An unpleasant Nurikabe

Well, a Nurikabe variation actually. The two squares with crosses must be of different colours.

This is a punishing puzzle, with no pleasant path to solution. So, why publish? Because I can use it to win an argument with a friend.

Art Deco

This post contains a rarely used puzzle type, with inconsistent naming. I shall add to this inconsistency by calling these puzzles Art Deco. Rules are:

Paint some cells black. Each outlined area is different to all others. Clues on the left and top indicate the length, in cells, of the longest consecutive area of the respective row/column painted black; clues on the right and bottom indicate the length, in cells, of the longest consecutive area of the respective row/column remaining white. Clues in a circle indicate the number of orthogonally contiguous regions of the circle’s fill colour.

I am not entirely happy with either of the above puzzles; I do like the way you earn your break-ins, but flow is lacking, and I’m not taking full advantage of the (rather large) rule set.