Sunday, October 24, 2021

Puzzle 84: "Ellipse" (Tapa (Line))

Have another Tapa (Line) puzzle!  These are notoriously difficult to construct for me.  I think my style, especially with lots of clues around the perimeter, is to resolve the outside and then have the line constraint push into the middle of the puzzle.  Unfortunately, more often than not, this results in puzzles that break with no prior warning.  The line constraint is just too powerful.  (Indeed, at first I only had the perimeter clues and/or a clue at the center of the ellipse.  I only managed to construct a successful puzzle when I placed extra clues at the foci instead.)

Standard Tapa rules apply.  Additionally, no four consecutive vertical or horizontal cells may be shaded.

Online interface (puzz.link) 

Online interface (Penpa)

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