Here it is, my final GAPP puzzle as a regular setter! My first GAPP was a Water Walk, which at the time was a new variant on Ice Walk. Since then, there have been so many great walk genres! And so it feels fitting to end on a Walk Mashup, including both some classic walk genres and some more recent inventions. (After testing I decided to stick to loop genres; maybe we’ll see that Energy / Circuit mashup someday.)

⚠️ This puzzle is larger than a normal GAPP! ⚠️ All of the deductions are GAPP-level, but it may be tricky because of the size and number of rules to remember. Menderbug’s post on the GAPP1K mashup (https://discord.com/channels/709370620642852885/911691996366786600/1264836216184901756) has a list of tips for solving large and complex puzzles that apply just as well here! I’ve also recorded a walkthrough for the puzzle (https://youtu.be/XUT3uWoBIe4).

I’m so thankful that I’ve had the opportunity to write for GAPP. As a setter, many of the GAPPs that I’m most proud of are ones that tutorialize fundamental deductions of the genre. I’m happy that there are so many genres the team has covered, and so many on-ramps to other parts of the puzzle community. And in addition, I think that the process of writing GAPPs like this has changed some of how I think about puzzle setting. What are this genre’s most important ideas, and how can I present them so that someone new to the genre can understand them? My mathematics teachers taught me that you can learn math step by step, each idea building on the previous, until you can look back and appreciate how much you’ve accomplished, the grand scope of what you’ve come to understand. In the same way, I hope that GAPPs can be a step on your puzzle-solving journey, and one day, a way to remember how far you’ve come and how much you’ve learned.

Rules are in the post below! I ran out of characters

Example (Penpa): https://tinyurl.com/3kk677h5

Solve in 20:00 or under for a Speedy Sloth! 🦥
Complete in 40:00 or under for a Quick Crab! 🦀
And all solvers who complete the puzzle will earn a Step-by-Step South Polar Skua! 🐦

Puzzle (Penpa): https://tinyurl.com/yjh4wce3

Rules: Draw lines to form a single loop that goes through every numbered cell.

The grid contains five types of walk cells, each a different color, as well as ground cells, which are white. A number indicates how many cells make up the continuous ground section of the network that the number is on.

Walk cells follow the rule of the corresponding genre:
Bug (green / letter B): If a straight loop segment intersects any cells of a bug region, it must have length equal to 1. [If you're familiar with Rail Pool, bug regions behave like Rail Pool regions with "1" clues.]
Water (dark blue / letter W): The loop may not travel through more than two water cells consecutively.
Morning (purple / letter M): The length of a loop section within a morning region must be different from the length of the two successive ground sections.
Robotic (gray / letter R): For any two (not necessarily adjacent) robotic cells that the loop visits consecutively, the loop must go straight through one of them and make a turn in the other. This does not apply when the loop visits other types of walk cells between visiting two robotic cells. (In short, you can ignore the robotic condition when the loop leaves the robotic area.)
Ice (light blue / letter I): When the loop passes over ice cells, it must continue without turning until it reaches a ground cell. The loop may cross itself, but only on ice cells.

Try GAPPs for each of the individual walks:
Bug Walk (Freddie Hand): Archive: Monday, 19 January 2026
Water Walk (Walker): Archive: Monday, 12 June 2023
Morning Walk (Lavaloid): Archive: Wednesday, 17 December 2025
Robotic Walk (Lavaloid): Archive: Wednesday, 21 January 2026
Ice Walk (jovi): Archive: Thursday, 19 January 2023