Kropki

Counting is an important skill, in life and in Sudoku. Which is redundant, since Sudoku is life, right?

It could have been named “Son of DoubleDoku” or “2 Double 2 Doku” or even “DoubleDoku: Folie à Deux,” but whatever it’s called, it’s a sequel to DoubleDoku.

As an American, I spend far too much time thinking about urban design. This puzzle prompts thoughts of apartment buildings in Barcelona. They didn’t turn out the way Ildefons Cerda planned, but they’re certainly distinctive.

It’s so easy to get started. So many dots arranged so carefully. And then… well, this cell, let’s make it orange, and then we need three more orange cells in these three rows, but we also need two green cells in two of those rows, so…

I see your 159, and raise you 3 and 7. My hand is strong, so I’m willing to keep raising if I have to. This one also had some testing contoversy, with difficulty estimates and solve times ranging widely.

The shapes look a bit like Oklahoma if you’re generous, and because people who illegally rushed in to claim land ahead of the official opening of the legal theft of Oklahoma land in 1889 were labeled “Sooners,” a name the University of Oklahoma adopted for all future sports teams in 1908. I spend all my creativity on the puzzles, leaving nothing for the names.

Cloned areas can be large or small, but of course we balance things out by having fewer of the small ones and more of the large ones. Wait, that seems backward. But there it is: the large the cloned area, the more clones there are.

Mmm, Battenberg. Who doesn’t love a bit of colorful sponge cake? I know I do! This puzzle is marzipan-free for good health.

The thing about a mirror is that it doesn’t have much color of its own. So a rainbow mirror needs color to be supplied by you!

If heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied / Illuminate the NOs on their Vacancy signs // If there’s no one beside you when your soul embarks / Then I’ll follow you into the dark // - with much gratitude to Ben Gibbard