Bolleke

(This is a picture of a beermat. It's advertising a beer from the de Koninck brewery.)

Solution to metapuzzle: show

There's a problem statement there, a nice clear one as it happens. But most readers won't know what it means; many even won't know what language it's in.

Hint: it's in Dutch. Here's the text, to save you from typing it all in for a translator program.

Geniet van een eigenzinnig lekker bolleke en oefen tegelijkertijd je geest met onze bollekespuzzel. Vul de puzzel aan met bollekes zodat er in elke rij en kolom evenveel lege en volle bollekes staan. Er mogen maximum twee dezelfde bollekes naast of onder elkaar geplaatst worden.

Restated puzzle: show

[Enjoy a quirky tasty bolleke and at the same time exercise your mind with our bolleke puzzle.] Complete the puzzle with dots so that there are five black and five white dots in each row and in each column. No more than two consecutive dots of the same colour may occur in any row or column.

Solution to puzzle: show

Comments: show

I enjoyed solving this by using my very limited knowledge of Dutch to come up with what seemed a plausible problem statement, and then finding that it led to a unique solution. I know that "twee" is Dutch for "two", so "maximum twee dezelfde bollekes" is comprehensible.

I enjoy such informal, unintended, metapuzzle-puzzle pairs. A good source is buying wooden puzzles, with no instructions, in charity shops (US: thrifts). Studying the wooden pieces, and solving the metapuzzle and then the puzzle, is something I find pleasing. Of course there's a danger that there are missing pieces; but the metapuzzle may still be solvable.

Bolleke

Problem statement

Solution to metapuzzle: show

Restated puzzle: show

Solution to puzzle: show

Comments: show