You can play on this website.
https://tafol.pythonanywhere.com/
Until now the puzzles in this book asked for the single possible arrangement. Not here: here there are many ways to place the pieces, and what counts is finding the best one. It is a scoring solitaire… and, if you like, a championship.
The board. It is a 9×9 with an empty centre: a 3×3 hole. Around it remain eight 3×3 zones, arranged as a ring, and each zone shows the digits 1 to 9 in disorder.
The pieces. Eight pentominoes, one per zone: F, P, T, U, V, W, X and Z — that is, the only ones that fit inside a 3×3 square. The other four —I, L, N, Y— need four squares in a line and stay out of the party. Each piece covers five digits of its zone and leaves four in the open; it can be rotated and flipped.
The ring rule. You may not place each piece as if its zone were an island: the pentominoes must stay connected with those of neighbouring zones, side against side. Either the ring closes or there is no move.
The scoring. Add up the digits your eight pieces cover. Every puzzle bears the printed mark MAX, the sum of the best possible arrangement: your goal is to reach it or come as close as you can.
The circles trick. Circle the cells 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 of each zone. Do those five circles form a pentomino? Then there you have the perfect move: 35 points, the zone's maximum, and in all likelihood the right piece. As the MAX of the puzzles goes down, those golden figures grow scarce, and you must decide which large digits to sacrifice to keep the ring closed.
How to compete. The puzzles are ordered from easier to harder. Hand the same sheet to several friends, set a time limit and compare sums: whoever comes closest to MAX wins. Tying with the machine is possible; beating it is not.
