Tuesday, 22 February 2022

Freddie Hand

Firstly, I wanted to mention that the Rassi Silai Race has just started on LMI! This contest consists of 16 Rassi Silai puzzles, written by the indefatigable Prasanna Seshadri, which are to be released at regular 30-hour intervals. For more information, check this post: Discord message

So, we've had curve data from Jovi, a gloriously unintuitive genre at times (Jovi did a good job of making the GAPP approachable, but when puzzles like https://puzz.link/p?curvedata/5/5/r0r/b00010000/5/5/79abaa8a5855 exist, you can't deny that this genre sometimes messes with your brain), and a pencils from Tyrg, a fairly intuitive genre but one which had a ream of rules.

Today's genre combines the best of both worlds. It is a Pipelink on steroids Loop Special!

Rules: -Draw multiple loops in the grid such that each loop passes through all instances of one number (i.e if there are numbers 1 up to N, you must draw exactly N distinct loops)
-Each loop must pass through at least one number
-All cells must be used by at least one loop
-A loop may intersect itself, but may not turn at the intersection or otherwise overlap
-Different loops may intersect each other, but may not turn at their intersection or otherwise overlap
-No two line segments may cross on a number
-A non-circle clue shows how the loop(s) crosses through the cell it's in

Quite a few rules again today, so I would strongly recommend trying out the example puzzle first to get to grips with the genre.

Example (puzzlink), from puzz.link rules page: https://tinyurl.com/75b7un2c

Acquire a Speedy Sloth 🦥 by solving the puzzle in 2:15 or less!
Obtain a Quick Crab 🦀 by solving the puzzle in 4:45 or less!
And all solvers who complete the puzzle will be rewarded with a Cross-eyed crossing crowned cormorant 🐦

Puzzle (puzzlink): https://tinyurl.com/2p99xrv3