Number: Puzzle #1819 Genre: Plane Division Author: Bram Appeared at: August 3, 2011
Wow, that was unexpected. I know the genre from Nikoli's Penpa Mix books, but they always have the whole grid filled. This is a really nice deviation!
I had the same reaction when a puzzle like this popped up on a Dutch puzzle championship, when the prereleased instructions announced it as a normal puzzle.
It's an interesting twist on the genre, though something tells me there might be uniqueness clue issues if there's a lot of white space in a puzzle. (I didn't spot any or look for them in this one, I should add!)
I found it a very very hard puzzle for 2 stars. I found it harder than some puzzles with 4 stars. But nice indeed, to see the variation with white space.
I think it's not very hard. Especially considering the B/E division over the top and bottom half. It's just different than the normal puzzles and makes you change you normal approach to these puzzles. This usually makes it feel harder.
I think it's not very hard. Especially considering the B/E division over the top and bottom half. It's just different than the normal puzzles and makes you change you normal approach to these puzzles. This usually makes it feel harder.
I didn't notice this one when I was solving it earlier and it felt much harder than a 2 star puzzle. When I tried it now with this hint the whole flow was very smooth and it was fun to solve. Thanks.