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Holiday Puzzle 2015 #10 – Snowflake Puzzles

December 10th, 2015 by John Lehet
"Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake." - Francis Bacon

“Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake.” – Francis Bacon

Today’s puzzle is called a Snowflake Puzzle.  This is an extension of the Kuruko Puzzles that I created. Like Kurulko puzzles, they are similar to Sudoku puzzles.  I call them Snowflake puzzles because of their shape.  Snowflakes are symmetric shapes with six points.   The Snowflake puzzle follows this design.  It is comprised of 42 hexagons (six sided shapes).  There are white and yellow hexagons.  To complete the puzzle you must fill in each of the empty white hexagons.  There are two simple rules to follow:

1. Surrounding each yellow hexagon there are six white hexagons, these must contain the numbers 1 through 6 (each number once and only once)

2. The number in each yellow hexagon is the sum of the numbers in the three white hexagons that point to it (with a black triangle).

Here’s a snowflake puzzle for you to try –   Click here for a pdf file.

SnowflakePuzzle
If you like the snowflake puzzle, take a look at the book of 100 Kuruko Puzzles that I wrote which is available on Amazon.com.  Good Luck and pass the puzzles onto others who may enjoy them!

Holiday Puzzle 2015 #6 – Kuruko Puzzles

December 6th, 2015 by John Lehet
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The hardest arithmetic to master is that which allows us to count our blessings.” – Eric Hoffer

Today’s puzzle is an original puzzle idea that I named Kuruko puzzles.  (Sounds nearly exotic doesn’t it?)  In any case, these puzzles are somewhat like Sudoku puzzles in that you need to fill in empty “boxes” with numbers following a given pattern.  In Sudoku, the “boxes” are squares and they are evenly distributed in chess board-like grid.  In Kuruko, the “boxes” are hexagons and they are distributed in a hexagonal pattern.  Some of the hexagons are gray (7 of them) and some are white (24 of them).  Around each gray hexagon there are six white hexagons.  Also, three of the six white hexagons surrounding each gray hexagon “point” to the gray hexagon with a black arrow. Just like Sudoku, Kuruko has some very simple rules to follow, actually just two rules:

Rule 1. The number in each gray hexagon is the sum of the numbers in the three white hexagon pointing to it.

Rule 2. Each gray hexagon is surrounded by the numbers 1 through 6 once and only once in each of the six surrounding white hexagons.

Here’s and example puzzle and solution:

Kuruko Example
In the above example, notice the 8 in the upper left gray hexagon.  It is surrounded by six white hexagons containing the numbers 1,2,3,4,5 and 6.  Of these six, three are pointing to the 8, these contain 1,3 and 4 which sum to 8.  Similarly, the 11 in the upper right gray hexagon is pointed to by 5,2 and 4 which sum to 11.

Now for the puzzles. Below are two Kuruko puzzles from my Kuruko puzzle book containing 100 original Kuruko puzzles. Just following the simple rules to solve and Good Luck!

Kuruko Puzzles

I hope you enjoy these Kuruko puzzles. If you like them, check out my book of 100 Original Kuruko Puzzles available on amazon.com. It’s a great and challenging collection of puzzles. Good Luck and pass the puzzles onto others who may enjoy them!

Holiday Puzzle #12 – Snowflake Puzzles

December 12th, 2014 by John Lehet
"Begin doing what you want to do now.  We are not living in eternity.  We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake." - Francis Bacon

Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake.” – Francis Bacon

This is a new puzzle that is an extension of the Kuruko Puzzles that I created. Like Kurulko puzzles, they are similar to Sudoku puzzles.  I call them Snowflake puzzles because of their shape.  Snowflakes are symmetric shapes with six points.   The Snowflake puzzle follows this design.  It is comprised of 42 hexagons (six sided shapes).  There are white and yellow hexagons.  To complete the puzzle you must fill in each of the empty white hexagons.  There are two simple rules to follow:

1. Surrounding each yellow hexagon there are six white hexagons, these must contain the numbers 1 through 6 (each number once and only once)

2. The number in each yellow hexagon is the sum of the numbers in the three white hexagons that point to it (with a black triangle).

Here’s a snowflake puzzle for you to try –   Click here for a pdf file.

SnowflakePuzzle
If you like the snowflake puzzle, take a look at the book of 100 Kuruko Puzzles that I wrote which is available on Amazon.com.  Good Luck and pass the puzzles onto others who may enjoy them!