the complicated variants will continue until morale improves. here’s a puzzle i made for logic showcase 52, themed around directed loops that can cross themselves. this variant of hebi-ichigo just barely qualifies, but, as an idea i’d had for a long time, it was a satisfying thing to finally bring into existence.

ouroboros-ichigo rules

place some snakes into the grid. each snake is an orthogonally connected sequence of the numbers 1 to 5 in order. snakes cannot overlap black cells, and no snakes share an edge. each snake has a line of sight extending from its head (the number 1) in the direction opposite of its neck (the number 2). each snake sees the tail (the number 5) of another snake, such that all of the snakes form a single loop. each numbered arrow indicates the number of the nearest snake part along its line of sight, except if the number is 0, which indicates that there is no snake part along its line of sight. black cells block lines of sight for snakes and for numbered arrows.

“peek between the reeds”