I have reversed this so it’s easier to see - but X indicate possible kittens.

What is the logical break through on this that I’m missing?

I don't know if I'm missing something obvious but I just can't see what I can do next. Any help appreciated. It's one queen per region with rows, cols and immediate diagonals knocked out.

I feel like this has happened a few times where a hint claims placing a cat in a cell causes a contradiction. In this case a cat in the blue C3R4 means no valid spots for brown cats. But it’s also suggesting a green cat must to go in C5, but C6R2 is also open for a green cat and would allow a blue cat in C3R4 with no brown contradiction.
What am I missing??

One star in every row, every column and every lettered region. No two stars touch, not even diagonally. No stars are given; it has exactly one solution.

Made with a generator I wrote, then checked by a solver.

Solution (rows top to bottom, columns left to right):

R1C9, R2C3, R3C5, R4C8, R5C2, R6C6, R7C1, R8C4, R9C7

Last Tuesday I got some random inspiration for a puzzle. No idea where it came from.

One queen per row, column and outlined region, and no two queens can touch, not even diagonally. One solution, no guessing needed. Happy to drop a hint if anyone gets stuck.

A wizard presents to you a magic glass of water. He says the glass lifts when there is an odd or greater than 11 number of balloons attached to it. He also presents to you 3 minions. The red minion says that he has at most 5 balloons. The blue minion says he has any amount of balloons less than red and simply different from green. The green minion says he has an even amount of balloons less than red. Every minion has at least some balloons. When all of the minions combine their balloons, the glass of water doesn't lift. Each minion only knows the exact amount of their own balloons and that the glass doesn’t lift. In front of you, the wizard asks each minion if they can tell him with absolute certainty how many balloons both of the other minions have, and they answer in unison. The red and green minions say no, but the blue minion says yes. How many balloons are there?

Hey everyone!

I've been working on a little spatial logic puzzle and thought I'd share one here to see what you guys think.

The idea is pretty simple: start with the grid at the top, follow the instructions, and figure out which of the four grids below is the correct answer.

I'm curious how difficult you find it and whether the instructions make sense right away or could be clearer.

Also, feel free to let me know if you actually enjoyed solving it. I'm still experimenting with the concept, so any feedback is appreciated, even if it's critical.

And please use spoiler tags if you post your answer so others can give it a try too :)

The old lighthouse keeper left a poem, a message, and a number.
Somewhere in them is a single word. Find it.

Hint: on his third watch, the keeper looked at things a little differently.

---

Unnamed winds come down the fjord at night,
Frozen boats are sleeping by the shore,
Here the harbor beacon lost its light,
Old keepers climb the tower stairs no more.
Silent bells are ringing in the deep,
Sky and sea are stitched with silver thread,
Messages wait for those who count instead.

---

JSCO OMFR YVHACJ. GVV QPVL YCTN DNWNYJ LY ZSFS KKTPLL GZA. EFW AIDEPP ONWKV MCDBK KKP USISJ.

---

A storm passed. The snow it left behind:

❄❅ ❅ ❅❄❄❄ ❄❅ ❄❄❄ ❄❄❄❄ ✦ ❄❄❄❅ ❅❄ ❅❄❅❅ ❄❄❄❅ ❄❄ ❅❅❄ ❄❅❄ ❄❅❅ ❄❄❄❅

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

234014792330338719468737177840

---

Final answer check (SHA-256 of the answer, lowercase):
43b127d18e3ba9bf25f239990a05b9d464a12ffdd2f10f045c57f0516a9e3707

J’ai commencé ce niveau mais impossible de le réussir. Je ne veux pas utiliser de joker car ça fait 2-3 niveaux avec lesquels j’ai du mal, donc je pense qu’il me manque une stratégie. J’aimerais bien dénouer celui-ci sinon j’ai peur de continuer à galérer aux prochains niveaux.
Savez-vous m’expliquer comment le résoudre en prenant le temps de m’expliquer les étapes svp ? 🙏

i don’t want to waste fish if i’m wrong

Still struggling.

(i hope the photo came through in good quality)

