Tuesday, 16 September 2025

Freddie Hand

Time for another WPC puzzle (well, almost). Cave (All 3's)

🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨
!!!!!! NEGATIVE CONSTRAINT ALERT !!!!!!
🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨

Rules: Shade some cells so that the shaded cells are all connected orthogonally by other shaded cells to the edge of the grid, and the remaining unshaded cells form one orthogonally connected area. Clues cannot be shaded, and represent the total number of unshaded cells that can be seen in a straight line vertically or horizontally, including itself.

Additionally, all possible 3 clues are given, i.e. 🚨 if a cell is unshaded and does not contain a 3, then it cannot see exactly 3 cells🚨.

This puzzle also comes with an important GAPP 101. Some of you can probably guess what it is.

GAPP 101: Any 2x2 area of a cave puzzle cannot be a checkerboard of shaded and unshaded cells. This is because to connect the unshaded cells and have just one single cave, you would have to wrap around one of the shaded cells, and in turn stop it from connecting to the edge of the grid.

Here's the last classic Cave in GAPP, by Menderbug: Archive: Wednesday, 8 January 2025

Acquire a Speedy Sloth 🦥 by solving in 4:00 or less!
Obtain a Quick Crab 🦀 by solving in 8:00 or less!
And all solvers who complete the puzzle will be rewarded with a Eger Eared Pitta 🐦

Example (Penpa+): https://tinyurl.com/yswwqaj5
Puzzle (Penpa+): https://tinyurl.com/28efjz94