Thomas Snyder

My name is Thomas Snyder and I'm probably best known for having won the US (2007) and World (2007, 2008, 2011) Sudoku Championships. I've also won the US Puzzle Championship (2006-2010, 2012). However, my passion right now is for constructing themed logic puzzles and this page is dedicated to my efforts in that arena.

I've written many books of puzzles, including BATTLESHIP Sudoku, Mutant Sudoku, Sudoku Masterpieces and TomTom Puzzles. More titles are coming soon.

I have also constructed puzzles for events such as the MIT Mystery Hunt, Gen Con, and the Microsoft Puzzle Picnic as well as for magazines including GAMES, Games World of Puzzles, and WIRED.

I occasionally post puzzle ideas on my livejournal account and these are listed below. Any comments or suggestions you have about these puzzles or desires to reproduce them in any form in another publication should be sent to Thomas Snyder.

"Thomas Snyder Outdoes the NYT KenKen"

Friday Puzzle Series

Themed Classic Sudoku:

The Art of Sudoku (some classics and variants specially made for artistic qualities)

The Art of Sudoku - Competition Edition - Puzzles from the 2nd annual Silicon Valley Puzzle Day in Feb. 2008

The Art of Sudoku - Competition Edition (2) - Puzzles from the 3rd annual Silicon Valley Puzzle Day in Feb. 2009

The Art of Sudoku - Competition Edition (3) - Puzzles from the 4th annual Silicon Valley Puzzle Day in Jan. 2010

Countdown - How to write a themed sudoku

Sudoku Variants:

Art of Competitive Sudoku - Czech Edition - puzzles from 2009 Czech Championship, including new variants Multiple, Tight Fit, and Shape, and a Color Sudoku.

What if I wrote the puzzles - SudokuCup Edition - Puzzles from the 3rd SudokuCup including classics and many variants from Mutant Sudoku and Sudoku Masterpieces; also go here for an extra Symbol Sudoku.

What if I wrote the puzzles - Hungarian Edition - Puzzles from the 2010 Hungarian Sudoku Championship including classics and variants.

Color Sudoku

Mastermindoku

Linked Shape Sudoku

Tablecloth Sudoku (part of WSC 2007 Report)

Tablecloth Sudoku (Spinal Tap Edition) (part of WSC 2008 Preview)

Paint-By-Number Place (12/31/06) - 3 puzzles of three difficulties

Battleship Sudoku (08/10/06) - 2 variations, 3 puzzles of each type

Battleship Sudoku (09/17/06) - "Easy as Pi" themed puzzle and 2 other hard ones

Paint By Sudoku!?! (08/05/06), and Solution

United States Jigsaw Sudoku, and Solution

(featured as the seventh in Wei-Hwa's Puzzle Challenges on Google)

Kakuro Variants:

Skyscraper Kakuro

Mystery Kakuro

Diagramless Kakuro (Solution)

Nonconsecutive Kakuro (Solution)

BANG 23:

In September 2010, I organized a day-long puzzle-hunt in the Bay area with a mix of puzzles including some logic puzzles and hybrids. All of those puzzles, including an event summary, can be found here.

2009 MIT Mystery Hunt Puzzles:

The Orbital Nexus Round Concept/Meta - Growth Involves Reconstructing Legos - Visual Skyscrapers Variant

Cross Something-or-Others (with Dan Katz) - Kakuro Variations Puzzle

The Energetic Man Sporting a Very Long Scarf ... (with Mike Selinker)

... and His Alien Barbarian Girl and her Robot Dog - linked puzzle (with Energetic Man) that includes a Paint-By-Numbers Variant

... and His Investigative Journalist (Dan Katz as main constructor)

Our Crew Is Replaceable. Your Package Isn't (Greg Lohman as main constructor) - River Crossing Problems

2007 MIT Mystery Hunt Puzzles:

Clash of the Titans - Skyscraper Variants

Rewriting the Record Books - Very Excellent Sports Puzzle

The Joy Of Accountancy - Kakuro Variant

Splits and Mergers - A Mysterious Maze, in pieces

Man I Hate These %#!&@ Sudoku! - You'll need this too

Other Puzzles:

Hashiwakakuro - "Bridges" variation

Total Masyu - Masyu variation

irakAkari - Akari/Light Up variation

Soduku - Star Battle/Lasers variation

Digital Paint-By-Number - 1 example, plus some sudoku

0 to 8 Spokes Example (Solution)

Vertical Sums and Total Rising Examples (WPC types) - contained within 2006 WPC report

Fence Post, Multiplicity, Magnets (USPC types) - contained within 2007 USPC report

Thanks to puzzle creator/graphic designer David Millar of thegriddle.net for improving the style of these pages for me.

Creative Commons License
All puzzles linked to on this page are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.