Puzzles #601 & #602 - Fossil Field (Stostone)

Before WPC 2023, I ran a Puzzle Getchu!, a contest themed on Ape Escape. I had intended to queue these puzzles for posting before WPC, but didn't have the time. Better late than never!

The first level is Fossil Field, and for that I went with Stostone, making the connection between fossils being found in the ground, and the ground being made of rock, or stone. The example was actually a bit less of a struggle to make than the contest puzzle - this layout just kind of worked out perfectly on the first try.

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The 5 point contest puzzle is also 6x6, with a bit of bite to set the tone. I started with the two F shaped regions, and found that with the right arrangement for the rest of the regions, I could clue the puzzle with just a 3 and a 4. Fossil Field requires 3 out of 4 monkeys to complete - this is far from the only bit of extra theming I managed to fit in here.

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Puzzle #263 - Clumps of Clay (Kurotto Stostone)

This was one of the variant ideas that I wasn't sure if it was going to work very well or not. It turns out that a Kurotto puzzle that has the added requirement that the shaded cells form a valid Stostone solution (without given regions) is actually incredibly fascinating. There are so many subtle bits of feedback between the two types that I found quite satisfying to uncover during construction. I hope you enjoy finding them too!

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Yeah, I know that's two Kurotto puzzles during this variant series. What can I say, the type can be tweaked in some really fun ways without much difficulty.

Errata: R7C2 has been changed from a 7 to a 5- I missed a possible connection from making both of those numbers the same, originally, and the puzzle had two solutions.