Friday, 4 April 2025

Freddie Hand

The Dutch Championships are now live! You can (unofficially) participate here once you log in/register. There won't be any online solving links so you'll need to either print out the puzzles or solve on an image editing tool.

U-Bahn is one of the genres that will be appearing, and has a reputation for being quite cursed. Hopefully this one's manageable.

Rules: Draw a totally connected loop network through the centers of some cells, which may branch or turn, but may not have any dead ends. A clue outside the grid indicates how many times the corresponding line shape (i.e. a cross, branch, straight line, or turn) appears in the corresponding row or column, irrespective of the line shape's rotation.

Here's a GAPP 101 to help get started: Clues against the edge tend to be pretty constrained, so often make for a good starting point. Crossings can also be hard to place, since they cannot occur on the edge.

Solving Note: Notation for this genre is tricky! Two things I would definitely recommend are
- Diligently making x markings for where there cannot be a line.
- Shading number clues once all information from them has been exhausted.
You could also mark cells with letters to indicate what shape they have to contain, if you know the shape but not the orientation (I suggest "I" for a straight line, "L" for a turn, "T" for a branch, "X" for a crossing). But there are plenty more options for notation, and plenty more things to notate, so take your pick.

Acquire a Speedy Sloth 🦥 by solving the puzzle in 3:45 or less!
Obtain a Quick Crab 🦀 by solving the puzzle in 7:30 or less!
And all solvers who complete the puzzle will be rewarded with a Wind Millerbird 🐦

Example (Penpa+): https://tinyurl.com/2ao8929y (this is a little trickier than usual)
Puzzle (Penpa+): https://tinyurl.com/2bcrb3al