Daily Diamond Challenge 35 May 22, 2021 - Empires and Puzzles

Yesterday's Empires and Puzzles Daily Diamond Challenge problem: 

My solution: 

Pop the green diamond. You can also make the yellow match on the left side of the board that will combo the greens and pop the diamond in that way, but in either case, the resulting board will have purples on the right side perfectly aligned for an L-shaped diamond. 

Today's problem: See if you can spot the diamond below. There may be more than one, but there is definitely at least one that is currently on the board.

Solution tomorrow.

Daily Diamond Challenge 34 May 21, 2021 - Empires and Puzzles

Yesterday's This morning's Empires and Puzzles Daily Diamond Challenge problem: 

My solution: 

One move, and you have your diamond. Move the purple Underwild gem to the left to match the three horizontal purples, and the greens will cascade into an L-shaped diamond. 

You get a double dose today after I missed yesterday. Today's second problem: See if you can spot the diamond below. There may be more than one, but there is definitely at least one that is currently on the board.

Solution tomorrow. 

Daily Diamond Challenge 33 May 20, 2021 - Empires and Puzzles

Yesterday's Two days ago's Empires and Puzzles Daily Diamond Challenge problem: 

My solution: 

Make the green vertical match toward the top left corner. Thankfully, the tiles are arranged so that there's very little chance of a cascade ruining this yellow, L-shaped diamond opportunity.

Today's problem: See if you can spot the diamond below. There may be more than one, but there is definitely at least one that is currently on the board.

Real life got in the way of this being posted yesterday, but we should be back on schedule. Solution tomorrow later today. 

Daily Diamond Challenge 32 May 19, 2021 - Empires and Puzzles

Yesterday's Empires and Puzzles Daily Diamond Challenge problem: 

My solution: 

Make the purple horizontal match in the middle of the board to bring up the blue tiles. Then, make the green horizontal match also in the middle of the board to position the blue tiles nicely for a T-shaped diamond. 

Today's problem: See if you can spot the diamond below. There may be more than one, but there is definitely at least one that is currently on the board.

Solution tomorrow.

Daily Diamond Challenge 31 May 18, 2021 - Empires and Puzzles

Yesterday's Empires and Puzzles Daily Diamond Challenge problem: 

My solution:

This was admittedly a simple puzzle. Match the purples, and voilà, you get the purple diamond. 

My question to you is this, and I want you to ask yourself and answer honestly: Did you notice that making the purple diamond would also have cascaded the greens perfectly into a five-line diamond of their own? 

Today's problem: See if you can spot the diamond below. There may be more than one, but there is definitely at least one that is currently on the board.

Solution tomorrow.

Daily Diamond Challenge 30 May 17, 2021 - Empires and Puzzles

Yesterday's Empires and Puzzles Daily Diamond Challenge problem: 

My solution: 

In my opinion, this is the kind of puzzle and foresight that can really step up any player's game. Being able to spot a diamond in this board when so many other players wouldn't give a board like this a second thought can really give you the edge you need to turn losses into wins. Especially if you're a daily player, you're bound to see this exact set up again sometime, somewhere. 

It's simple to make this diamond. Match the purples horizontally toward the top middle of the board. That sets the blues up for a nice five-line diamond. 

Again, even though this diamond took only two moves, I have a strong feeling that most players would have just skipped over the initial set up without realizing that there was a diamond to be had. Perhaps they would have given up looking for one when they couldn't find a way to bring the bottom blue tile up one space. Maybe they would have tried to make the vertical purple match toward the right side of the board to hopefully bring up a green tile that would bring up the blue next turn. Perhaps they would have tried to make a purple diamond by bringing up purple tiles not yet on the board. 

Reminder of two basic premises of these puzzles: 

1) The initial set up ("the problem") is the way the board was when I first spotted the opportunity to make at least one diamond. You can learn to spot these too, perhaps even one or two moves earlier than I can. 

