Puzzles #373, #374 & #375 - Hexagony Password Path

Password Path was not only the last genre on Hexagony, but also the last genre selected for the contest. As mentioned earlier, picking loop and path genres that could make the jump to hexagonal grids proved challenging. Password Path allowing diagonal lines anyway meant that jumping down to 6 adjacent cells from 8 made it easier to work with than the standard version of the puzzle!

penpa interface

The only thing I wanted to do for the example puzzle was show that the password could contain a duplicated symbol, and avoid crossings. It turns out that this is still a pretty easy type to construct and solve- a very fun way to end things off.

penpa interface

This was the only 5 point puzzle on the contest, with an expected solve time for finishing pace being 1 minute. I bet a lot of people crushed that time. The double letter in the password probably made this easier than not having a duplicated symbol, honestly.

penpa interface

And finally, I went for a thematic conclusion. I was tempted to reverse the order of these or put them first, opening the contest with HEXAGON PUZZLE but ultimately I thought that solvers would want a bit of a come down after that Ripple Effect. Puzzle order is the one thing I'm never sure of in a contest like this, there's not really any wrong answer and there's almost always a way to improve the ordering in some way at the cost of something else. But anyway, thanks for checking out these puzzles and solutions! Overall I'm very proud of Hexagony, from concept to execution to the final result, and I'm glad I put it together. Until next time.