Logic Masters Deutschland e.V.

Hi LMD! It's been a little while since my last puzzle, but I had to wait for inspiration to strike. I was toying with the idea of creating a shading puzzle - a style I very much enjoy solving but one I haven't set yet. When you think of a shading puzzles, you probably think of yin-yang or cave rules first, but a loop puzzle can be considered a shading variant as well, and it seemed like a good place to start. I also wanted to use some more given digits in a puzzle - an ironically rare clue type these days that I have come to appreciate more the longer I've been setting puzzles. Givens go great with loop puzzles, but I wasn't sure what type of loop rule I wanted to use or what other clues I could consider adding to the puzzle because surely a few givens wouldn't be enough to create a unique puzzle right?

Well, during my recent vacation to Europe (including Amsterdam!), I finally had some free time to ponder that question and I realized that no, in fact I didn't need any other clues at all! The nature of a Dutch Whisper loop is complex and interesting enough that a full puzzle can be designed around just a few given digits! The result is a fun and intriguing puzzle that shouldn't be too difficult once you figure out what's happening in the grid. At long last I had found my inspiration, and my trip also gave me the perfect name. I hope you enjoy my latest puzzle, Sightseeing!

---

Normal Sudoku rules apply.

Dutch Whisper Loop: There is a loop of orthogonally connected cells hidden in the grid. The loop does not touch itself, not even diagonally. Adjacent cells along the loop differ by 4 or more. The loop passes through all of the given digits.

Solve on SudokuPad