Castle Wall/Cave
(Published on 13. May 2021, 23:00 by MagnusJosefsson)
Rules
Blacken some cells such that all white cells are orthogonally connected and all black cells are orthogonally connected to the border.
Also draw a single closed loop through some of the white cells without the loop crossing itself.
Each number clue in a white cell indicates how many cells can be seen from that position, where you can see only horizontally and vertically and the view is limited by the next black cell or the border. The cell with the number itself is included in the count.
Each number clue in a black cell shows the sum of the number of times the loop crosses a cell border in all four directions starting at the cell (i.e. the number of vertical steps the loop takes in the column the cell is in plus the number of horizontal steps the loop takes in the row the cell is in).
Example:
The puzzle:
Link for solving online:
Penpa+ (Use dark grey shading and green lines for solution check to work)
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Solution code: Contents of row 4 followed by column 1. Use "I" for a cell with a straight loop segment, "L" for a cell with a turn of the loop, "W" for a white cell without a loop and "B" for a black cell.
For the example puzzle, the code would be ILLBBBLIIILB.
Comments
on 15. February 2024, 16:11 by Christounet
It's been a while since I solved one of your puzzles. This was a great pleasure to solve. Loved how some clues were used multiple times throughout. Gonna try the big one next ! Thanks :)
PS : the penpa links don't work anymore. I think they need an update with tinyurl.
on 21. September 2023, 16:30 by lerroyy
https://tinyurl.com/3naxs7tu sudokupad
https://tinyurl.com/2dehrdt9 penpa+
on 9. May 2023, 09:17 by wooferzfg
Really fun! The key realizations about the ruleset were surprisingly natural for me.
on 24. April 2023, 10:12 by Piatato
Loads of fun, thanks!
on 21. March 2023, 13:41 by StephenR
What a cracker. I thought I was going to be left feeling like a dunce by the clever folk of LMD who rated this at 3 stars. I usually ignore the example puzzle, but in this case I tried it and it proved to be very useful. The logic then flowed in the main puzzle much more smoothly. (Still not 3 star for me though!)
on 26. December 2022, 19:42 by Agent
Very surprising logic, thought I had broken it at first :) Thanks!
on 22. October 2022, 16:58 by Niverio
Fascinating! An absolute pleasure to solve!
on 17. January 2022, 21:05 by Phistomefel
@horanayru: Could you maybe post your solution in a hidden comment, so we can help you better?
on 17. January 2022, 21:03 by horanayru
Loved the puzzle! This is such a natural combination of rules, and was a blast to solve.
I'm having trouble entering the solution code though - anybody able to validate the code is still setup correctly? I got the solution validated from Penpa, but the transcribed row 4 + column 1 is not accepted here.
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Thank you horanayru, and thanks for solving! Glad you were able to sort out the solution code input with some help (thanks Phistomefel :) ) /Magnus
on 3. October 2021, 13:09 by Phistomefel
What a nice puzzle! The two rulesets harmonize really well to allow for some lovely logic. Thank you, Magnus! :)
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Thank you very much Phistomefel! Glad you liked it! :) /Magnus
on 26. August 2021, 23:22 by uvo_mod
Label "Online Solving Tool" ergänzt.
on 25. May 2021, 08:09 by Statistica
Tolle Konstruktion, danke!
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Vielen Dank Statistica! /Magnus
on 20. May 2021, 11:52 by Aspartagcus
Fantastic puzzle! I found the break-in slightly tricky, in a good way, and then there were just beautiful deduction upon beautiful deduction. Very enjoyable!
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Thank you very much Aspartagcus! I'm really glad you liked it. It was quite enjoyable to set as well, so I'm working on a larger puzzle with the same ruleset that I hope to post in a week or two. :)
on 15. May 2021, 01:32 by marcmees
nice concept. thanks.
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You're welcome marcmees, thanks for solving! /Magnus
on 14. May 2021, 20:36 by Mark Sweep
Amazing idea and puzzle! At this rate, you're setting the bar quite high for all your future puzzles ;)
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Thank you Mark, you are too kind :). Incidentally, your incredible Castle Sudoku was the main reason I wanted to try to set a Castle Wall variant in the first place.
/Magnus
on 14. May 2021, 05:55 by PixelPlucker
Fantastic! :)
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Thank you PixelPlucker! :) /Magnus
on 14. May 2021, 04:35 by BMEP
Oh wow! That's really really good! The rule set works really well and it's really fun! that break in is fabulous, really...
I enjoyed a lot! Thanks for the puzzle! :))
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Thank you BMEP! I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Most likely I will make a larger follow-up to this puzzle since many solvers seem to have liked it. :)
/Magnus
on 13. May 2021, 16:57 by MagnusJosefsson
This hybrid puzzle requires slightly different logic than what you may be used to from the original puzzle types. For this reason, it might feel a little bit challenging to get started, but the puzzle should roll smoothly once you get a grip on the ruleset.
As always, don't hesitate to post a hidden comment if you get stuck or have difficulties -- I'll try to help with a small hint.
