Shapeless Star Battle
(Published on 6. September 2020, 06:37 by Eggr)
Rules:
16x16 3* Star Battle
Each Row and Column has exactly 3 stars. (Stars don't touch each other, including diagonally)
Each white cell is either a star OR it is sandwiched between two stars.
All cells that are not sandwiched between two stars are dark grey.
2-Star Example:
3-Star Puzzle:
Penpa Link to solve online
Clarifications:
A cell can be sandwiched between stars vertically and/or horizontally. As long as it sees a star in two opposite directions (Up/Down or Left/Right) it is sandwiched.
Grey cells are never stars AND never sandwiched. The negative constraint applies, so ensure that every unmarked cell is apart of at least 1 sandwich.
About this puzzle:
I set the difficulty at 3 stars, but that assumes familiarity with Star Battle puzzles, perhaps it should be 4, I'll let you decide. Let me know your thoughts about this puzzle type and I might make some more.
Created by: Greg Rodgers Powers
Solution code: Row Numbers of all the stars in Col 6 and Col 9:
(Example puzzle solution: 4917)
Comments
on 13. September 2020, 05:01 by Eggr
@jessica6 Correct, no stars on the Grey cells.
Sorry for any ambiguity, maybe there is better way to word the negative constraint.
on 7. September 2020, 14:05 by Savia
Really interesting ruleset and lovely example puzzle. Never too long between bouts of progress and figuring out how to identify where I should be looking next was a novel and interesting experience. Hope to see more of these!
on 7. September 2020, 05:59 by Eggr
@Realshaggy. Thanks for the information. That sounds interesting.
on 6. September 2020, 19:41 by Realshaggy
I‘ve not seen this ruleset, but some years ago turkish paper magazines had a type they called Battlestar. It was Starbattle without regions and some cells where removed (preferably at the border so you dont get holes.) Turns out you dont have to remove many to get a unique solution. There are not that many solutions for 9x9 and 10x10 even before considering regions.
