JCO Website (Puzzles for the manual solver)

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This is a place chosen to make available some ideas (on puzzles, patterns, etc)

that seemed unsuitable for posting in a Forum, but some people may find interesting.

For difficult puzzles, possible solutions will not be shown (only hints).

For other puzzles, the solution wil be hidden so that a serious attempt can be made

without direct access to a solution.

(hopefully this will make the puzzles more interesting for newcomers)

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(useful to look up for the meaning of some unfamiliar concept)

Rules

Recent Puzzles (*2*)

Puzzle CS#56 (overall #143) (9x9 Classic Sudoku; SE = 8.3; proposed Oct 25, 2026)

I propose the following tough Classic Sudoku puzzle.

(found with Sudoku Explainer)

Classic Sudoku

Hint (Update 1: First step after basics)
After basics

  ,-------------------------------------------------------,
9 | 9    34    2    | 8     135   6   | 15     145   7    |
8 | 368  1     467  | 579   359   357 | 5689   4589  2    |
7 | 5    78    67   | 179   2     4   | 1689   189   3    |
  |-----------------+-----------------+-------------------|
6 | 7    2469  469  | 3     156   125 | 12589  1589  1459 |
5 | 236  2346  5    | 126   8     9   | 123    7     14   |
4 | 1    239   8    | 257   4     257 | 2359   6     59   |
  |-----------------+-----------------+-------------------|
3 | 68   78    1679 | 4     1359  135 | 159    2     1569 |
2 | 26   269   169  | 159   7     8   | 4      3     1569 |
1 | 4    5     3    | 1269  169   12  | 7      19    8    |
  '-------------------------------------------------------'
    a    b     c      d     e     f     g      h     i    Classic Sudoku
    
Update (Oct 28, 2026)
    
This puzzle is solvable in 4 steps.
My first step involved an ALS W-wing.
    

Puzzle SL#32 (overall #142) (9x9 Slitherlink; proposed October 25, 2026)

I propose the following (tough) Slitherlink puzzle.

(Source: Simon Tatham's Collection)

Slitherlink 9x9

Hint (Update 1: grid after 23 basic moves)
 .---------------------------------------.
  | .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . |
9 |   3   2   3       1   1       2       |
  | .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . |
8 |               2       2       3       |
  | .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . |
7 |                       2           1   |
  | .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . |
6 |           3       3               1   |
  | .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . |
5 |           1               2       2   |
  | .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . |
4 |       2   3       3   2           1   |
  | .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . |
3 |   3           3           2       2   |
  | .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . |
2 |               2       1   3   1   3   |
  | .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . |
1 |       1           3                   |
  | .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . |
  '---------------------------------------'
      a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h   i    Slitherlink  
    
Update 1 (Oct 28, 2026)
    
After (23) basic moves, we get

  .---------------------------------------.
  | .___.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . |
9 | | 3   2   3       1   1       2       |
  | .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . |
8 |               2       2       3       |
  | .   .   .   .   .   .___.   .   .   . |
7 |                       2 |         1   |
  | .   .   .___.   .___.   .   .   .   . |
6 |         | 3 |     3 |             1   |
  | .   .___.   .___.   .   .   .   .   . |
5 |           1               2       2   |
  | .   .   .___.   .___.   .   .   .   . |
4 |       2 | 3 |   | 3 | 2           1   |
  | .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . |
3 |   3         | 3 |         2       2   |
  | .   .   .   .___.   .   .   .   .   . |
2 |               2       1   3   1   3   |
  | .   .   .   .___.   .   .   .   .   . |
1 |       1           3 |                 |
  | .   .   .   .   .___.   .   .   .   . |
  '---------------------------------------'
      a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h   i    Slitherlink  

How to continue ?
    

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Past Puzzles (*141*)

Past Problems (*8*)

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Created: February 12, 2024

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