List of Easy as variants

This page lists Easy as variant that has appeared on the WPCs. Most puzzles involving letters or numbers can be combined with Easy as rules.

Indirect Arrows

Invented by Kazunori Saitoh (Japan) in 2002. First appeared as a submission to Internet Gekisakujuku, a contest where the best new puzzle type was decided from types submitted by readers of Puzzler magazine.

Place four types of arrows (up, down, left, right) into some cells, no more than one letter per cell, so that each letter appears exactly once in each row and column.

An arrow outside the grid indicates the first arrow which is pointed by the first arrow seen from that direction in the corresponding row or column. An X outside the grid means there is no arrow is pointed by the first arrow seen from that direction.

(Example from WPC 2015 IB)

BACA

See BACA.

First or Last

First appeared on 2011 Indian Nationals. The author of the puzzle was Deb Mohanty (India).

Place letters of the specified list into some cells, no more than one letter per cell, so that each letter appears exactly once in each row and column. The letters outside the grid indicate the first letter or the last letter seen from that direction in the corresponding row or column.

(Example (A-C) from WPC 2017 IB)

No First

Seen on WPC 2012/Part 4 but most probably predates it, especially because the puzzle was hexagonal.

Place letters of the specified list into some cells, no more than one letter per cell, so that each letter appears exactly once in each row and column. The letters outside the grid indicate the first letter that cannot be seen in the respective row or column from the respective direction.

(Example (A-C) from WPC 2018 IB)

Tripod

Combination with a rule from Tripod Sudoku. First appeared on WPC 2015/Round 5. The author of the puzzle was Svetlozar Stefanov (Bulgaria).

Draw some lines to form 7-cell areas in the grid. All junctions are marked. There are no junctions with 4 lines. Write digits from 1 to 5 so that they appear exactly once in each row, column, and outlined area. Clues outside the grid show the first digit seen from that direction.

(Rules and example from WPC 2018 IB)

ABC123

First appeared on WPC 2015/Round 5. The author of the puzzle was was Svetlozar Stefanov.

Place letters and numbers of the specified list into some cells, no more than one letter per cell, so that each letter appears exactly once in each row and column.

The letters outside the grid indicate the first letter seen from that direction in the corresponding row or column. The numbers outside the grid indicate the first numbers seen from that direction in the corresponding row or column.

(Example (A-C, 1-3) from WPC 2015 IB)

Myopia

First appeared on WPC 2016/Round 10, a Myopia-related variant round. The author of the puzzle was Matej Uher (Slovakia).

Place letters of the specified list into some cells, no more than one letter per cell, so that each letter appears exactly once in each row and column. The letters outside the grid indicate the first letter seen from that direction in the corresponding row or column.

The arrows point at all of the closest cells with a letter in the corresponding direction. The cells with arrows are considered invisible and no letter can be placed in a cell with an arrow.

(Example (A-C) from WPC 2016 IB)

Inner ABC

Despite appearing on WPC 2018/Round 12, an "Innovatives" round, 2017 Czech Nationals include one instance of this puzzle. The author of the puzzle was probably Jiří Hrdina (Czech Rep.).

Place letters of the specified list into some cells, no more than one letter per cell, so that each letter appears exactly once in each row and column. The letters in gray cells indicate the letters that are visible from the given cell both horizontally and vertically. Only the first letter in each of the 4 directions are visible. Gray cells are invisible and can be seen through.

(Example (A-C) from 2017 Czech Nationals IB)

ABC Letter Groups

First appeared on WPC 2018/Round 12. The author of the puzzle was Jiří Hrdina.

Place letters given set of letters into some white cells, no more than one letter per cell, so that each letter appears exactly once in each row and column. Some cells may remain empty. Groups of letters on top and on the left indicate the order in which the letters appear in the given row or column (not necessarily next to each other).

(Example (A-C) from WPC 2018 IB)

ILX

First appeared on WPC 2018/Round 12. The author of the puzzle was Jiří Hrdina (Czech Rep.). Can be seen as a hybrid between ABC Letter Groups and Dutch Loop.

Place either I, L or X to the cells so that each letter appears exactly once in each row and column. Groups of letters outside are the same as ABC Letter Groups with letters I, L and X. At the same time, draw a loop that vertically and horizontally travels all cells that aren't shaded nor with X. Loop must go straight on cells with I and must turn on cells with L.

(Example from WPC 2018 IB)

Easy as Word Snake

See List of Snake variants#Easy as Word Snake.

Appearances in the past WPCs

• WPC 2018/Round 5 (No First) by Jiří Hrdina
• WPC 2018/Round 12 (ABC Letter Groups, Inner ABC, ILX) by Jiří Hrdina
• WPC 2017/Round 4 (First or Last) by Deb Mohanty
• WPC 2016/Round 10 (Myopia) by Matej Uher
• WPC 2015/Round 5 (Tripod, ABC123) by Svetlozar Stefanov
• WPC 2015/Round 10 (Indirect Arrows) by Kazunori Saitoh