Flooded Caves
These brave explorers have discovered some incredible treasures, by charting a system of caves deep beneath the ocean! Thank God they made it home safe -- their mother must be so proud.
NOTE: Mysteriously, these treasures were all found in "dead ends" (i.e. a cave cell adjacent to exactly one other cave cell).
Expedition notes:
- Numbers represent the number of cave cells visible from that cell, including itself.
- Numbers may or may not be shaded.
- A cell does not block its own line of sight.
Treasure: A large green bean, squishy to the touch.
Quote from discoverer: "Shaded clues? Betrayal! I'll take my treasure from the westernmost dead end and escape immediately."
Expedition notes:
- Each column has an even number of shaded cells.
Treasure: A tin pail full of rendered fat.
Quote from discoverer: "Where am I? I thought I was in the northwest, where I found this treasure, but now I'm all disoriented."
Expedition notes:
- Each piece sees the same number of cells as its value.
- Pieces don't see their own square.
- Pieces are blocked by the cave wall, but not by other pieces.
Treasure: A small, white, oval-shaped medicinal tablet.
Quote from discoverer: "It's hard to play chess with no depth perception. The treasure was in the dead end that sees the fewest cells."
Expedition notes:
- P represents any prime number.
- S represents any perfect square.
- C represents any perfect cube.
Treasure: A broken femur, slightly bloodied.
Quote from discoverer: "Ooh, I just LOVED exploring this cave! Especially when I found the treasure in the northeast!"
Expedition notes:
- Numbers indicate the number of cave cells touching that cell, including diagonally.
- Numbers are never part of the cave.
Treasure: A pixelated red pickaxe.
Quote from discoverer: "If you must know, I found this in a column with a unique number of cave cells. Now can I leave? My wings are soggy."
Expedition notes:
- E represents any even number.
- O represents any odd number.
- Different E's or O's may represent different numbers.
Treasure: A sphere, half white and half black.
Quote from discoverer: "I searched the possible locations starting from the south, and randomly found this treasure first. I guess the odds were in my favor!"
Expedition notes:
- Black circles are always shaded.
- The two portals (concentric circles) are both in the cave.
- The portals are considered connected for purposes of cave connectivity.
- A clue looking into one portal will see out of the other in the same direction, seeing both portal cells as well.
- A clue will not see past a portal it's looking into.
Treasure: A tattered piece of paper with "DOCTORATE" written in crayon.
Quote from discoverer: "I felt right at home once I saw these cool vortices. Ironic, then, that I found this treasure in the dead end with the longest path to either portal."
Expedition notes:
- Each number represents the product of the number of cells visible horizontally and vertically (including the cell itself).
Treasure: A stool sample glowing white with holy light.
Quote from discoverer: "My familiar found this, um, lovely treasure in the westernmost dead end. Could you tell me what it looks like? It feels valuable, but smells awful."
Expedition notes:
- Each number is one more or one less than its actual value.
Treasure: A purple vortex with two small white eyes.
Quote from discoverer: "I can't remember exactly where I found this treasure. I think it was the northernmost dead end."
Expedition notes:
- Every cave cell sees either 6 or 9 cells.
Treasure: A headband, possibly part of a demon costume.
Quote from discoverer: "Once I found this treasure in the north, I knew I'd be able to sell it for huge profits! Nice."
Expedition notes:
- Black circles are always shaded.
- White circles are always unshaded.
- Numbers may or may not be shaded.
- A number in a shaded cell indicates the number of shaded cells sharing an edge or corner with that cell, including itself.
- As usual, a number in an unshaded cell indicates the number of cave cells that can be seen from that cell.
Treasure: A golden rectangle bearing the words "VIP ACCESS".
Quote from discoverer: "Owww, my pigtails keep getting caught in the rocks! I hate this place. At least my treasure from the easternmost dead end is pretty neat."
Expedition notes:
- Each group of contiguous non-cave cells must have 180 degree rotational symmetry.
Treasure: A small blue fungus.
Quote from discoverer: "The treasure's chamber didn't have a number in it, but my bird spotted a composite number just outside. I guess that's cool. Whatever."
Expedition notes:
- The shape of this cave could theoretically be the upper left 8x8 of a 15x15 American crossword with no unchecked cells and no two-letter words.
- Cheater squares are allowed.
Treasure: An enormous glistening eyeball.
Quote from discoverer: "Yeah, regular crosswords are fine, but I hate cryptics, man. Whenever I do them, I make small awful moans. Heh. Get it?"
Expedition notes:
- Each letter in the grid represents a different number from 2-8.
Treasure: A well-worn letter button from a computer keyboard.
Quote from discoverer: "What do these letters mean??? Why didn't the treasure room have a letter in it???"
Expedition notes:
- Each group of contiguous non-cave cells must be a pentomino (i.e. size 5).
- Pentominoes need not be unique.
Treasure: An android somewhat resembling an infant. A label on its back reads "Version 1.0".
Quote from discoverer: "My lucky dice helped me find this treasure! It was in the dead end that sees the largest number of cells."
Expedition notes:
- Numbers indicate the number of non-cave cells touching that cell, including diagonally.
- Numbers are always in the cave.
Treasure: A laser-emitter machine with a red wire and a large eyeball in the center.
Quote from discoverer: "T-The treasure was in the, uh... westernmost dead end. I'm so g-glad to be out of that cave -- I feel, uh, r-reborn!"
Expedition notes:
- There can be no 2x2 area inside the cave.
Treasure: A white box with a question mark on it.
Quote from discoverer: "We found this cool treasure in the dead end in the southwest that sees the fewest cells, using the power of TEAMWORK!"