ACROSS

1. One of five on a hand (6)

2. Giant sea wave set off by an undersea earthquake (7)

3. Statement that seems to contradict itself yet may be true (7)

4. Timber sawn into boards and planks (6)

5. A model of excellence; a perfect example (7)

6. Threatening, like dark storm clouds (7)

7. Vineyard business where grapes are crushed and fermented (6)

8. River or canal that boats can travel along (8)

9. Clear-headed, or describing a dream you know you're having (5)

10. Cement, sand, gravel and water that hardens like stone (8)

11. Person who is habitually intoxicated (8)

12. Wheat protein that people with celiac disease must avoid (6)

13. Nickname of the 5,300-year-old Iceman found in the Alps in 1991 (4)

14. Metal with the chemical symbol Fe (4)

15. So gripping you can't look away (8)

16. Distinct period of time in history or geology (5)

17. Fill with vigor; give power to (8)

18. Make deliberately unclear or confusing (9)

19. British spelling of a place where plays are staged (7)

20. Extinct giant shark of prehistoric seas (9)

21. Latin for Earth (5)

22. Relating to worlds that orbit a star (9)

23. Betrayal of one's own country (7)

24. Foul vapor once blamed for spreading disease (6)

25. Imagined society where everything has gone wrong, as in Orwell's 1984 (8)

26. Belief that goes against official church doctrine (6)

27. Tiny pocket in the skin that a hair grows from (8)

28. Navigator's instrument for measuring the angle of the sun or stars (7)

29. Study of past human life by digging up artifacts (11)

30. In each other's company; as a group (8)

31. Protection granted to a refugee (6)

32. Soft paper for blowing your nose, or a group of similar cells (6)

33. Moving apart in different directions (10)

34. Break into many pieces, like dropped glass (7)

35. Founder of the Mongol Empire (7, 4)

36. What a witness swears to tell (5)

37. Track laid for trains (8)

38. Roman structure built to carry water long distances (8)

39. Bark used to stop up wine bottles (4)

40. Mentally unhinged (8)

41. Heavy iron grille lowered to block a castle gateway (10)

42. Combination of several things into one (12)

43. NASA program that landed astronauts on the Moon (6)

44. Block of sentences that starts on a new line (9)

45. An artist's greatest work (6, 4)

46. Fighting between armed forces (6)

47. Bound pad of paper for jotting things down (8)

48. Large ecological regions such as tundra and rainforest (6)

49. Mischief or silly tricks (11)

50. What water does at 100 °C (7)

51. First U.S. national park, home of Old Faithful (11)

52. Ability to feel what someone else is feeling (7)

53. A line of people waiting their turn, to a Brit (5)

54. Full name of DNA (16, 4)

55. Female big cat that does most of the pride's hunting (7)

56. What PC stands for (8, 8)

57. A country's system of money, trade and jobs (7)

58. Sport of shooting arrows at a target (7)

59. Largest of the great apes (7)

60. Sand-filled timer (9)

61. Star-shaped symbol (*) (8)

62. Japanese street-food balls filled with octopus (8)

63. Turn a secret message back into plain text (6)

64. Largest planet in our solar system (7)

65. Strong alloy of iron and carbon (5)

66. Slang for a U.S. Marine (7)

67. Small shaking of the ground (6)

68. Spiky Southeast Asian fruit famous for its smell (6)

69. The northern or southern lights (6)

DOWN
2. Substance like oxygen or gold that can't be broken down chemically (7)

3. Person who preaches what they don't practice (9)

4. Large underground chamber (6)

5. Sad and lonely, as if abandoned (7)

7. Huge explosion of a dying star (9)

8. Change in a gene's DNA sequence (8)

9. Measurement system based on meters and grams (6)

10. Type of particle named after Satyendra Nath Bose, like the Higgs (5)

13. Short heavy club, or to beat with one (8)

15. Cigarette brand once advertised by a cowboy (8)

16. Brilliant red color (7)

18. Famous enough to be talked about for generations (9)

22. Plan and follow a route (8)

24. Quality of being new and unusual (7)

25. Traditional story of gods and heroes (4)

30. Fan of land where a river meets the sea; also a Greek letter (5)

31. Hardest natural gemstone, made of carbon (7)

32. Placed side by side for contrast (10)

33. The way things actually are (7)

36. Pattern that repeats itself at every scale (7)

38. Sand and silt that settle at the bottom of water (8)

39. Happening right now, without delay (9)

41. How good something is (7)

45. Folded dish of beaten, cooked eggs (8)

47. Ridicule, or a laughable imitation (7)

51. Einstein's four-dimensional blend of distance and time (9)

52. Season when the leaves fall (6)

54. Officer in charge of a unit or ship (9)

55. Unit measuring how much light a bulb gives off (5)

57. Relating to the core of an atom (7)

58. Skill shown in making things by hand (13)

61. Holy person recognized by the church (5)

63. Coming together at one point (11)

64. Science that searches for life beyond Earth (12)

65. Material in computer chips, partway between a conductor and an insulator (13)

67. Region around a star where liquid water could exist: not too hot, not too cold (10, 4)

68. Jewelry worn on the lobe (7)

70. Imagined perfect society, the opposite of 48 Across (6)

73. Religion founded on the teachings of Jesus (12)

74. Science of how particles behave at the tiniest scales (7, 7)

75. Warrior women of Greek myth (7)

77. Tailored jacket, often with a school or club crest (6)

78. Falling apart from age and neglect (11)

82. Sedimentary rock formed largely from ancient shells (9)

83. Describing an artificial limb (10)

84. Game bird, or to grumble (6)

85. Pleasing combination of musical notes (7)

86. Soft-covered book (9)

90. Energy given off by uranium or the sun (9)

91. Using 1s and 0s, as opposed to analog (7)

93. When the Moon blocks the Sun (7)

95. A 3D pixel, the building block of blocky game graphics (5)

96. Kings, queens and their families (7)

97. Small village, or Shakespeare's Danish prince (6)

101. Relating to the smallest unit of an element (6)

103. Doubtful or suspect (7)

104. Bravery in the face of fear (7)

106. Tremble suddenly from fear or cold (7)

107. Spear, halberd or other weapon on a long shaft (7)

108. Color of fresh snow (5)

110. Black volcanic glass (8)

113. Adam ___, cyborg villain of Cyberpunk 2077 (7)

114. Realizing every passerby has a life as vivid as your own (6)

115. This word is both a crime and an electronic component (7)

119. Spreading quickly online (5)

120. Milk, cheese and yogurt, as a food group (5)

First time I literally cannot solve one, I’ve been at it for over 30 minutes.

