC POETRY (4) FORECAST BEGINS (3) HEAR W/2 (3)" - S by SE

 made on 5/10/23 These all follow the same theme: ._.. (6) VDODG GUHVVLQJ (6 5 8) standoffish (second paper with two word-sized holes, first small second big) (7 4) AAAAB ABAAA BAABA BAAAB (5 4)

 made on 4/17/23, but updated on 8/31/24 https://swaroopg92.github.io/penpa-edit/#m=solve&p=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...

 made on 3/3/23 This type was invented by Tenex. Add letters to the board from the rack such that the grid forms valid Scrabble words. (The original puzzles had more potential special restrictions, but I wanted to try making a puzzle without them.)

 made on 2/24/23 This type was invented by Jacob Z. Place words into the grid following the clues. Words must read left-to-right as though in a crossword but can start anywhere, allowing them to overlap.

 made on 1/29/23 - the answer has enumeration (5,8,6,3). all of the words are common. - comparing the first three words in the answer to the words in [paper has puzzle] respectively, all of the second letters match and one of the words matches entirely. - there are four A's. disregarding spaces, the second A is equidistant from the first and third. (the two L's are separated by this same distance, as well as the two N's.) the fourth A is twice as far from the third. - there are three P's, two of which are consecutive. - there are two Y's, both at the ends of words. - the name of one of Jupiter's major moons appears intact within one of the words.

Around this time, the channel had been experimenting with puzzles where words are mapped to numbers based on some characteristic. Many required additional guesses but I tried to structure mine to be solvable without extra guesses. Despite puzzles being sent in between, I decided to group them here. 330. (1/17/23) LOOK -> 2 FOR -> 2 ALL -> 0 THE -> 0 LOOPHOLES -> ? NO -> 1 MORE -> 2 CLUES -> 0 NEEDED -> 2 331. (1/23/23) A -> 1, I -> 9 AM -> 27, AN -> 29, AT -> 41, IT -> 49 CAB -> 11, BAD -> 16 SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS -> ? 332. (1/23/23) ACCORDING -> 1 KNOWN -> 4 LAWS -> 5 AVIATION -> 7 REHEARSAL -> ?

 uploaded on 12/10/22, but made a few years back. The goal is to reduce the starting word to a three-letter word. On each step, you can either remove the last letter or change the second-last letter, forming valid English words along the way (no proper nouns).  For example, "task" can be solved with "tank" then "tan."  These are grouped by solving theme and rough difficulty: pasta wish / spire minus / pills hearse / nexus dairy / one of the 50 states

 uploaded on 11/26/22 Technically I didn't make this one; it's just a picture of the front cover, but I can verify that this puzzle is somewhat feasible to solve. As a necessary hint, the black squares are always rotationally symmetric.

 uploaded on 6/19/22 https://tinyurl.com/ymw24fjt Insert letters into a word in the grid to extend it, pushing pre-placed letters to be later. ? can stand for any letter, but must be the same letter throughout solving. For the larger grids, letters are broken into sets; sets should be added one at a time from top to bottom, with all the letters of a set going to the same word but sets themselves potentially going to different words. Every word in the grid must always be valid.

 made on 6/8/22 https://amuselabs.com/pmm/crossword?id=5d2b127f&set=4254fe3a755244c86e70d74c2d60f647f1077b5f0404f4427e0ec3578c4c067e&embed=1