Loop Nurikabe
(Published on 2. February 2023, 16:31 by wooferzfg)
This puzzle was created by Jakhob and wooferzfg, and it is a variant of Nurikabe.
Every cell is either water or land. All water cells must be orthogonally connected, and no 2x2 area may be entirely water. Groups of orthogonally connected land cells form islands, which do not touch orthogonally, but may touch diagonally.
Draw a single non-intersecting loop that travels orthogonally through the centers of some cells which passes through each island exactly once. The loop may only visit one cell in each island.
If a clue is on a land cell, it indicates the size of its island. Every island must contain exactly one clue.
If a clue is on a water cell, it indicates the number of cells visited by the water section of the loop that passes through the clue (i.e. how many water cells are visited by the loop between the previous island and the next island). Every water section of the loop must pass through exactly one clue.
A "?" can represent any non-zero value.
Solution code: For each row from top to bottom, the number of land cells not visited by the loop
Comments
on 31. May 2024, 21:23 by Nightmare2805
Fantastic puzzle. Loved it.
on 28. May 2024, 22:44 by DavidH
Wow. I can't fathom how this puzzle was created. Thoroughly enjoyable.
on 9. May 2024, 18:58 by koba1917
wow, one of the best puzzles I've ever solved!
on 5. May 2024, 11:29 by BlueShifted
Brilliant setting!. I liked that I had to always use the overall story to figure out info about some of the cues which open up the puzzle.
PS: in the rules I had to assume that the loop moves orthogonally (no diagonally) between cells centers. Was there a way to deduce that?
Reply from wooferzfg: The loop only moving orthogonally is meant to be a part of the rules - I updated the rules to clarify this. Other sites like GMPuzzles just say "form a single non-intersecting loop" for loop puzzle rules, so it's always safe to assume that diagonals aren't allowed if they're not mentioned. Also, if you look at the example puzzle, it should be clear that it would not have a unique solution if diagonals were allowed.
on 1. May 2024, 02:12 by wisty
Soooo elegant. Lots of really interesting steps, and never brutal, just narrow. Quite impressive how much resolves with the question marks. Thank you so much!
on 30. April 2024, 01:56 by samuel1997
Come from CTC, and I just want to say that you are genius! Thank you!
on 24. April 2023, 21:46 by lerroyy
Very nice!
on 14. March 2023, 03:03 by Samish
Wonderful variant and puzzle!! So much fun
on 9. March 2023, 01:54 by tallcat
This definitely was a test for me as a solver but I enjoyed it immensely. A love solve (+ 2 h) but I felt completely absorbed by it and time flew. Testament to a great puzzle!
on 6. March 2023, 08:57 by Snookerfan
Marvellous puzzle! I'm so happy I finally took the time (a lot of it) to take on this beast. Such beauty and joy, thank you
on 2. March 2023, 12:43 by Christounet
Exceptionnal ! The construction of the loop is an amazing piece of logic. Thanks !!
on 5. February 2023, 15:53 by ONeill
Brilliant!
on 5. February 2023, 06:09 by Agent
Very challenging and very beautiful puzzle! It has a good variety of logic, I feel like the potential of this ruleset was explored really well.
on 4. February 2023, 06:19 by cmb
brilliant puzzle!
flowed really well.
thank you!
on 3. February 2023, 20:04 by filuta
incredible, one of the best puzzles I ever solved, thanks!
on 2. February 2023, 23:56 by polar
Superb original puzzle - thank you both! :)
on 2. February 2023, 21:22 by Myxo
Amazing puzzle!
on 2. February 2023, 21:22 by Niverio
Astonishing puzzle! The logical path is narrow but extremely clever!
on 2. February 2023, 20:29 by Jesper
Awesome puzzle, thanks!
on 2. February 2023, 16:41 by KNT
I loved testing this- super super fun puzzle. Long, but manageable and with a variety of logic throughout. I really felt i learned the ruleset by the end of it and would be happy to do another!
