Talk:Tsunami (puzzle)

Well, it seems I didn't do enough research and after creating this article have discovered that "tsunami" puzzles are also called, amongst other things Paint by numbers puzzles.

I will create a redirect. For what it's worth here was my entry for "tsunami (puzzle)". Feedback welcome! (I couldn't figure out how to link well with the xls file of the tsunami puzzle, in any case it has been done properly at Paint by numbers)

''This article refers to the type of logic puzzle known as a tsunami. For an article on the potentially destructive wave phenomenon see'' tsunami.

Tsunami puzzles, currently marketed on occasion as Pixel Puzzles, are a type of logic puzzle originating in Japan.

Tsunami puzzles appear as a grid of blank squares, with each edge usually having a multiple of 5 squares. For example, a typical tsunami puzzle may start off with a blank 15 x 15 grid. Above and to the left of the grid appear a series of clue numbers. These numbers indicate the amount of successive squares that need to be filled in that column or along that row. A person can complete the puzzle by using logic to determine which squares need to be filled in, and which squares need to be left blank. For example, in a 10 x 10 tsunami puzzle, a row clue of "6 3" means that the first 6 squares are to be filled in along that row, followed by one blank square then 3 more filled in squares. Similarly a clue of "9" would mean that there must be one blank square at either the start or end of the row, meaning that the middle 8 squares could be filled in immediately, with the status of the remaining 2 squares to be determined later as part of the puzzle solving process.

Tsunami puzzles are generally constructed so that the completed puzzle creates a picture of an object. The completed puzzle may instead form a number, a letter or word, or may form a clue as part of a larger puzzle. The completed puzzle is usually asymmetrical.

Most tsunami puzzles lead to a unique solution, but it is possible to construct tsunami puzzles with more than one solution.

Tsunami puzzles may be of a single (non designated) colour - ie requiring that each square only be determined to be 'filled in' or left blank - or may be multicoloured - in which each square may need to be left blank or filled in in one of 2 or more designated colours.