Sum Difference Fences
(Published on 13. July 2020, 14:08 by RockyRoer)
This puzzle features what I believe is a new type of constraint. I'm call it a "Difference Fence" (or simply "diff-fence" for short).
Each segment of a difference fence has a value equal to the difference of the cells it separates. The fence as a whole has a length equal to the sum of all the segments in that fence. That length may be given directly, or in some cases the length is indicated by placing an asterisk in a specific cell. The number in that cell then indicates the length. Finally, and importantly, the differences along a difference fence (at least in this puzzle) cannot repeat.
ExampleIn this example, there are four difference fences, with their individual segments labeled.
In this puzzle:
- Normal sudoku rules apply.
- Difference Fences rules apply, as explained above.
- Differences along a difference fence cannot repeat.
- There is a magic square in exactly one of the nine boxes.
There is also a surprise in one of the boxes -- which won't help your solve, but hopefully you'll find amusing.
Solution code: The seven differences along the long fence in boxes 5/8 counterclockwise from the top, followed by row 6 from left to right (16 digits).
Comments
on 5. November 2020, 15:44 by Nylimb
I printed this out when it first appeared, but didn't make much progress on it. Last night I ran across the printout and tried again. It took a long time, but I finally solved it. Thanks for the puzzle.
Here's a Penpa link: https://tinyurl.com/y43aarke
The fence segments don't look quite right, but it's the best I could do. To write a number in a fence segment, change "Border" to "ON" and then click in the segment.
on 14. July 2020, 04:22 by RockyRoer
If anyone is having trouble starting, I can tell you which box contains the magic square. The 'in' is a little challenging but it's a fairly straight shot after that. Give me a hidden comment if you'd like.
on 13. July 2020, 14:13 by RockyRoer
Also - if anyone would be willing to translate this to German, I'd love to have it available there too.
on 13. July 2020, 14:09 by RockyRoer
If anyone can make this show up in Penpa or other online version and would be willing to share a link -- I'm sure many would appreciate it. Penpa is restricted on my machine (and I prefer to do things on paper/pencil anyway) so I can't create those, but it seems like most people solve these online so I'd hate to have people not try it simply because I don't have that option.
