Thread - Shading & Loops - 10th - 16th Apr 2026 - Puzzle Ramayan & IPC Qualifier 2026

Interesting stuff! I have some questions though:

- I am having a bit of trouble with the Guide Arrow [Loop] rules. Is the following a correct paraphrase?

Shade some empty cells so that no two shaded cells are orthogonally adjacent and the remaining unshaded cells form one orthogonally connected area, which contains exactly one loop. (A 2x2 square of cells is considered a loop.) Cells with stars must be unshaded and part of the loop. Cells with arrows must be unshaded, but not on the loop. An arrow indicates the only direction in which one could begin a path to the loop without going through a shaded cell or backtracking.

- For the Water Walk [Isowatari] example, the Isowatari part of the puzzle is solvable without any deductions from the Water Walk part. Is this necessarily true for the contest puzzles as well? (I'm guessing not, but...)


	@ 2026-04-07 5:48 PM (#39192) (#39192) Top
prasanna16391 Posts: 1972 Country : India	prasanna16391 posted @ 2026-04-07 5:48 PM Link for rules and other details about Puzzle Ramayan: http://logicmastersindia.com/PR/2026pr.asp The Instruction Booklet is now available on the submission page - https://logicmastersindia.com/live/?contest=PR202604
	@ 2026-04-07 5:56 PM (#39193 - in reply to #39192) (#39193) Top
prasanna16391 Posts: 1972 Country : India	prasanna16391 posted @ 2026-04-07 5:56 PM The submission page is live with the Instruction Booklet.
	@ 2026-04-08 11:11 AM (#39196 - in reply to #39192) (#39196) Top
mstang Posts: 77 Country : United States	mstang posted @ 2026-04-08 11:11 AM Interesting stuff! I have some questions though: - I am having a bit of trouble with the Guide Arrow [Loop] rules. Is the following a correct paraphrase? Shade some empty cells so that no two shaded cells are orthogonally adjacent and the remaining unshaded cells form one orthogonally connected area, which contains exactly one loop. (A 2x2 square of cells is considered a loop.) Cells with stars must be unshaded and part of the loop. Cells with arrows must be unshaded, but not on the loop. An arrow indicates the only direction in which one could begin a path to the loop without going through a shaded cell or backtracking. - For the Water Walk [Isowatari] example, the Isowatari part of the puzzle is solvable without any deductions from the Water Walk part. Is this necessarily true for the contest puzzles as well? (I'm guessing not, but...)