Sunday, 13 July 2025

Lavaloid

And for the final puzzle of Instructionless Week, we have a strange-shaped puzzle! Thank you everyone for your support throughout the week. We will return tomorrow with an instructionlessless puzzle.

Because the rules can be difficult to formalize, I've included two versions of the rules today. If one version is too difficult to reason about, you may try using the alternate version.

Hint: ⚠️ Try shading the grid using three colors such that no adjacent regions are the same color. ⚠️
Alternate hint: ⚠️ Try further dividing the regions into diamonds. ⚠️

Full rules:

⚠️⚠️
- Divide the grid by connecting adjacent gridpoints such that the resulting image is an isometric view of a 3D object built using perpendicular unit squares such that no surface is partially obscured.
- Numbers indicate the size of the surface it is a part of. Two squares that are part of the same surface must not have edges drawn between them.
⚠️⚠️
Alternate full rules:
⚠️⚠️ Divide the grid by connecting adjacent gridpoints into diamonds, such that it forms groups of orthogonally connected diamonds that are in the same orientation. Diamonds within a group must not have edges drawn between them. Orthogonally adjacent groups must have differently oriented diamonds. Numbers count the number of diamonds in the group it is a part of. ⚠️⚠️

Score a Sly Sloth 🦥 by solving the puzzle without using either spoiler.
Collect a Crafty Crab 🦀 by completing the puzzle using only the hint.
Or finish the puzzle using the full rules to become the proud owner of a Final Flamingo 🐦!

Example (Penpa+): https://tinyurl.com/yvn44re9
Puzzle (Penpa+): https://tinyurl.com/ywcneaf6
Combined: https://tinyurl.com/yuj7kgpr (solve the lefthand example grid and the main puzzle for answer check)

If you enjoyed Instructionless Week and would like to solve more instructionless puzzles, here are some recommendations:

Collections:
- Instructionless Grid: https://ig.logicpuzzle.app/
- Instructionless puzzles on PuzSq: https://puzsq.logicpuzzle.app/?kind=-2
- Instructionless puzzles on LMD: https://logic-masters.de/Raetselportal/Suche/erweitert.php?suchlabel_36=M
- Day 4 of Puzzle Boss Rush 4: https://sites.google.com/view/puzzle-boss-rush-4/problems/instructionless-gi72hmab
- Bluesky thread with puzzle books, many of which are instructionless: https://bsky.app/profile/letibus.bsky.social/post/3lt33smwwqs2a
- a Witness-inspired puzzle pack by Menderbug: https://brokensign.com/puzzle/2024/07/06/instructionless-witness-set.html

Contests:
- Instructionless Contest on LMD (2021): https://logic-masters.de/Wettbewerbe/CE/wettbewerb.php?id=190
- LM 2024 (puzzle 3.15): https://logic-masters.de/LM/2024/raetsel.php
- LM 2021 (round 2): https://logic-masters.de/LM/2021/cont_round2.php
- LM 2018 (round 9): https://logic-masters.de/LM/2018/raetsel.php
- LM 2010 (round 3): https://logic-masters.de/LM/2010/raetsel.php
- various Puzzle Ramayan rounds: https://logicmastersindia.com/live/search-contests (search for "Instructionless")
- WPC 2015, Round 8
- WPC 2017, Round 15 (also individual puzzles in rounds 6, 11, 17)
- WPC 2023, Team Round 8