There is still life in my sandwich...
(Published on 15. May 2021, 00:49 by Sktx)
The original rules of Conway's game are used on an orthogonal grid of cells, and are as follow :
1)Any live cell with fewer than two live neighbors dies, as if by underpopulation.
2)Any live cell with two or three live neighbors lives.
3)Any live cell with more than three live neighbors dies, as if by overpopulation.
4)Any dead cell with exactly three live neighbors becomes a live cell, as if by reproduction.
*** RULES ***
Normal sudoku rules apply : fill the grid with the digits 1 to 9 appearing each exactly once in every row, column or 3*3 box.
Sandwich Sudoku rules apply : clues outside the grid show the sum of the digits strictly between the 1 and 9 of the corresponding row/column. Not all clues are given.
Still Life rules apply : every cell in the grid is either Dead or Alive - not both, and the grid is a stable configuration under Conway's Game of Life rules, which means every cell shall stay in its current state. i.e :
- the "neighborhood" of a cell is made of its orthogonally and diagonally adjacent cells in the grid, not including the cell itself. Therefore, depending on its situation on the grid, a cell can have either 8, 5 or 3 neighbors exactly.
- Dead cells CAN NOT have exactly 3 Alive neighbors(otherwise they would come alive under the Game of Life)
- Alive cells MUST have exactly 2 or 3 Alive neighbors (otherwise they would die under the Game of Life)
- Digits in SQUARED cells indicate the number of their neighbors that are in a DIFFERENT state (dead or alive) as their own cell.
- Digits in CIRCLED cells indicate the number of their neighbors that are in the SAME state (dead or alive) as their own cell.
Possible squares or circles may not all be given...(no negative constraint needed).
***************
Link: F-puzzles link to there is still life in my sandwich Sudoku
Also, if you want to test out Game of Life configurations and behaviours (you can set the grid to 9x9 to check your puzzle) :
Link: here's a link to a small test tool
I hope you enjoy it, and since it's my very first puzzle, feedback and comments on the difficulty, the logical path(s), the overall idea is more than welcome !
And a big thanks to all of you clever setters who entertained me for hundreds of hours this past year.
I really don't know any German, so if someone knows a reliable way/software/website to translate the rules, I would very much appreciate it, thanks.
Solution code: The digits in ALIVE cells of row 2 (left to right), row 8 (left to right), and then column 9 (top to bottom). With no space. (13 digits in total)
Comments
on 28. March 2024, 05:09 by Sapio
Oh. My. Goodness. What a journey that was. That took me 3? 4? tries? I lost count.
And it turns out, all it took was one little ruleset that I had forgotten that helped me greatly progress. The logic was hard to spot at times, but I'm glad I got through it. Thank you so much!
on 1. September 2023, 21:09 by wullemuus
Uncredible- it's really done! Having found the right solution (regarding the digits) two days before I skipped this because I was not able to find the exact colouring ( this yarn box 9 ...) Then I found a version that was not unique also because of my former error... :(( The most important thing I've learnt now is to be aware of a bias! And that careful scanning regarding the 3 alive cells near to a dead cell is absolutly necessary and not so easy to keep doing!!
Still I'm not sure if this one or kafkapharnaums "suspended animation" (that was really great as well) is harder ... .
Thanks to your sudden support- without that I would never have gone till the end! Or in german: "Der Weg ist das Ziel".
Sktx @wullemuus : I should be the one thanking you, you brought the puzzle to a rating, and it's far better than what I expected, so you made my day ! Thanks again for persevering :). If you attempt the other Still Life I've published, I promise they should feel at least a bit easier now.
on 17. December 2022, 15:32 by lerroyy
Really nice puzzle, thanks!
Great first puzzle too
on 27. May 2022, 04:03 by Kafkapharnaum
Ahh, at long last, I *finally* managed to do it. Took me four tries, but the thing is, on my 2nd and 3rd, I was starting from a wrong start (screenshot), and I actually needed to start from scratch -- but even then, I still had massive trouble for the close and it took me all I got today to close it XD
But hey, pretty proud of myself for having persevered, and again, I can't praise you enough for these 'Conway's Game of Life' puzzles, they are absolutely magnificent -- and even this one, I wouldn't have come back to if it wasn't so much fun even just toying with it haha
@Kafkapharnaum : Congrats on the solve and also on your perseverance ! In retrospect I understand how hard this puzzle is, so you have my uttermost respect. Well, if it's to keep you active on the site, I might have to release another Still Life Sudoku :D. I have an unpublished one, which is hard but definitely easier than this one. It's a palindrome + still life circles and squares...
