Happy Holidays #4: Tangled Lights
(Published on 14. December 2020, 22:35 by Big Tiger)
Standard Sudoku Rules apply to the final numerical layout. And digits may not repeat along the main diagonals.
No matter how well you put them away the year before, the Christmas lights always end up tangled when it's time to get them out again! In this box, the Red strings and the Green strings are a jumbled mess.
Each cell must be able to connect with the border of the grid either directly or by following an orthogonal path along its own color to the border. While either color may touch itself diagonally, that does not count as a path from one cell to another. And there are no 2x2 areas of either color in the grid.
A digit in a cell with an Arrow is the number of times the color of the lights changes in the direction of that arrow, starting in that cell. All possible arrows are shown.
*****
Setter's Notes :: December 14, 2020 :: It may or may not be entirely necessary to discern the colors of all 81 cells; I don't know. - I was able to do it, but I don't know if I actually needed to in order to place all the digits. Either way, the digits are the ultimate point, so if you at least get that part right, you win.
On second thought, I'm going to create a Solution Code that requires you to figure out all the colors. I'm such a trouble-maker.
Solution code: The green cells of Rows 7, 8, and 9 in reading order.
Comments
on 21. January 2021, 11:54 by Phistomefel
It took me very long to find a way through this puzzle. Still, I enjoyed every minute of it, since there is just so much beautiful logic to discover in this puzzle. Thanks a lot for setting this beauty, Big Tiger!
*** Wow, thank YOU! Every comment is valuable to me ... but when one of the Sudoku legends finds a puzzle enjoyable, that's something special.
on 27. December 2020, 09:48 by Big Tiger
Someone tell Simon and Mark this has been called "brilliant" twice now! :-D
on 27. December 2020, 00:39 by SirWoezel
Brilliant puzzle. Thanks!
on 26. December 2020, 23:44 by MartinR
Enjoyable solve, nice combination
on 16. December 2020, 12:35 by marcmees
solvers note: thanks for this truly brilliant puzzle.
*** "Brilliant" ... Wow, thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
on 15. December 2020, 06:23 by bigger
I filled all color in. That was fun, like coloring a picture with numbers. Anyway, you could ask us to submit the number of green cells in every row plus the green digits in row 789.
**** When I solved it myself as a test, the last digits I was able to confirm were in that lower third of the grid so I figured that would be a secure-enough solution code. :-D Thanks for playing and glad you enjoyed the coloring!
on 15. December 2020, 00:41 by Jesper
Thanks, Brian. I enjoyed that!
*** I'm glad! Thanks for giving it a go!
on 14. December 2020, 23:28 by Big Tiger
Changed solution code.
on 14. December 2020, 23:24 by Big Tiger
Rewrote instructions for clarification.
