Shady Combination #1: Cave, Pentominos, Slitherlink, Snake
(Published on 9. January 2023, 15:33 by Myxo)
A puzzle combining several genres of shading puzzles together. You first need to figure out which genre belongs to which grid, and then solve the overlapping grids. I am very proud of how this puzzle turned out. Be warned though: An extremely careful read through the lengthy rules is required to solve the puzzle correctly. Enjoy!
Rules:
The grid is divided into four 8x8-subgrids, which overlap orthogonally adjacent subgrids by two rows/columns. The 2x2-square in the middle of the grid is part of all four subgrids.
Shade some cells of the grid, and assign each of the following rulesets to exactly one subgrid: Cave, Pentominos, Slitherlink, Snake. Any subgrid in isolation (i.e. ignoring the rest of the grid) needs to obey its ruleset. Clues that belong to multiple subgrids are satisfied by all of them.
Cave: The unshaded cells form a single orthogonally connected area, and all shaded cells are orthgonally connected to the edge of the subgrid. All clues are unshaded and indicate the amount of cells seen horizontally and vertically by the clued cell, including itself. The edge of the subgrid and shaded cells block the view.
Pentominos: The shaded cells form Pentominos, which may not touch each other, not even diagonally. The same Pentomino-shape may not be used more than once (including rotations and reflections). Clues indicate the number of different pentominos that overlap with the 3x3-area surrounding the clued cell.
Slitherlink: Draw a single closed loop into the subgrid that runs along the edges of cells, and does not cross or touch itself. Cells inside of the loop are shaded, and cells outside of the loop are unshaded. Clues indicate the number of edges orthogonally adjacent to the clued cell that are part of the loop.
Snake: The shaded cells in this subgrid form a 1-cell-wide snake, i.e. a chain of orthogonally connected cells without branches, which may touch itself diagonally (but not orthogonally). Clues indicate the number of cells used by the snake within the 3x3-area surrounding the clued cell.
Solution code: Row 2 and Row 13, S for shaded and U for unshaded cells
Comments
on 26. February 2024, 00:11 by Christounet
Really good fun. Enjoyed both the interactions and the resolution fo each grid. Thanks !
on 24. October 2023, 01:16 by Piatato
Wonderful puzzle, solves very smoothly. Very elegantly done!
on 25. March 2023, 07:52 by Lucx
Brilliant combination of some of my favourite puzzles! 5 Stars!
on 1. February 2023, 03:20 by RJBlarmo
Very fun and unique puzzle combination!
on 23. January 2023, 22:07 by Niverio
Gorgeous puzzle! The break-in was easier than anticipated, but the individual grids turned out to be a very nice immersive challenge :)
on 14. January 2023, 07:43 by Agent
Very impressive construction, enjoyed this a lot!
on 13. January 2023, 02:18 by KNT
@CHalb: Yes, they may
on 12. January 2023, 12:23 by CHalb
May clue cells be shaded in Pentominos or Snake?
on 10. January 2023, 21:52 by Jesper
A wonderful puzzle, a lot of fun, thanks!
on 10. January 2023, 18:43 by MagnusJosefsson
Fantastic! Really original and fun puzzle that is much more approachable than it might first appear. Very nice setting!
on 10. January 2023, 02:06 by chameleon
Interesting interaction between puzzle genres!
As a pencil puzzle noob, I found the puzzle quite hard, but still managed to find the way through.
on 9. January 2023, 22:27 by KNT
Extremely unique puzzle, bizarre how some of the grids are even resolvable.
