creative
homestar, who supplied the software that we used to run Fandom Squares at Nimbus - 2003. In return, here's a squares game of a different sort.The World Puzzle Championships take place in the Netherlands later this week. Good luck to all the teams, but particularly to the UK team, and especially to
ericklendl who is a member of it.I don't talk much about puzzles on my LJ, but I've been preparing some practice puzzles of one particular type for the UK team and you may as well see them as well. I'd be interested to know if you found them entertaining, impossible, whatever. No spoilers in your comments, please; answers by e-mail. I'll post some techniques and tips in a while if there's the interest, but I'd advise that you printed these out and tried to solve them in pencil on paper. Don't read too much into the difficulty levels. These aren't representative of the puzzles in my book, by the way. :-)
Colour in some of the squares in the grids below, so that the figures outside the grid indicate the number of coloured squares in that row or column. The squares in each shape for which the borders are marked must either be all coloured or all empty. EXAMPLE _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ |_ |_ _ | 2 |* *|_ _ | 2 | |_ | | | 2 | |* *| | | 2 | _|_| |_| 1 | _|*| |_| 1 |_| |_ _| | 2 |_|*|_ _|*| 2 |_ _ _|_ _| 5 |* * *|* *| 5 2 4 3 1 2 2 4 3 1 2 1. Difficulty: GENUINE _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | _ | |_ _ _| _ _ _| 1 |_| |_|_ _ |_| |_|_ _| 4 | _ _| _|_|_ _| | | | 6 |_|_ _ _|_ |_| _|_| | 4 |_ _ _ _ _|_ _|_ _|_ _ _| 10 3 3 2 3 2 2 0 1 2 3 1 3 2. Difficulty: PARAMOUNT _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | _ _| |_ _ _ _ | | 5 |_| |_ _ _| _ |_|_ _| 7 | _| _| |_| |_| | | 6 |_| _|_ _ | |_ _ _| | 4 | |_| |_ |_|_ _ _|_ _| 2 | | |_ | |_ |_ _ _| 6 | |_ | |_ _|_ _ _|_| | 5 |_ _|_|_|_ _ _ _|_ _ _| 5 4 5 3 1 4 4 2 5 3 6 3 3. Difficulty: EXORBITANT _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | _ _|_ _ _|_ |_ _ _ | _ | | 4 |_| |_ _| _| |_ _ |_|_| |_| | 7 |_ _ | |_ _| | | | |_| |_ _| | 8 | _|_|_| | _|_| |_ |_ _| |_|10 |_| |_ _ _| | |_ _| |_|_ | _| |14 | _| |_ |_|_ _| | _| |_| _| 8 |_| _| |_ _| |_| |_|_| |_|_ _| | 7 |_ _| _| _| |_ _| |_ _ | | | 5 | _|_|_ _| |_ _ _|_ _| | |_| | | 4 |_| _| |_ _|_ _ |_ _ | |_ _| | 6 |_ _|_ _| | _| |_ _| |_|_ _ _|_| 9 | |_ |_ | |_ |_ _|_ |_ _ _|13 | | |_ _|_|_| |_| |_|_ |_|_ _| 7 | |_ |_ |_ _| |_ |_| _|_| | 5 |_| |_ _|_ _|_| |_ _| |_ _|_ _ _| 2 |_ _ _|_ _ _|_ _ _ _|_ _|_ _ _ _| 2 3 4 9 9 5 8 8 8 8 9 8 5 8 7 9 3
