Bridge Sudoku
(Published on 23. July 2020, 13:03 by stimim)
Penpa: https://tinyurl.com/y9do7p7b
Blog: https://blog.stimim.tw/puzzles/bridge-sudoku
Rules
- Normal Sudoku rules applied.
- Each cage is the record of n-th trick in a contract bridge game, where n is the number in the top left corner of the cage.
- 10, J, Q, K, A are recorded as 10, J, Q, K, A, but are treated as 12345 respectively when considering Sudoku rules. 2~9 are recorded as 2~9.
- For some cards, the suit of that card is given in the top right corner.
- Each cage contains the card played by West, North, East and South, from left to right or top to bottom.
- Dotted circles indicates the lead / first player of each trick.
- The up arrows indicate the cell must contain a J, Q, K, or A.
- The game result is recorded as 3NT/W +2, that is,
- No trump suits.
- West and East win 11 of the 13 tricks in total.
- North player leads the first trick.
- If you are unfamiliar with contract bridge, here are rules that each trick must follow (in this particular game):
- The lead player can play any card from their hand.
- Other players must follow the suit of the leading card if they can.
- For example, if the lead player played a ♦️ in this trick, and West has ♦️2, ♦️5 and ♠️3 in their hand. Then West must play either ♦️2 or ♦️5, but not ♠️3.
- Otherwise, if a player doesn't have any card of the same suit, they can play any card from their hand.
- The winner of a trick is determined by "the card with the highest rank and has the same suit as the leading card".
- The ranking is 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A (low to high).
- For example, if a trick has the following card: ♠️5, ♠️3, ♠️2, ♥️K, and North (or ♠️3) leads the trick. Then West (or ♠️5) wins the trick. (♥️K doesn't matter, because it is not a spade)
- The winner of the current trick leads the next trick.
Solution code: Column 1 and Column 6, no spaces. 10, J, Q, K, A should be written as is. E.g. a column starts with “10, 2, Q, A, ...” should be written as “102QA...”.
Comments
on 26. July 2020, 04:47 by stimim
re henrypijames:
Sorry about that. I will try to make a new puzzle based on a real game play.
But I also want to emphasize that, I would consider this puzzle as a retrograde analysis problem. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrograde_analysis And these puzzles often doesn't make sense regarding a normal game play.
on 25. July 2020, 17:03 by henrypijames
As a bridge player since childhood, I love the scheme of this puzzle and think it's really well implemented. However, I hate the nonsensical play shown by the players: It's not only aesthetically offensive, but forces me to work against the common bridge gameplay logic (as opposed to rules logic) embedded in my head every second of the solve. I hope a successor puzzle will be based on gameplay that can actually happen - because no set of players who has mastered the rules of bridge could actually produce the play in this puzzle unless they are intentionally messing around.
on 25. July 2020, 03:07 by stimim
The puzzle contains a "valid / legit bridge game". Players must follow the rules, but might not be playing perfectly or logically.
So some moves might not make sense to you, but as long as it doesn't violate the rules, it's okay.
on 24. July 2020, 19:31 by stimim
Add sudoku tag
on 23. July 2020, 14:10 by stimim
Cells outside of cages must be 1~9, only cells inside a cage can be 10, J, Q, K, A.
on 23. July 2020, 14:08 by stefliew
Very fun puzzle! I remember testing this one. It may take awhile to understand the rules but it's worth it.
on 23. July 2020, 13:09 by Rotstein
please add sudoku icon so people can find your puzzle
