Eric Fox's Puzzles

       Shade one tetromino of cells in each region so that all shaded cells form one orthogonally connected area. Two tetrominoes of the same shape may not share a bold border, counting rotations and reflections as the same. No 2x2 region may be entirely shaded. Solve online

       Shade some cells so that no two shaded cells are orthogonally adjacent and the remaining unshaded cells form one orthogonally connected area. No two cells in the same row or column containing the same number may both be unshaded. Solve online

       Shade some cells so that all shaded cells form one orthogonally connected area. Clues cannot be shaded, and every orthogonally connected area of unshaded cells contains exactly one clue, the value of which represents the size of the area. No 2x2 area may be entirely shaded. Each region must contain at least one shaded cell. No two shaded cells which are adjacent across a bold border may belong to regions containing the same number of shaded cells. Solve online

       Draw a non-intersecting loop through the centers of some cells which passes through each region exactly once. Orthogonally adjacent cells across a region border may not both be unused.  Clues represent the numbers of consecutive cells occupied by the loop each time it enters the (up to) eight cells surrounding the clue.     The shaded regions are just to accentuate the theme, and act no differently from the unshaded regions. Solve online

       Shade some cells so that no two shaded cells are orthogonally adjacent 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.  A line of consecutive unshaded cells may not cross more than one bold border. Solve online

     Draw a non-intersecting loop through the centers of some cells that passes through every circle. The straight line segments coming out of a white circle must have equal length, while the straight line segments coming out of a black circle must have different lengths. A clue in a circle represents the sum of the lengths of these two line segments. Solve online

       Draw a non-intersecting loop through the centers of some cells which passes through each region exactly once. A number in a region represents how many cells in the region are visited by the loop. Orthogonally adjacent cells across a region border may not both be unused. Solve online

       Connect some pairs of orthogonally adjacent dots to form a single non-intersecting loop. Clued cells contain arrows indicating all of the orthogonal directions in which a loop segment appears closest to the clued cell. Solve online

     Divide the grid into regions of five orthogonally connected cells so that no two regions of the same shape share an edge, counting rotations and reflections as the same. Clued cells must belong to a region with the pentomino shape associated with that letter. Solve online

       Draw a non-intersecting loop through the centers of some cells that passes through every circle. The straight line segments coming out of a white circle must have equal length, while the straight line segments coming out of a black circle must have different lengths. A clue in a circle represents the sum of the lengths of these two line segments. Solve online

       Shade some cells so that clues represent the total size of the orthogonally connected areas of shaded cells that share an edge with the clue. Clued cells cannot be shaded. There may not exist a run of more than three consecutive shaded or unshaded cells horizontally or vertically anywhere in the grid. Solve online

       Shade some tetrominoes of cells so that no two tetrominoes touch each other orthogonally. Clued cells cannot be shaded, and a clue means that the first tetromino seen in a straight line in the indicated direction is of the shape associated with that letter. Each tetromino must be diagonally connected to exactly one other, which must be of the same shape. Solve online

       Draw a non-intersecting loop through the centers of some empty cells. Every orthogonally connected area of cells not visited by the loop contains exactly one clue, the value of which represents the size of the area. Solve online

       Shade some cells so that no two shaded cells are orthogonally adjacent 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. Solve online

       Place stars into some cells such that each row, column, and outlined region contains exactly N stars. The value of N is given outside the grid. Stars may not touch one another, not even diagonally. Solve online

       Draw a non-intersecting loop through the centers of all cells that passes through every circle. Each circle marks the center of the straight line segment it lies on. Solve online

    I don't like the name of this variant, but for the sake of consistency, I must use it in the post title.       Shade some cells so that all shaded cells form one orthogonally connected area and each region contains exactly five shaded cells. Clues cannot be shaded, and represent the lengths of the blocks of consecutive shaded cells in the (up to) eight cells surrounding the clue. No 2x2 region may be entirely shaded. Solve online

       Divide the grid into rectangular regions of orthogonally connected cells, each containing exactly one clue. A plus shaped clue means that the region it belongs to is a square. A line shaped clue means that the region it belongs to is a rectangle with the longer edge parallel to the line. Region borders may not form any four-way intersections. Solve online

       Shade one tetromino of cells in each region so that all shaded cells form one orthogonally connected area. Two tetrominoes of the same shape may not share a bold border, counting rotations and reflections as the same. Clues cannot be shaded, and represent the lengths of the blocks of consecutive shaded cells in the (up to) eight cells surrounding the clue. No 2x2 region may be entirely shaded. Solve online

       Divide the grid into regions of three orthogonally connected cells. A clue on the bottom of a blocked cell represents the number of rectangular regions in the vertical line below it. A clue on the right side of a blocked cell represents the number of rectangular regions in the horizontal line to its right. Clues cannot see regions through other blocked cells. Solve online

       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 number of shaded cells in the (up to) eight cells surrounding the clue. Solve online

       Place each shape from the bank given outside the grid into the grid so that no two shapes share an edge and all unused cells form one orthogonally connected area. Rotating and reflecting shapes is allowed. Cells with black circles must be used by a shape, and cells with white circles must not be used by a shape. Solve online

       Combine pairs of orthogonally connected regions such that no pair forms a rectangle and no two orthogonally adjacent pairs are the same combined shape, counting rotations and reflections as the same. Solve online

       Shade some cells so that no two shaded cells are orthogonally adjacent and draw a non-intersecting loop through the centers of all the remaining empty cells. Clues cannot be shaded, and represent the number of shaded cells in a straight line in the indicated direction. Solve online

       Divide the grid into rectangular regions of orthogonally connected cells, each containing exactly one clue. A plus shaped clue means that the region it belongs to is a square. A line shaped clue means that the region it belongs to is a rectangle with the longer edge parallel to the line. Region borders may not form any four-way intersections. Solve online

       Draw a non-intersecting loop through the centers of some cells so that the rules of both genres are met.      Nurikabe-Like Loop:      Every orthogonally connected area of cells not visited by the loop contains exactly one of the uncircled clues, the value of which represents the size of the area.     Balance Loop:     The loop must visit every cell which contains a circle.  The straight line segments coming out of a white circle must have equal length, while the straight line segments coming out of a black circle must have different lengths. A number in a circle represents the sum of the lengths of these two line segments. Solve online

       Divide the grid into regions of orthogonally connected cells. Two regions of the same size may not share an edge. Clued cells must belong to a region containing the indicated number of cells. Solve online

    Here are some 6x6 puzzles I made, all of which fall under the shading puzzle category!     Aqre:     Shade some cells so that all shaded cells form one orthogonally connected area. Regions with numbers must contain the indicated amount of shaded cells. There may not exist a run of more than three consecutive shaded or unshaded cells horizontally or vertically anywhere in the grid. Solve online     Cave:     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. Solve online     Kurotto:     Shade some cells so that clues represent the total size of the orthogonally connected areas of shaded cells that share an edge with the clue. Clued cells cannot be shaded. Solve online     Tapa:     Shade some

       Draw a non-intersecting loop through the centers of all empty cells. Solve online

       Divide the grid into regions of orthogonally connected cells. Each region must be an L shape with a width of one cell. Arrows must lie at one end of an L and point toward the bend. Circles must lie at the bend of an L, and if one contains a number, the L it’s inside must contain the indicated amount of cells. Solve online