A pentomino is a tile made of five unit squares joined edge to edge. Divide this grid into five pentominoes, each containing the five letters A,B,C,D,E. The regions are not necessarily the same shape.
In text form, the 5x5 grid is:
A C A E B
C B D A C
A D E D B
B A B E C
E D E C D
This puzzle is from a print copy of the Reader’s Digest that I was given around May 2023. I don’t know when the issue was published.
First, focus on
the A at the top left corner (green). The pentomino containing it must cover exactly one of the two yellow Cs, and it cannot cover another A, so must cover green B. Then it must cover one of two yellow Ds, and then the green E.
Next, look at the blue A on the top row. The pentomino covering it must cover E and B to the right to cover 5 cells while avoiding the green and red cells. The only D reachable from the group is the blue one.
Now, move on to
the A on the left side (pink). The pink area must cover B, E, and D around the orange A (otherwise its area cannot be 5), and then take the C above (which is the only C reachable). It forces the green and blue areas.
Finally, red A must go down to take a D, and the remaining D at the bottom right corner is orange. There is only one way to connect the orange A and D so that the red area doesn't get divided into two.
