Sudoku Variants Series (276) - Taxi Ride Sudoku
(Published on 8. July 2020, 00:00 by Richard)
Taxi Ride Sudoku
Apply classic sudoku rules.
Every digit in a circle is connected with at least one equal digit in another circle by a path that is as short as possible, travels horizontally and vertically with exactly the number of steps given by the digit itself. All possible circles are placed.
The name refers to a ride with a taxi that should be also as short as possible.
Inspiration for this type comes from Madmahogany.
Solve online in F-Puzzles or in CtC-App (thanks Nick Smirnov!)
Solution code: Row 6, followed by column 9.
Comments
on 7. November 2021, 07:02 by Richard
Added links for online solving. Thx Nick!
on 6. November 2021, 22:33 by Nick Smirnov
f-puzzles:
https://f-puzzles.com/?id=yfoyxvr8
CTC App:
https://tinyurl.com/rydc9ja2
on 15. April 2021, 09:46 by Tintenklexs
Not sure it's totally relevant to the solution, but it seems to me right now: Can I cross other circles on the straightest path or do I have to circumvent them?
(E.g. If R8C1 had a neighbor in R6C3, is the shortest path 3 or 5?)
on 10. January 2021, 19:20 by pin7guin
Gut, dass das keine echte Taxifahrt war - das wäre bei der Lösedauer richtig teuer geworden... :-)
on 23. July 2020, 22:10 by bob
I found this puzzle intensely difficult but did find a logical path.
on 18. July 2020, 14:02 by Madmahogany
Thanks for the puzzle! Wonderfully made!
on 17. July 2020, 16:12 by AnnaTh
Wahnsinnskonstrukt!
on 13. July 2020, 06:36 by Richard
@emmettcito: If you are able to show me your solution so far, I can check where the problem is. You can write it as a hidden comment or send a pm/e-mail via the forum.
on 9. July 2020, 11:46 by henrypijames
@emmettcito: Generally, when something has gone wrong (and assuming it's the not the puzzle itself), it means we've eliminated something we shouldn't have - because all decisions we ever make are exclusitory, i. e. even an affirmative statement like "A must be X" is in truth just another way of saying "I've either eliminated all other possibilities for A, or for X (or both)".
Therefore, one method I've learned from my school days as a math-olympian is to go over every step in detail and forego the convenient but sometimes deadly trope of "by the same logic" - because what we've hastily dispatched to "the same logic" do not always obey it equally.
So, instead of saying "I'm ruling out A, B, C and D for X", spell out the examination in its full form: "I'm excluding A because firstly ..., secondly ..., thirdly ...; then I'm ruling out B because firstly ..., secondly ..."
I had a great teacher for the math-olympics class, and he used to get angry periodically over my classmates' blatant misuse of "by the same logic" (either because of laziness, or carelessness, or not knowing the real answer and trying to muddy through despite of knowing it was probably wrong), and would order a ban of that trope in our proofs "until further notice" - forcing us to write everything out and thereby, discovering and confronting our mistakes. A few students, myself included, were exempt from the ban because we never committed the sin of "by the same logic" overuse in the first place.
I don't know if this tip helps you in this instance, but my experience is that overall it definitely does.
on 9. July 2020, 06:51 by dm_litv
@emmettcito
Your statement about the position of '5' in the top middle box is incorrect.
on 8. July 2020, 19:21 by henrypijames
I was totally stumped by #275 as well - stared at it for a long time and couldn't find the entry. But soon it was featured on CTC, and I couldn't resist peeking - then it was like "of course, so patently obvious!"
With this one at least I knew right away how to get started: Even though the rules are different, the basic method is the same as with Madmahogany's original.
on 8. July 2020, 17:49 by Richard
@marcmees: I already missed you last week; do as a competitor of the German Sudoku Championship advised his fellow competitors a few years ago: think as Richard thinks!
At the moment the SVS puzzles seem to be a bit harder indeed. Probably because the themes suit harder puzzles?
on 8. July 2020, 17:29 by ibag
Very nice!
on 8. July 2020, 07:06 by Richard
Oops! There's a 'typo' in there too. I had three stars difficulty in mind. Well; it's a matter of time before that's corrected. :-)
on 8. July 2020, 07:03 by RockyRoer
That's a lot of negative constraints to work through to be only 2 stars... Fun though.
on 8. July 2020, 06:38 by Richard
Fixed a typo in the solution code (thick fingers). Sorry.
on 8. July 2020, 00:01 by Rollo
@Circleconstant: Please try ID 00019N
