As Sagittarius is an arrow, I knew that for the
Puzzle Zodiac I needed a type with pure arrow clues. The most common type like that is
Sashigane, and as I wanted a common type, uncommon type and variant in each class of puzzle, I decided to combine it with the
Fillomino rule. I've seen a few puzzles with this variant before and so I knew it added some interesting depth.
I tried for a while to make a 6x6 example without much success- like Foursight, this type really needs some room to move in order to work.
Puzzle 17 on the test, worth 30 points, themed on the Sagittarius sign. I wasn't sure if I would be able to manage making the puzzle with just an arrow out of arrows, but after the top left worked out I really did try. I ended up with about 6 solutions, and so added another arrow in the corner to resolve the rest uniquely.
Puzzle 18 on the test, worth 40 points, and a failed attempt at an anti-symmetric (sum to 10) theme. I thought I had it at one point but there were two solutions, so I adjusted the back half of the solve, and made sure to maintain the focus on only circled number clues as a counterpoint to the prior puzzle. I love it when a puzzle genre can be used to make such different puzzles as these two, and I think that shows through most of this set.
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