Logic Masters Deutschland e.V.

Penpa

Standard Sudoku Rules apply to the final numerical layout.

Here they come a-wassailing! One starry night a group of carolers traveled through their town spreading Christmas cheer.

Their Path began at the Green cell in the bottom left, and ended at the Red cell in the upper right. It was a single cell in width, they always moved orthogonally, and they never touched back on their route as they went. Not even diagonally. Some houses (in Red) served up their sought-after wassail, leaving them boisterously tipsy by the end of the night.

They were also very thorough in spreading their cheer: At no time, anywhere on the grid, is there a 2x2 area of cells with no path in it.

Sudoku digits in the Red cells are N, and indicate the Nth cell in their path since the previous Red cell (or since beginning their stroll). Numbers in the corners of the Red cells are the sum of all the digits on their path, including the Red cell, since leaving the previous Red cell. Digits may not repeat in each separate section of the path, which includes the Red house they arrive at.

Digits in the Star cells indicate how many Path cells touch the Star cells, orthogonally and diagonally. Star cells cannot be on the path itself, and all possible Star cells are indicated.

And the Grey cell in the center denotes an Even Digit. Just because.

*****

Setter's Diary :: December 9, 2020 :: Yes, it's more commonly known as Snake puzzle, but I wanted to theme it for the holidays, making this the third in my Christmas series. And yes, experienced setters will recognize that blasted grey square in the middle is because the final result wouldn't disambiguate by itself! So close! I will go drown my sorrows in a vat of wassail.