BACA Logic Challenge (Mini Puzzles Series #29)

BACA is another puzzle type from the Oğuz Atay Puzzle Contest. It appeared in OAPC-2. The name BACA comes from the letter strings you see in the puzzle, like BACA, BCAC, etc. It is a unique name for a unique puzzle. In this puzzle, you paint some squares black and place the letters A, B, and C in each row and column. The numbers tell you how many black squares to paint, and the letters on the edges tell you the first letter you see from that direction.

I created this puzzle back in 2009. Now I am republishing it as the 29th puzzle in the Mini Puzzles Series. If you enjoy puzzle types that are different from Sudoku, this is a good one to try. It is not too hard, and it offers a fresh challenge. I hope you like solving it.

Rules of the BACA puzzle

Paint some squares black following the rules of a regular paint-it-black puzzle. Also, each row and column should contain the letters A, B, and C exactly once. Cells with letters may be blackened, and empty cells may either be blackened or include a letter. Numbers at the left and top indicate the number of blackened cells in that direction. Letters at the right and bottom indicate the first letter seen from that direction.