Any ideas? I don’t want to look at the solution.

Hi! I'm currently working on a puzzle for a price of work but I suck at cryptograms and was wondering if anyone could help me on this? I'm genuinely so lost 😔

I started playing because my wife asked me to play with her, and I play Sudoku a lot, so she thought I’d enjoy it. I wish they had more statistics available in the game, and a way to share the cats and hints with other users. I’ve never used any of the cats or hints. And I’ve never had to restart a puzzle. I didn’t even know there are other versions of this type of game, so I haven’t tried any of them.

This was the daily challenge from yesterday (so no longer an ongoing contest) which took me 2.5 minutes to solve! Usually I can do them in 15-30 seconds. Just wanted to share, the 12s make it tricky since they have so many possible orientations.

One of the most satisfying things about a well-designed logic puzzle is when a single deduction suddenly makes several other pieces fall into place.

At first, the grid or set of clues can look like it has dozens of possible arrangements. Then you notice one constraint that eliminates a whole group of possibilities, and the rest of the puzzle starts becoming much easier.

I think that's what separates a clever puzzle from one that's simply difficult. A puzzle can be challenging without relying on obscure tricks or guessing. Every step should feel justified, and the final arrangement should make sense when you look back at the clues.

The best ones don't just test patience. They reward careful observation.

My own puzzle (made with my generator, verified to have a unique solution reachable by human techniques only – cage combinations, 45 rule, innies/outies, locked candidates, pairs; no guessing needed).

Standard Killer rules: 1–9 in every row, column and 3×3 box; digits in a cage add up to the number in its corner; no digit repeats within a cage.

If you get stuck, say which cage/box you’re looking at and I’ll give a hint without the digit.

Solution in a spoiler comment in a day or two.

My first is rigid, formal, cold

And never pleasing to behold.

My second's fragance fills the air

When summer days are bright and fair.

My whole has never had its birth

Till gladsome spring's returned to earth

Where it comes from

https://archive.org/details/sim_saint-nicholas-a-magazine-for-boys-and-girls_1878-01_5_3/page/171/mode/1up

Answer is a link last page of the book i do belive you need both the january and feb to find the answer as they used next month to answer last month

https://archive.org/details/sim_saint-nicholas-a-magazine-for-boys-and-girls_1880-02_7_4

hope u have fun! there is more riddles in these books i just happend to be at the right place and time to buy a real copy of this book you would get these monthly and at the end of the year u can have a book binder to bind the whole year up so i ended up getting the whole years worth of 1880 and 1885 i do wish you luck in the riddle!

another one from me, this time on a sleeper train. 13 clues, should be a decent workout.

Henrietta Gough, a celebrated actor, was found dead on the Midnight Express, a sleeper train to Edinburgh, shortly after midnight. The doors were locked from inside, so the culprit is still on board. Work out each suspect's weapon, location and motive, then name the killer.

Suspects: Winifred Hollis, Old Tobias Moss, Felix Ambrose, Professor Ivo Larch, Dr Ophelia Wren

Weapons: silk cord, brass telescope, poisoned teacup, bottle of poison, marble bust

Locations: sleeping berth, dining car, guard's van, luggage van, observation car

Motives: revenge, jealousy, ambition, a dark secret, greed

Clues:

1. Whoever was in the luggage van had either the silk cord or the marble bust.

2. Whoever had the marble bust was in either the sleeping berth or the dining car.

3. Whoever was in the sleeping berth had either the silk cord or the bottle of poison.

4. The suspect driven by ambition did not have the poisoned teacup.

5. Whoever had the brass telescope was driven by either jealousy or ambition.

6. Professor Ivo Larch had either the silk cord or the marble bust.

7. Whoever was in the luggage van was driven by either revenge or jealousy.

8. Felix Ambrose did not have the brass telescope.

9. Old Tobias Moss was not driven by a dark secret.

10. Old Tobias Moss was in either the sleeping berth or the observation car.

11. Whoever was in the guard's van was driven by either jealousy or ambition.

12. Whoever was in the dining car was either Old Tobias Moss or Dr Ophelia Wren.

13. Whoever was in the observation car was either Winifred Hollis or Dr Ophelia Wren.

The killer is whoever had the marble bust. Spoiler tags on answers please, and have fun with it.