Was this puzzle created in response to the question of what's the fewest pearls needed in an nxn Masyu puzzle (with the added proviso that every row and every column must be traversed, to prevent trivial solutions like a 2x2 block of white pearls on an edge)? I forgot that I had once entertained such questions. With 12 pearls, this puzzle ties the record I had for a 10x10 puzzle, but my specimen had 8-way symmetry to where it only felt like one-eighth of a puzzle. Nice.
Yes,the question was raised for a 10x10 grid,if i remember,on some blog.I designed a few non-trivial ones with 12 pearls on a 10x10,one of which i think is released on puzzlepicnic and more are with me.