2) Diamonds in these puzzles are made from tiles that are already on the board. There is no hoping for the 20% chance that a tile in your needed color shows up in the spot you want. That's not to say that you shouldn't play for that opportunity sometimes, but again, the point of these puzzles is being able to spot diamonds that don't require playing the odds. 

Today's problem: See if you can spot the diamond below. There may be more than one, but there is definitely at least one that is currently on the board.

Solution tomorrow.

Daily Diamond Challenge 29 May 16, 2021 - Empires and Puzzles

Yesterday's Empires and Puzzles Daily Diamond Challenge problem: 

My solution: 

Look at that complete and utter lack of fire tiles. It's not like I needed them or anything . . . 

I've searched this board over and over, and I think this is the only solution. If you find another one (dawnsempiresandpuzzles@gmail.com), we can do a "revisiting" post in the future. 

Make the green vertical three-match toward the center of the board. That brings up the blue tile to the top and gets it ready for an L-shaped blue diamond. It is very important that the initial green match is the three-match because making the dragon bomb doesn't lead to the blue diamond.

Today's problem: See if you can spot the diamond below. There may be more than one, but there is definitely at least one that is currently on the board.

Solution tomorrow.

Daily Diamond Challenge 28 May 15, 2021 - Empires and Puzzles

Yesterday's Empires and Puzzles Daily Diamond Challenge problem: 

My solution: 

Pop the green diamond, and you're already perfectly set up for another yellow diamond. 

How can you spot this ahead of time? Notice that there is only one green tile above the three yellow tiles that need to be brought up one spot to form that L-shaped yellow diamond. 

It can be difficult to learn if you're not already accustomed to seeing things that aren't immediately in front of you. As a part of learning to count tiles, you can also learn to spot where tiles will fall when certain moves are made. Yesterday's puzzle is just one example of seeing where tiles will fall, in this case, after popping a diamond.

Today's problem: See if you can spot the diamond below. There may be more than one, but there is definitely at least one that is currently on the board.

Solution tomorrow. 

Daily Diamond Challenge 27 May 14, 2021 - Empires and Puzzles

Yesterday's Empires and Puzzles Daily Diamond Challenge problem: 

My solution: 

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: This post was original scheduled to be posted automatically at 17:30 Pacific Daylight Time. I received this notice from Blogger at the originally scheduled time of posting: 

If anyone has any insight so that this can be prevented in the future, please email me at dawnsempiresandpuzzles@gmail.com.)

There are two ways to form a yellow diamond. The first is what's pictured. Make the two different horizontal green matches—I don't think the order matters—and you're set up for a yellow diamond, whether you make a T-shaped diamond in either direction or pull the tile from above or below for the five-line diamond. 

The second way to form a yellow diamond is to start with the horizontal red match in the lower left corner. That brings up the two yellows, so then the follow up is the lower green match, and you're set up for an L-shaped yellow diamond. 

The third diamond possibility is the green diamond, which is actually the simplest diamond of the bunch to make. Start with the yellow match horizontally in the top middle of the board, and you're all set for a green T-shaped diamond. 

Today's problem: See if you can spot the diamond below. There may be more than one, but there is definitely at least one that is currently on the board.

Solution tomorrow. 

Daily Diamond Challenge 27 May 14, 2021 - Empires and Puzzles

Yesterday's Empires and Puzzles Daily Diamond Challenge problem: 

My solution: 

There are actually two ways to form a yellow diamond. The first is what you see in the images above. Make two green horizontal matches (the order shouldn't matter), and you're set up for your pick of T-shaped yellow diamonds or five-line yellow diamonds. 

The second way to form a yellow diamond involves matching the reds in the lower left corner first. That brings up the two yellows on either side, so then you set up an L-shaped yellow diamond by matching the horizontal greens toward the bottom. 

Finally, there is a green diamond on the board as well, and it's the simplest of the bunch. (I needed a yellow diamond, so I made a yellow one instead of the green one.) Match the yellows toward the top middle of the board, and you're all set for a green T-shaped diamond.

Today's problem: See if you can spot the diamond below. There may be more than one, but there is definitely at least one that is currently on the board.

Solution tomorrow.