wolog's puzzle blog

 Yesterday, Jovi_al gave me a theme for a slitherlink to create, so I made just that! I built it to showcase a specific shading deduction in the top right corner (that was constructed first) and the rest of the puzzle was built around it. Rules: Draw lines along the edges of some cells to form a loop. The loop cannot branch off or cross itself. A number indicates the amount of edges surrounding the cell that are visited by the loop. Puzz.link Interface

This puzzle arose out of a failed attempt at making a slitherlink with a really constrained theme (maybe I'll end up finally making that and posting it on my blog). Anyways, I think this turned out quite well! The puzzle was built entirely around the center all-black-pearl diamond; after some quick experimentation, I found the outer diamond couldn't be all black pearls. But making it all white pearls is boring, too. Oh well. Rules- Draw lines through orthogonally adjacent cells to form a loop that goes through every circle. The loop cannot branch off or cross itself. The loop must turn on black circles and travel straight through the cells before and after the circle. The loop must go straight through white circles, and turn in at least one of the cells on either side. Puzz.link Interface

Here's the second simple loop I've set, ever. It was made after seeing 6 other sloops created today. I think it turned out well. Rules:  Draw a loop that goes through every unshaded cell. The loop cannot branch off or cross itself. The loop cannot go through shaded cells. Puzz.link Interface

 Here's 3 Masyus. The first two are masyus that use only black circles. The third masyu was made without a theme. I just wanted to make a masyu that extensively employed "don't close the loop" logic. While it didn't use as much of that logic as I wanted, I still think it turned out ok.  Rules:  Draw lines through orthogonally adjacent cells to form a loop that goes through every circle. The loop cannot branch off or cross itself. The loop must turn on black circles and travel straight through the cells before and after the circle. The loop must go straight through white circles, and turn in at least one of the cells on either side. Masyu 1 Masyu 2 Masyu 3

 This is my first time setting an Akari. I made this in an attempt to make a puzzle with X-wings, and built the rest of the puzzle around it. I think it turned out quite well!  Rules:  Place lights in some empty cells so that every non-black cell is illuminated. Lights illuminate the cell they’re in as well as all cells seen in a straight line horizontally or vertically, until obstructed by a black cell. Lights may not illuminate each other. Clues represent the number of lights in the (up to) four cells surrounding the clue. Puzz.link Interface

 Masyu day! I wanted to set with a slight theme, namely the two diagonal lines of 4 black pearls in the middle with the white pearls organized between them. I thought this puzzle turned out quite well! Rules- Draw lines through orthogonally adjacent cells to form a loop that goes through every circle. The loop cannot branch off or cross itself. The loop must turn on black circles and travel straight through the cells before and after the circle. The loop must go straight through white circles, and turn in at least one of the cells on either side. Puzz.link Interface

 Originally I had a much harder deduction planned in the bottom right of the puzzle, but uniqueness was hard to achieve and thus I instead added more clues. The puzzle is much easier because of it, but I think it still turned out alright.  Rules- Draw lines through orthogonally adjacent cells to form a loop that goes through every circle. The loop cannot branch off or cross itself. The loop must turn on black circles and travel straight through the cells before and after the circle. The loop must go straight through white circles, and turn in at least one of the cells on either side. Puzz.link Interface

 I wanted to make another slitherlink with djmathman , both using the same theme. However, I thought to include a mini-theme in my puzzle. It took a while to set, but it's unique and I'm very happy with how it turned out. Rules:  Draw lines along the edges of some cells to form a loop. The loop cannot branch off or cross itself. A number indicates the amount of edges surrounding the cell that are visited by the loop. Puzz.link Interface

 I originally wanted to make a Masyu that solved to regions which would eventually resolve through connectivity, but I realized the theme would only work in large puzzles. Instead, I set a smaller Masyu. Rules- Draw lines through orthogonally adjacent cells to form a loop that goes through every circle. The loop cannot branch off or cross itself. The loop must turn on black circles and travel straight through the cells before and after the circle. The loop must go straight through white circles, and turn in at least one of the cells on either side. Puzz.link Interface

 Made a Shikaku following the layout of the black pearls in my Masyu. All the clues happen to be multiples of 3 as well! Rules:  Draw lines over the dotted lines to divide the board into rectangles. Each rectangle contains exactly one black circle. A number indicates the size of the rectangle, in cells. Puzz.link Interface

 Haven't set a puzzle in a while, and decided to set a Masyu today. I started with the black circles and slowly added the white ones. I think this turned out quite well. Rules- Draw lines through orthogonally adjacent cells to form a loop that goes through every circle. The loop cannot branch off or cross itself. The loop must turn on black circles and travel straight through the cells before and after the circle. The loop must go straight through white circles, and turn in at least one of the cells on either side. Puzz.link Interface