...............
Oh, I would try it with pleasure! Especially now that I'm all (re)warmed up :D
on 24. September 2021, 11:35 by StefanSch
Die Gesamtidee gefällt mir sehr gut. Die lokalen Bedingungen (Game of Life) und die globalen Bedingungen (Sandwich-Sudoku) harmonieren gut, es geht mal hier, mal da vorwärts. Aber für einen Einstieg in eine neuartige Rätselkombination, dazu noch mit Hinweisen, die ihre Bedeutung je nach Färbung ändern, ist das Rätsel (aus meiner Sicht) zu schwer. Ich habe es zwei Mal probiert, jeweils mehrere Fallunterscheidungen gebraucht und jeweils am Ende in allen Fällen einen Widerspruch gehabt. Wegen der Fallunterscheidungen kann ich in meinem Lösungspfad die Lösungsschritte auch nicht einfach durchgehen und schauen, wo der Fehler ist.
Das ist echt schade, weil der Rätsel-Typ selbst Spaß macht.
Im dritten Anlauf hat es dann geklappt. Da hat natürlich geholfen, dass man die begehbaren Pfade schon etwas kennengelernt hat.
@StefanSch : Hallo, und vielen Dank, dass Sie das Puzzle ausprobiert haben und bis zum Ende dabei geblieben sind. Ich stimme Ihrem Kommentar voll und ganz zu. Dies war meine allererste Sudoku-Einstellung, und der Lösungspfad ist wirklich unordentlich. Dies macht es wirklich schwer, dem Puzzle zu folgen, und es gibt mehrere Stellen, an denen es vorausschauend benötigt wird. Ich entschuldige mich dafür. Ich glaube, ich habe bei meinen anderen "Still Life"-Puzzles einen besseren Job gemacht. Ich dachte daran, ein neues zu erstellen und es zugänglicher zu machen, und mit einem würdigen Lösungspfad. Ich werde Sie wissen lassen, wenn ich etwas konstruiere, auf das ich stolz bin. Nochmals vielen Dank für Ihr Feedback! //[english] Hi, and thank you for trying the puzzle, and sticking with it to the end. I completely agree with your comment. This was my very first sudoku setting, and the solve path is really messy, This makes the puzzle really hard to follow, and there are several places where it needs lookahead. I apologize for that. I think I did a better job in my other "Still Life" puzzles. I was thinking of making a new one, and make it more accessible, and with a worthy solve path. I'll let you know if I construct something that I feel proud of. Thanks again for your feedback !
on 2. September 2021, 12:39 by uvo_mod
Labels angepasst.
on 15. June 2021, 17:41 by Sktx
Added a (Google Translate) German translation of the rules
on 22. May 2021, 05:32 by Zombie Hunter
The most enjoyable 37 minutes I have spent in awhile. Difficulty about 1 star I think. ;)
Very clever puzzle! Good job.
on 19. May 2021, 20:38 by Zombie Hunter
I really like the still life concept. May I use it in one of my constructions?
Sktx : Please do so ! That would be my pleasure to see the concept developped. I'm posting a new one today, far more approachable and satisfying :).
on 15. May 2021, 17:59 by PrimeWeasel
It was bloody hard. So many options to consider and I kept messing up the implications of the restrictions at first. Still, I had in mind you solving so many of mine, so I thought I owed you at least 1 solve as well. I was never frustrated, it was a great puzzle!
Sktx - I will make sure to repay that day sir ! Thanks a lot for going through all of it, and also glad (and honored !) that you liked it.
on 15. May 2021, 17:50 by PrimeWeasel
You owe me a day!
on 15. May 2021, 14:25 by PrimeWeasel
Spent an hour on it and still getting nowhere. :) I've got some other stuff to do, will try again later :)
Sktx : Thanks a lot for your time ! I may have underrated the difficulty, I will change it to 5 stars. The opening is all about figuring out step by step the properties implied by the rules, it is not intended to be a sudden full break-in. I hope this doesn't feel too frustrating.
