AkashG23's Puzzle Locker

 I measure difficulty using a scale different from the CTC server. The two scales are comparable. This scale is inspired by the osu!  difficulty scale and the MODS server's scale. My scale goes from 0  to 14  on normal puzzles, with higher difficulties representing harder puzzles. Yes, the scale goes above 14, but this blog rarely has a d15 or higher puzzle. Attached for each difficulty is an approximate real-life comparison in mathematics. d0 \ The easiest a puzzle can get. This difficulty is generally reserved for some joke puzzles or really easy example puzzles. These puzzles practically require no effort whatsoever. \  Real-Life Comparison: Addition and subtraction with integers d1 \ Most example puzzles fall in this difficulty. Puzzles here are almost never made as a joke, but are harder than d0 puzzles.  This difficulty includes puzzles that many people, puzzle solvers or not, will find pretty easy. \ Real-Life Comparison: Multiplication and division ...

When I posted this on the CTC discord, I only got 9 testers (not including myself), at the time of writing this. I didn't feel that it was enough to post the puzzle here or add it to the discord archive, but then I remembered  Winds of Aeolus  also didn't have a lot of testers (though it was probably due to the length and size of the puzzle). When this puzzle was first posted here I started to think I under estimated the difficulty for once (but only by 1 or 2 points). Well, now it’s a d7 instead of a d6. Creator's time:  2:42.3 Rules:  Standard Look-Air Rules \ Shade some cells so that each orthogonally connected area of shaded cells is in the shape of a square. Clues represent how many of the five cells forming a cross around the clue (including itself) are shaded. Two shaded squares of the same size may not have a vertical or horizontal line of unshaded cells between them, unobstructed. Variant 1: No Divide \ All unshaded cells form one orthogonally contiguous are...

help there's a given digit that I'm too lazy to remove Creator's time:  2:10 Rules:  Standard Skyscrapers Rules \ Place a number from 1 to N into each cell so that each row and column contains every number from that range with no repeats, where N is the side length of the grid. A clue outside the grid represents how many cells in the corresponding row or column contain a larger number than all cells before it in that row or column from the direction of the clue. Difficulty : 5/14 Online interface (puzz.link)

I need to be more creative in naming puzzles... Creator's time:  1:27 Rules:  Standard Double Choco Rules \ Divide the grid into regions of orthogonally connected cells, each containing a connected group of white cells and a connected group of gray cells, with the property that the shape of the white cells is identical to the shape of the gray cells, allowing rotations and reflections. Clued cells must belong to a region containing the indicated number of white cells and the indicated number of gray cells. Difficulty : 4/14 Online interface (puzz.link)

 Funny thing — when I gave this puzzle to my IRL friends for testing, I accidentally gave rules for Akari instead of Creek. Anyways, this post will have the correct rules this time. Creator's time:  0:51 Rules:  Standard Creek Rules \ Shade some cells so that the remaining unshaded cells form one orthogonally connected area. A clue represents how many of the (up to) four cells it touches are shaded. Difficulty : 3/14 Online interface (puzz.link)

This is kind of a follow-up puzzle to the previous. Creator's time:  0:23 Rules:  Standard Akari Rules \ Place lights into some empty cells so that every cell is illuminated. Lights illuminate the cell they’re in as well as all cells seen in a straight line horizontally or vertically, not obstructed by a black cell. Lights may not illuminate each other. Clues represent the number of lights in the (up to) four cells surrounding the clue. Difficulty : 2/14 Online interface (puzz.link)

A while ago, I attempted a Nonogram and Tapa hybrid. I already did a vanilla Tapa, but here's a vanilla Nonogram. Yes, I know the thumbnail says it's July, but it's actually August and I was too lazy to change the thumbnail. Creator's time:  1:41 Rules:  Standard Nonogram Rules \ Shade some cells so that the clues outside the grid represent the lengths of the blocks of consecutive shaded cells in the corresponding row or column, in order. Difficulty : 3/14 Online interface (puzz.link)

Here's an easy Hashiwokakero. This puzzle was originally a d3 on my scale, but I lowered the difficulty by 1 point. Creator's time: 0:32 Rules: Standard Hashiwokakero Rules \ Connect pairs of circles horizontally or vertically so that all circles form one connected network. Connections may not cross one another, and any pair of circles may have at most two connections between them. Numbers in circles represent the amount of connections they’re a part of. Difficulty : 2/14 Online interface (puzz.link)

A lot of my real-life friends hate this genre. Creator's time:  1:23 Rules:   Standard Choco Banana Rules \ Shade some cells so that all areas of orthogonally connected shaded cells are rectangular and all areas of orthogonally connected unshaded cells are not rectangular. A clue represents the size of its group of shaded/unshaded cells. Difficulty:  4/14 Online interface (puzz.link)