Compass

Rules

Divide the grid along the dotted lines into regions (groups of cells that are connected north-south or east-west, where north is towards the top of the page). Each cell must be in exactly one region, and each region must contain exactly one clue. For each clue, the number in the north part indicates how many cells of that clue‘s region are located North of the clue cell (irrespective of their East-West location). Analogously, numbers in the west, east, and south part indicate how many cells of that region are located West, East and South of the clue cell.

(Rules and example from PGP IB)

History of the puzzle

Invented by Silke Berendes (Germany). First appeared on Logic Masters 2013.

The first puzzle including Compasses with incomplete information was from Puzzle Grand Prix 2014 and was written by Robert Vollmert (Germany).

Variants

Simple Compass

First appeared on WPC 2017/Round 5, a "Hexed & Remixed" round. Author of the puzzle was Rohan Rao (India). The clues are weaker than that of regular Compass clues, and therefore this puzzle works the best on irregular grids, especially on hexagonal one.

Each cell divided into triangles indicates a different connected region. Numbers indicate the number of cells occupied by the region in the corresponding direction.

(Rules and example from WPC 2017 IB)

Appearances in the past WPCs

• WPC 2019/World Cup Round 1 by Roland Voigt
• WPC 2019/Round 5 by Silke Berendes
• WPC 2019/World Cup Playoffs by Silke Berendes
• WPC 2017/Round 5 (Simple Compass) by Rohan Rao
• WPC 2016/Round 2 by Matej Uher
• WPC 2014/Round 12