Tuesday Teaser 55: Hurricane Visibility
Sorry to keep you waiting. I had this up on Photobucket for a week, but there was one detail about it that it took me the week to decide to leave alone. So here's Fluttershy's puzzle.
This is a kuromasu with the twist that half the clues are multiplicative. Of course, I'm going to de-jargon that for you.
Rules: Blacken some of the grid squares so that each number represents its square's line of sight in one of two ways. An observer at each clue looks up, down, left, and right, and sees up to the edge of either the grid or the nearest black square. A clue number is either the count of all these squares including itself, or the total horizontal distance times the total vertical distance. Six of these clues should be one kind, and the other half-dozen should be the other kind.
For instance, the 25 clue on the bottom is obviously the second kind, with five squares visible above and five squares visible left and right. These five-counts include the clue square, so the normal clue that would otherwise occupy that square is 9. (Of course, if a clue can only see its own square horizontally, it gives the same value whichever type it is. Same if it only sees its own square vertically.)
Two final rules govern the black squares. First, no two may touch at an edge, although corners are fine. Second, the black squares must not cut off one section of the grid from the rest.
The highlighted clues that spell Fluttershy's name trace a double-sided spiral, a reference to "Hurricane Fluttershy." I chose kuromasu because Fluttershy has an interesting dynamic with being seen. For the most part, she's not comfortable being the center of attention (see "Green Isn't Your Color" or the aforementioned "Hurricane Fluttershy"). On the other hoof, she has a stare to rival Zoolander's "Blue Steel," powerful enough to resist a cockatrice's magic. That's why I put in two different clue types.
To end on a pleasant note, not only have I composed Twilight's puzzle, but I am ready to follow it up with a seventh going on the "Friendship Is Magic" theme. Well, more or less. You'll see in two weeks (if I don't space things out again).
This is a kuromasu with the twist that half the clues are multiplicative. Of course, I'm going to de-jargon that for you.
Rules: Blacken some of the grid squares so that each number represents its square's line of sight in one of two ways. An observer at each clue looks up, down, left, and right, and sees up to the edge of either the grid or the nearest black square. A clue number is either the count of all these squares including itself, or the total horizontal distance times the total vertical distance. Six of these clues should be one kind, and the other half-dozen should be the other kind.
For instance, the 25 clue on the bottom is obviously the second kind, with five squares visible above and five squares visible left and right. These five-counts include the clue square, so the normal clue that would otherwise occupy that square is 9. (Of course, if a clue can only see its own square horizontally, it gives the same value whichever type it is. Same if it only sees its own square vertically.)
Two final rules govern the black squares. First, no two may touch at an edge, although corners are fine. Second, the black squares must not cut off one section of the grid from the rest.
The highlighted clues that spell Fluttershy's name trace a double-sided spiral, a reference to "Hurricane Fluttershy." I chose kuromasu because Fluttershy has an interesting dynamic with being seen. For the most part, she's not comfortable being the center of attention (see "Green Isn't Your Color" or the aforementioned "Hurricane Fluttershy"). On the other hoof, she has a stare to rival Zoolander's "Blue Steel," powerful enough to resist a cockatrice's magic. That's why I put in two different clue types.
To end on a pleasant note, not only have I composed Twilight's puzzle, but I am ready to follow it up with a seventh going on the "Friendship Is Magic" theme. Well, more or less. You'll see in two weeks (if I don't space things out again).