Hello again! Summer is here, and it’s the perfect time to knock out some books on your reading list (or perhaps start a new one). If you were looking to satisfy your summer puzzle list instead, you’ve come to the right place.

The next entry is based on Tents. Frank Batrie of Heaviside has a little-known hobby: he loves to build birdhouses! He has a new batch ready to deploy in his back yard; however, the birds that come to visit are particular about their personal space. Given a grid representing Frank’s yard, place the birdhouses according to the following conditions:

• Each birdhouse must be horizontally or vertically adjacent to a bird. Only one birdhouse is allowed per bird.
• Birdhouses may not touch each other, even diagonally.
• The numbers outside the grid indicate the number of birdhouses that can be placed in each row or column.

The pictures below depict a sample puzzle on a 5×5 grid, along with its solution. The color of each birdhouse helps illustrate which bird it is assigned to.

Now, can you solve the puzzle below and help Frank place his birdhouses?

The solution will be released in the next blog post. Also, if you tried the puzzle from the last blog entry, here is its solution below. This puzzle definitely falls under the category of “simple rules and complex solutions,” but I hope you enjoyed it!