Asps

Title: Asps

Rating: 2/5

It's the week of final exams where I work.  What better way to commemorate that than a puzzle named after snakes? The official rules:

• The digits 1 through 9 appear in each row and each column exactly once.
• Digits in each shaded region must multiply to the indicated product.   
• Squares with multiple colors contain a number that’s used in the product for adjacent regions of each of those colors.  
• Remember: numbers can repeat within a shaded region if that doesn't violate the first rule.

Video Game

Title: Video Game

Rating: 3/5

The title for this sum puzzle was inspired by the feeling that I was staring at a game from my youth, and picturing how a little character would need to jump over the pits and up the steps.  The procedure for solving these puzzles might be logical, but the titles aren't necessarily so.

The official rules:

• The digits 1 through 9 appear in each row and each column exactly once.
• Digits in each shaded region must add to the indicated sum.   
• Squares with multiple colors contain a number that’s used in the sum for adjacent regions of each of those colors.  
• Remember: numbers can repeat within a shaded region if that doesn't violate the first rule.

Aviation

Title: Aviation

Rating: 3/5

It's a mix puzzle kind of week.  The drink of the puzzle's title is commonly made from gin, lemon juice, maraschino liqueur, and crème de violette. 

The official rules:

• The digits 1 through 9 appear in each row and each column exactly once.
• Digits in each shaded region must add to the indicated sum (denoted by +) or multiply to the indicated product (denoted by *).   
• Squares with multiple colors contain a number that’s used in the sum/product for adjacent regions of each of those colors.  
• Remember: numbers can repeat within a shaded region if that repetition doesn't violate the first rule.

Oil Slick

Title: Oil Slick

Rating: 3/5

Another product puzzle, and one that I'd put at the mid-range of difficulty for these sorts of puzzles.  The official rules:

• The digits 1 through 9 appear in each row and each column exactly once.
• Digits in each shaded region must multiply to the indicated product.   
• Squares with multiple colors contain a number that’s used in the product for adjacent regions of each of those colors.  
• Remember: numbers can repeat within a shaded region if that doesn't violate the first rule.

#Longwood175

Title: #Longwood175

Rating: 2/5

The first alternate puzzle, and I'm posting it a day early to coincide with its posting as the Problem of the Month for April 2014.  It's a product puzzle, but with one repeated digit on a 7X7 grid.  You also might notice the attempt to create "LU" shapes in the puzzle.  The puzzle was created to honor Longwood University’s 175^th year (which puts its incorporation at, yes, 1839). 

The official rules:

• The digits 1, 7, 5, 1, 8, 3, and 9 appear in the above puzzle.  The digits 3, 5, 7, 8, and 9 appear exactly once in each row and each column. The digit 1 appears exactly twice in each row and each column.
• Digits in each shaded region must multiply to the indicated product.   
• Squares with multiple colors contain a number that’s used in the product for adjacent regions of each of those colors.  
• Remember: numbers can repeat within a shaded region if that doesn't violate the first rule.