Cryptic Kropki Sudoku
(Published on 25. July 2020, 22:01 by Greg)
In addition difference and ratio clues are given:
Adjacent cells whose digits are a multiple of one another are marked with a black circle, the ratio of which is inside the circle. (E.g a black circle with a 5 means one cell is 5 times larger than the other.)
Adjacent cells whose digits are different by a certain amount are given by a white circle, the difference of which is inside the circle. (E.g a white circle with a 5 means one cell is added 5 more than the other.)
Not all possible white and black circles have been given.
Numbers have been replaced by letters A-J (not including I) which represent the numbers 1-9. No number is represented by more than one letter.
The puzzle can be played online
Solution code: Row 1, Column 7
Comments
on 24. January 2024, 23:26 by Ryx
Whew! I decided to create my own copy in f-puzzles, to port to the CTC web app, since I am more familiar with those controls (I have not used Penpa in a long, long time).
After about 5 hours of deciding "there is no way this solves", but knowing that 37 others had solved it, I finally figured out that I had the G clues in the wrong two columns.
After that, it was possible, but still very challenging. What a puzzle!
on 8. December 2020, 19:00 by Bankey
That was a tough one, and enjoyed solving it. Thanks, Greg, for a new variant.
on 2. August 2020, 22:13 by Greg
@tenaliraman Glad you enjoyed!
on 2. August 2020, 21:47 by tenaliraman
Hi Greg, Solved the problem, was entering the wrong code :P
I liked the solve path, some very nice logic to get by. Every digit discovery was just exhausting and once found was exhilarating. Very beautiful! I love Kropki Sudokus, so this was icing on the cake for my liking.
on 2. August 2020, 21:41 by Greg
@tenaliraman
The puzzle definitely has a unique solution, please double check you're writing the solution code correctly.
Alternatively, if you solved it with penpa you should be able to make a link with the share button and you could post your puzzle answer as a hidden comment for me to check?
on 2. August 2020, 21:24 by tenaliraman
Hi, I have solved the puzzle, but when I try to submit the solution code, the site complains that the code is wrong. I haven been trying to figure out what is wrong with my solve, but it seems to satisfy all the properties.
on 29. July 2020, 23:31 by SudokuExplorer
I tried this yesterday, but made a bad assumption near the start of the puzzle (though I still learnt quite a bit from that failure). I'm glad I had another go today. A very nice puzzle and with enjoyable logic! :-)
on 28. July 2020, 10:29 by Greg
@Richard Only a hundred and forty or so to go now ;)
@Mody Danke!
on 28. July 2020, 10:12 by Mody
Ich habe lange gebraucht, aber es hat mir sehr gut gefallen
on 28. July 2020, 06:54 by Richard
Nice entry!
on 27. July 2020, 18:28 by Richard
@Greg: well, I didn’t count them, it’s just a number that poppep up first. :-)
on 27. July 2020, 18:17 by Greg
@Luigi Thanks for the feedback!
@Richard Oh wow haha that's a daunting number of puzzles to get through. And I definitely don't want to be the reason for delaying more of your variants... :)
@SudokuExplorer Yeah I think on top of the number of puzzles posted, I also posted on a particularly busy day, and like you say for people not familiar with Kropki it might look like too long a puzzle to get through if they want to do all of them.
However regarding beginners Kropki, that already exists on the portal! ID: 00002W leads to Susie's Kropki Beginner puzzles.
If you are interested in trying this puzzle though feel free to leave a hidden comment and I can give you some hints on what to look for.
on 27. July 2020, 17:15 by SudokuExplorer
@Greg I'm fairly new to variant sudokus and have never heard of Kropki (or in general many other puzzle types). Maybe you could make a mini version (say a 6x6 version that still has interesting logic) for beginners who might be interested in trying a new variant. If they enjoy it, then you can provide a link to this one and they may give it a try.
on 27. July 2020, 16:40 by SudokuExplorer
@Greg I think this will be an ongoing problem for other setters, given how many puzzles are posted per day. One of my favourite creations (id=0003UA) only has four solves despite some symmetry that could potentially help solve it. Another recent puzzle I solved (Rook sudoku id=0003XE) only has three solves but has some very nice logic.
on 27. July 2020, 16:07 by Richard
I am very fond of kropki and kropki like sudokus. And cryptic sudokus as well. And sudokus in general.
Apart from that it looks appealing
So it is definitely on my list of puzzles I want to try. Unfortunately there are 146 other puzzles on that list as well. And I want to write some variants myself too. Help!
But: I will definitely solve this one. Promise!
on 27. July 2020, 16:03 by Luigi
Indeed, very nice puzzle and not too difficult.
on 27. July 2020, 14:40 by Greg
I'm surprised at how little this has been solved as I do think it's my one of my best puzzles.
I'd really appreciate some feedback from those choosing not to solve regarding what's off-putting, whether the difficulty or the rule-set or some other reason? Thanks!
on 26. July 2020, 20:39 by MartinR
Really nice solve, the cryptic only revealed themselves slowly and the kropki were needed till almost the end.
on 26. July 2020, 19:41 by Greg
@Jesper Thanks for solving! Glad you enjoyed it.
@marcmees Thanks!
@MartinR glad you enjoyed it!
on 26. July 2020, 19:24 by marcmees
really fun solving
on 26. July 2020, 15:19 by Jesper
Well designed and fun to solve!
