The Cross
(Published on 15. December 2020, 15:06 by Tom1i)
Ruleset:
- Standard: Normal sudoku rules apply.
- Standard killer: Cells inside a cage sum to the given total. Digits may not repeat.
- Standard little killer: Cells along a marked diagonal sum to the given total. Digits may repeat, if normal sudoku rules allow it.
NOTE: The red cells contain 4 killer cages of size 9. The color red is just there to make them stand out.
Link to puzzle in the Fox editor: PUZZLE
Have a nice day :)
Solution code: Top row + bottom row.
Comments
on 30. June 2022, 04:36 by ocaly
Glad to have solved this old master piece. I just love this cage setup and the logic it provides.
on 7. August 2021, 15:37 by Chilly
Wow - amazing puzzle. Simple idea beautifully executed. I would say 4 stars difficulty too. Depends very much on how quickly you see the break-in.
on 24. June 2021, 17:19 by Tom1i
Thank you @DVFrank and @Mody for solving and for the nice comments. Amazed this is still getting solves.
on 24. June 2021, 15:23 by DVFrank
That's got to be one of the best puzzles I've ever seen! I'm amazed at how the very tight (and brutally hard!) break-in logic combines with such a smooth solve from then on! :^)
on 29. April 2021, 11:35 by Mody
Toller Einstieg und tolle Konstruktion
on 27. December 2020, 21:18 by harrison
Hats off to you @Tom1i . The geometry in this puzzle is exceptional.
* Thanks. And thank you for solving.
on 25. December 2020, 22:34 by DiMono
It involved half an hour of staring at the post-break-in grid asking "what am I missing?" but once I considered the correct information in the correct way, the rest of the puzzle finished in about 10 minutes. Very nice, and I really liked the break-in.
* Thank you. And thanks for solving.
on 18. December 2020, 08:24 by Statistica
Nice logic path and construction. Four stars for difficulty.
on 17. December 2020, 18:21 by Tom1i
Thank you @cdwg2000 and @Qodec. Glad you liked the puzzle.
@cdwg2000: I agree with the difficulty assessment, and I originally posted as 4 star difficulty. Prefer not to change again. Will wait and see if the puzzle gets a rating.
on 17. December 2020, 07:00 by cdwg2000
Genius design, thank the author for sharing!
on 16. December 2020, 18:20 by Qodec
Wow. What a puzzle.
on 15. December 2020, 21:17 by Tilberg
@Tom1: Thank you! Now I will start ...
on 15. December 2020, 21:14 by Tilberg
And do I understand the rules correctly, that each of the four red regions contains four killer cages of size 9, but we have to determine the right layout?
* No. The 4 red regions are each a 9 cell large killer cage (ie. it sums to 45).
** Let me rephrase that. You will not need the sum - just the fact, that each 9 cell cage hold all digits 1-9.
on 15. December 2020, 21:13 by Tom1i
German translation edited.
on 15. December 2020, 21:00 by Tilberg
The German translation of the rules is not correct. "Ziffern werden möglicherweise nicht wiederholt" means "Maybe digits aren't repeated". Instead it should say "Ziffern dürfen sich nicht wiederholen" to mean "Digits may not be repeated", as I think is intended by the constructor.
* Thanks for the headsup. Will edit right away.
on 15. December 2020, 18:42 by Tom1i
Difficulty upgraded to 5 stars.
