Dr. Sudoku Prescribes: Star Battle

Friday, 03 December 2010 06:47

Dr. Sudoku Prescribes: Star Battle

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Thomas Snyder (aka Dr. Sudoku) is a two-time World Sudoku Champion and five-time US Puzzle Champion, as well as the author of several books of puzzles. His puzzles are hand-crafted, with artistic themes, serving as a kind of “cure for the common sudoku.” Each week he posts a new puzzle on his blog, The Art of Puzzles. This week’s prescription deals with Star Battle, an

object placement puzzle that is truly out of this world.

Participating in international puzzle events like the World Puzzle Championship introduces one to a wide world of logic puzzles. Or, in the case of this puzzle, something out of this world. Unfortunately, there are no lasers or space ships in Star Battle puzzles, which was certainly my first thought when I ran into the puzzle’s name many years ago.

Star Battle is an object placement puzzle (with some familiar features from more common puzzles like Sudoku and Battleships) that has its own intriguing logic to deduce. This week I’ve made two Star Battle puzzles for you to enjoy. What I’d call the “SB” star battle is easy, while the “4J” puzzle is a little bit trickier (but hardly impossible).

Rules: Place stars into some cells in the grid so that each row, column, and region contains exactly two stars (in the example, just one star). Stars cannot be placed in adjacent cells, not even diagonally.

Example: