Sudoku Bounce House #1
(Published on 15. May 2020, 07:28 by Big Tiger)
Standard Sudoku Rules apply to the final numerical layout.
Welcome to the Sudoku Bounce House!
Arrows on each trampoline indicate the direction a player will jump, and numbers placed on the trampolines indicate how far.
All forty trampolines have corresponding Safety Mats (empty squares) for a safe landing, and no two trampolines use the same safety mat. Forty trampolines, forty mats, and one ticket booth.
And for the little kids, we have marked selected trampolines with a Smile These trampolines will safely bounce the young jumpers to a mat with a lower number than the trampoline. All other trampolines will jump either to the same number or a higher one. Have fun!
*****
Setter's Diary :: May 15, 2020 :: My second puzzle was actually my first idea. After it become wild and untamed as the Sudoku Family Fun Center, I backed up and tried the trampoline idea again, this time in its pure form. The idea originated in a maze book I've had since I was a teenager, and I decided to try applying it to the sudoku format.
I technically "set" this puzzle, but I'm no setter. Having no experience in deliberately manipulating the numbers beforehand, I sent many trials to the garbage can before discovering one that accommodated my plan for every square on the grid to be either a trampoline or its landing mat, and for no landing mat to be used twice. So, basically ... dumb luck. Enjoy!
Solution code: Column 5, from top to bottom.
Comments
on 1. October 2020, 02:52 by DiMono
I forgot about the "same number" part of the restriction, and got almost to the end before it came into play and made me lose my mind. Instructions are hard, yo.
on 2. August 2020, 14:56 by Danielle
I like this idea.
on 17. May 2020, 23:19 by Big Tiger
83% - I'll take that as a compliment! And thank you, Mody - It was a fun challenge to make (almost gave up trying to make it work but...) - glad to see it's being enjoyed overall.
on 16. May 2020, 17:00 by Mody
Amazing construction
on 16. May 2020, 07:51 by Big Tiger
Richard -- Getting 40 trampolines to hit 40 empty spaces was definitely a challenge. I first thought of it about three weeks ago, and there are several Sudoku grids in the trash that simply did not work out, ha ha. I finally hit this one after a long evening of trial and error. I might try one in the future where it is strictly the minimum amount of trampolines to make the numbers fall into place.
on 16. May 2020, 06:21 by Richard
Ah, I see. I was already wondering how you managed to find a solution grid that fulfilled the constraint that all landing mats had to be used only once. That is quite an achievement! I wondered about generalization of the theme; if I would write a similar one, I think I would only place the amount of trampolines and mats to be able to get a unique solution instead of the 40/40 here. So: well done!
on 15. May 2020, 19:17 by Big Tiger
Richard: "Is it correct that I didn't ned most of the smileys?"
Yes. I included them only because without them, there are two solutions; and even then, only one or two are absolutely necessary. But it looked stupid (and obvious) to just insert the one or two that forced a unique solution - I chose consistency over minimalism.
on 15. May 2020, 12:22 by Richard
Is it correct that I didn't need most of the smiley's?
