Samurai
Two-away Samurai Star
Jul 16th
I made this puzzle yesterday but then went and forgot to post it (oops) so I’m making up for that now! It’s a Samurai Star with two-away markers, just as per the previous two puzzles I posted.
Place 1 to 9 into each of the rows, columns and 3×3 boxes of the 5 underlying Sudoku grids (including the one in the centre), whilst obeying the two-away grey bars. Squares with a grey bar between have a difference of 2 (e.g. 1&3 or 2&4), and those without a grey bar have a difference which is not 2.
There are only 4 givens to get you going, so good luck! 
Wrap-around Consecutive Samurai Star
Jul 6th
Wrap-around Consecutive Samurai Star puzzle
I seem to be posting more infrequently than I intend, so I thought I’d compensate with a puzzle that would take somewhat longer to complete! Here, then, is a wrap-around consecutive samurai star. All squares with consecutive values (a difference of 1) are marked with white bars, including those at opposite ends of rows and columns – wherever there isn’t a bar, the values are not consecutive.
The Sudoku logic takes a few twists here and there – in fact at one point near the end you will need to spot a particularly nasty hidden set in one region.
To solve the puzzle place 1 to 9 into each row, column and 3×3 box of each of the underlying 5 Sudoku grids (including the one in the centre). You’re only given 4 givens to get going, but with the consecutive information that’s all you need to find a unique solution.
Good luck!
SSSS: Skyscraper Shuriken Samurai Sudoku
Jun 5th
Skyscraper Shuriken Samurai Sudoku puzzle
I’m glad yesterday’s Shuriken Samurai went down well, so today I’ve upgraded it to a Skyscraper puzzle (following Christine’s request for more Skyscrapers!). This is, I think it’s fair to say, quite a bit harder than the basic Samurai yesterday was – but then any puzzle with a title this hard to say quickly really shouldn’t be able to be solved quickly either…
The rules are the same as yesterday (place 1-6 into each row, column and 2×3 box of the 13 underlying 6×6 Sudoku grids) but with the addition of Skyscraper constraints: place numbers so that the given number of digits can be ’seen’ from each external Skyscraper clue outside the grid. From the vantage point of each Skyscraper clue look along the adjacent row/column – with higher numbers obscuring all lower numbers (or those of the same value), the clue tells you how many numbers are visible. Check back to older puzzles I’ve posted for more detailed help.
Good luck! 
Shuriken Samurai Sudoku
Jun 4th
Here’s a fun little puzzle. A say ‘little’ because it revolves around 6×6 grids and some easy logic, although it actually involves 13 of them so it’s not exactly small either. But I think it looks quite fun – the X shape and the X of givens makes it look a Japanese Shuriken weapon (or perhaps that’s just me), but anyway here it is.
Simply place 1-6 into each row, column and bold-lined 2×3 box of each of the 13 underlying 6×6 Sudoku grids.
Good luck!
Double Samurai Star
Jun 3rd
Following Spittledung’s comment on the Samura-i puzzle about it being nearly a double samurai star / flower samurai, I thought it would be fun to try out what exactly that would really look like – and so here is the result!
All of the 11 possible 9×9 grids are present, and you must place 1-9 into each row, column and 3×3 box of each of these underlying grids.
Good luck!
Samurai Square 9-grid
Jun 2nd
I was thinking about the tight overlay of grids in the (improved) Samura-I puzzles, and wondered what it would be like if you made a 15×15 puzzle simply by overlaying 9 Sudoku grids at all possible offsets. The answer is attached. This is definitely rated easy – there are lots of possible eliminations at all stages, and you shouldn’t need pencilmarks to solve it.
Of course, this principle can be extended to any arbitrary size of puzzle, but I imagine it would get a bit tedious if it was much larger…
So – can you place 1 to 9 into each row, column and 3×3 bold-lined box of each of the 9 underlying Sudoku grids in this puzzle? You’ll need to solve all 9 grids simultaneously to reach the solution.
Good luck!
New improved Samura-i
May 30th
I decided that I didn’t like the inelegance of having 3 grids across the top and bottom but not 3 grids down the centre column in yesterday’s Samurai-I, so I’ve fixed this for today’s puzzle – it’s pretty much the same except that now there are 9 grids here, at all possible bold-line offsets.
So can you place 1 to 9 into each of the rows, columns and bold-lined 3×3 boxes of the 9 grids in this Samurai-I puzzle?
Good luck!
Samura-i
May 29th
Here’s a new layout of Samurai Sudoku – a Samura-i, or Samurai I if you prefer! There are 7 grids here – 3 each at the top and bottom and then one in the middle too. Place 1 to 9 into each row and column of these 7 grids, as well as 1 to 9 into each bold-lined 3×3 box.
Just to re-emphasise this, there are no grids with top-left corner at offset 3 across, 3 down or at 3 across, 9 down. There’s just the absolute centre grid and then the top row and bottom row of 3 grids each. (Maybe this is a bit confusing – feel free to comment if you think so!)
Good luck!
Samurai Star
May 23rd
You might be pleased to know that today’s puzzle is somewhat easier, despite being a lot bigger! It’s actually possible to comfortably solve this without making a single pencilmark, if you fancy an extra challenge.
It’s a Samurai Star / Flower Samurai puzzle. Just place 1 to 9 into each row, column and 3×3 box of the 5 underlying grids (there’s one in the centre too).
Good luck!
Samurai Sudoku
May 20th
I thought it would be nice to have just a regular puzzle for a change – so today’s Sudoku is a standard, vanilla 5-grid Samurai Sudoku, without any twists!
Just place 1 to 9 into each row and column of the 5 underlying 9×9 grids, and 1 to 9 into each of the bold-lined 3×3 rectangles.
Good luck!
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